During the 1820s and 30s, Jacksonian Democrats were considered the guardians of the people, and worked to improve the nation for the common man. During this period, President Jackson infringed on the rights of Native Americans; vetoed a bill to re-charter the Bank of the United States of America; and used "brute" force to bring Southerners under submission during the Tariff crisis of 1832. He also enacted the Spoils System which did not guarantee the best leadership.
In the late 1820's, American demand for land due to population growth led to pressure on Native American lands. In 1830, Congress passed the Indian Removal Act which Jackson signed into law. The act was challenged successfully by the Cherokee Nation in 1832, in the US Supreme Court. Despite the Supreme Court decision, Jackson took no action to uphold the Court verdict, and in fact would openly defy it; he was quoted as saying "John Marshall has made his decision, now let him enforce it!" 1(p.245) As the court has no executive powers to enforce its decisions, Jackson's executive disregard of the court marked a time when the Judicial branch of government was very weak. .
Jackson distrusted banks because of his personal financial history and because he did not understand them. The Bank of the United States made him very nervous because it concentrated a lot of power in a few hands, some of those were foreign nationals, and because it was created via a broad interpretation instead of a strict one of the Constitution. In his opinion, it was unconstitutional. The Bank had become a stabilizing influence since 1823. Since in the course of doing business, the bank collected a lot of bank notes from state banks, it could operate as a brake upon those banks by presenting the bank notes for collection. A majority of businessmen and politicians liked this regulatory aspect. .
The Bank of the United States charter was to expire in 1836.
