Discuss the Bank War, Indian Removal, and the Nullification Crisis in South Carolina.

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All three of these things happened during the administration of Andrew Jackson. Jackson won due to strong support from Southerners and Westerners; these people did not trust the money interests of the East, as they feared that region gaining too much power. Jackson chose not to renew the charter of the Bank of the United States and allowed it to lapse. This led to bank deregulation and an unstable economy which collapsed in 1837 during the Van Buren administration. This financial panic was quite devastating to the country, and its impact was similar to the famous crash in 1929.

The Indian Removal Act was a federal law which pushed the Five Civilized Tribes out of the Southeast and sent them to present-day Oklahoma. The tribes resisted—the Seminole in a long costly war and the Cherokee through the court system. Chief Justice John Marshall stated that the Cherokee had a right to retain their land, but Jackson did not uphold the ruling; therefore, they were marched westward. Thousands of Native Americans would die along the way in what would become known as the Trail of Tears.

The Nullification Crisis occurred when South Carolina nullified a federal tariff. John Calhoun, Jackson's Vice-President, took the side of his native state, and the state even threatened to secede. Jackson threatened to personally lead troops into South Carolina in order to make sure that the tariff was collected and that the state did not secede. This was the first time that a Southern state threatened secession, and the main reason that it did not was that it was not joined by other states.

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The Bank War, the Nullification Crisis, and Indian removal were all part of the battle of states such as South Carolina for more state power and less federal power. These political crises involved states asserting that they had power over the federal government in some domains.

During the Bank War, states were opposed to the Second Bank of the United States, as they believed it placed too much power in the hands of the federal government. Andrew Jackson defeated the rechartering of the bank in the 1830s, and the functions and powers of the national bank were transferred to state banks in the states, including the one in South Carolina. The Supreme Court's ruling in Worcester v. Georgia suggested that only the federal government could remove Native Americans from their lands, but states such as South Carolina removed tribes such as the Cherokee from their land and drove them west anyways. During the Nullification Crisis in 1832–33, South Carolina refused to pay a federal tariff that was unpopular in a state that relied on imported goods. However, Andrew Jackson passed the Force Bill, compelling South Carolina to pay the tariff. South Carolina believed in the doctrine of nullification, meaning that they could decide that federal laws were null and void. These three crises were illustrative of the conflict between state and federal power in the antebellum period.

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All of the things that you mention here were important incidents in the presidency of Andrew Jackson.  Let us look briefly at each.

The Bank War was a political conflict between Jackson and his followers and the supporters of the Second Bank of the United States.  Jackson felt the bank was run by and for national elites and that it hurt the common people.  Therefore, he used his presidential powers to destroy it.  This happened in the 1830s.

Indian Removal had to do with removing the “Five Civilized Tribes” of Native Americans from the Southeast and moving them to what is now Oklahoma.  This was done in the late 1820s.  The Supreme Court ruled that the Cherokee, at least, did not have to move, but Jackson did not support their decision.  Instead, he supported Indian Removal because it was what was best for the white settlers who wanted the land that the Indians lived on.

Finally, there is the Nullification Controversy from South Carolina.  This took place in the late 1820s and early 1830s.  The Congress had passed a strong tariff on imported goods.  This hurt the South and helped the North.  South Carolina argued that the tariff was unconstitutional and said that it (the state) had the right to nullify (ignore) any law it felt was unconstitutional.  This was a crisis because allowing nullification would essentially have split the country and allowed every state to do whatever it wanted.  Jackson firmly opposed nullification, though he did persuade Congress to reduce the tariff as well.

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