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A charismatic, forceful leader, former Ways and Means member, Andrew Jackson came to office in 1829 as the people's President. Political clashes over the tariff and the Second Bank of the United States during his term prefigured the tumultuous years leading up to the Civil War. When South Carolina tried to nullify the high protective tariff in 1832, Jackson ordered armed forces to Charleston. When Congress passed a bill to recharter the Second Bank of the United States, which Jackson charged with economic privilege, he vetoed it. As national politics polarized around Jackson and his opposition, two political parties began to evolve: the Democratic Republicans, or Democrats, and the National Republicans, or Whigs. |
