Candace C. answered 10/05/24
Veteran English Teacher and Experienced Tutor since 1991
I never like Andrew Jackson because he issued the Indian Removal Act. My dear old dad, however, was fond of Jackson because he dissolved the corrupt and exclusive Bank of the United States. While Jackson had some good reasons to distrust the bank, which put far too much power into the hands of just a few wealthy investors, some with foreign (versus domestic) interests, the dissolution of the bank brought about quite a few years of financial instability to the United States economy. Putting this money into state banks was, in some ways, a good decision because these banks were more closely tied to their respective local communities and interests. However, the competition between these "pet banks" caused instability. They were not centrally regulated, so they produced too much money, leading to wide-spread inflation. Ultimately, all of this instability led to the Panic of 1837--a financial crisis involving bank failures, unemployment, and failed businesses. Finally, Woodrow Wilson established the Federal Reserve System to bring better regulation, oversight, consistency, and stability to the United States economy. To this day, we rely on the Federal Reserve to keep monetary practices safe and the economy steady.