THE MAKING OF A NATION 61 - Andrew Jackson, Part 5

THE MAKING OF A NATION #61 - Andrew Jackson, Part 5
By Frank Beardsley

Broadcast: Thursday, May 06, 2004

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VOICE ONE:

THE MAKING OF A NATION -- a program in Special English.

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As we reported last week, the question of continuing the Bank of the United States arose as one of the serious issues facing the national election of eighteen-thirty-two. The bank's head, Nicholas Biddle, had become as powerful as the president of the United States. He refused to recognize that the government had the right to interfere¹ in any way with the bank's business.

 
President Andrew Jackson
President Jackson also understood the power of the Bank of the United States. He did not believe the bank should continue. He opposed giving it a new charter. He proposed that a new national bank be formed as part of the Treasury² Department. Jackson said the present Bank of the United States was dangerous to the liberty of Americans. He said the bank could build up, or pull down, political parties through loans to politicians. He said the bank always would support those who supported it.

VOICE TWO:

In the election year of eighteen-thirty-two, the bank still had four years left to continue. Its charter would not end until eighteen-thirty-six. Jackson had been urging Congress to act early, so that the bank could -- if its charter were rejected -- close its business slowly over several years. This would prevent serious economic problems for the country. Many of Jackson's advisers³ believed he should say nothing about the bank until after the election. They feared he might lose the votes of some supporters of the bank. Biddle felt that this might be the best time to get a charter.

 
Senator Henry Clay
Henry Clay, the presidential candidate of the National Republicans, helped biddle to make this decision. Senator Clay, however, was not thinking of the bank when he gave his advice. Clay needed an issue to campaign on. Most of the people of the country approved of Jackson's programs. Clay could not get votes by opposing successful programs. But, he was sure that the issue of the bank could get him some votes.

VOICE ONE:

The campaign for a new charter was led by the most powerful men in each house of Congress. In the Senate, the bank's supporters included Senator Clay and Daniel Webster. Former President John Quincy Adams -- now a congressman⁵ -- led the bank's struggle in the house. The chief opponent to the bank was Senator Thomas Hart Benton of Missouri. "I object to the renewal⁶ of the charter," he told the Senate, "because the bank is too great and powerful to be permitted in a government of free and equal laws. I also object because the bank makes the rich richer, and the poor poorer."

VOICE TWO:

In the house, Representative Augustin Clayton of Georgia proposed an investigation⁷ of the bank. In a speech written by Senator Benton, Clayton charged that the bank had violated its charter a number of times. The bank's supporters were afraid to vote down the proposed investigation. It would be almost the same thing as saying that the charges were true. The investigation was approved. And a special committee was given six weeks to study the charges against the bank.

 
Representative John Quincy Adams
Four members of the seven-man committee were opponents of the bank. Three, including John Quincy Adams, were friendly. As expected, opponents of the bank found the charges to be true. And the bank's supporters found them all to be false. The majority report told of easy loans made to congressmen and newspapermen. It said a New York newspaper that had opposed the bank began supporting it after receiving a secret fifteen-thousand-dollar loan.

VOICE ONE:

The investigation did not really change the votes of any of the congressmen. Many votes had been bought by the bank. Attorney General Roger Taney told of one example of this. Taney opposed the bank. And he rode to work one morning with a congressman who also opposed it. The congressman asked Taney for help on a speech he planned to make against the bank. Taney was surprised later to find that this same congressman had voted to give the bank its new charter. The congressman told Taney that the bank had made him a loan of twenty-thousand dollars.

VOICE TWO:

The Senate finally voted on the bank's new charter. The vote was twenty-eight, for, and twenty, against. The house voted three weeks later. It approved the charter, one-hundred-seven to eighty-five. The bill was sent to the White House. President Jackson called a cabinet meeting. Two cabinet members, McLane and Livingston, agreed that the bill should be vetoed. But they urged Jackson to reject the bank charter in such a way that a compromise might be worked out later.

Attorney General Taney, however, believed that the veto should be in the strongest possible language. He opposed any compromise that would continue the bank beyond eighteen-thirty-six. Jackson agreed with Taney. He asked the attorney general and two white house advisers to help him write the veto message. They worked on the message for three days.

VOICE ONE:

On July tenth, the veto was announced. And the message explaining it was sent to Congress. Jackson said he did not believe the bank's charter was constitutional. He said it was true that the Supreme⁸ Court had ruled that Congress had the right to charter a national bank. But he said he did not agree with the high court. And Jackson said the president -- in taking his oath of office -- swears to support the constitution as he understands it...not as it is understood by others. He said the president and the congress had the same duty as the court to decide if a bill was constitutional.

Jackson also spoke⁹ of the way the bank moved money from west to east. He said the bank was owned by a small group of rich men, mostly in the east. Some of the owners, he said, were foreigners. Much of the bank's business was done in the west. The money paid by westerners for loans went into the pockets of the eastern bankers. Jackson said this was wrong. Then the president spoke of his firm belief in the rights of the common man.

VOICE TWO:

"It is to be regretted," he said, "that the rich and powerful bend the acts of the government to their own purposes. Differences among men will always exist under every just government. Equality of ability, or education, or of wealth cannot be produced by human institutions. Every man has the equal right of protection under the laws. But when these laws are used to make the rich richer, and the powerful more powerful, then the more humble¹⁰ members of our society have a right to complain of injustice¹¹."

Jackson said he could not understand how the present owners of the bank could have any claim of special treatment from the government. He said the government should shower its favors -- as heaven does its rain -- on the high and low alike, on the rich and the poor equally.

VOICE ONE:

Henry Clay had made the bank bill the chief issue of the eighteen-thirty-two presidential election campaign. Andrew Jackson chose the words of his veto message for the same purpose -- to win votes in the coming election. His veto of the bank bill cost him the votes of men of money. But it brought him the votes of the common man: the farmer, the laborer¹², and industrial worker.

After his first two years as President, Andrew Jackson was not sure he wished to serve a second term. Jackson was not sure his health would permit him to complete a full eight years in the White House. But he wished to be a candidate again in eighteen-thirty-two to give the people a chance to show they approved of his programs. Jackson decided¹³ that he would campaign again for president. But if he won, he would resign after the first or second year...and leave the job to his vice⁴ president.

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VOICE TWO:

You have been listening to the Special English program, THE MAKING OF A NATION. Your narrators were Maurice Joyce and Stewart Spencer. Our program was written by Frank Beardsley. THE MAKING OF A NATION can be heard Thursdays.

1 interfere   

v.(in)干涉，干预；(with)妨碍，打扰

参考例句：

• If we interfere, it may do more harm than good.如果我们干预的话，可能弊多利少。
• When others interfere in the affair,it always makes troubles. 别人一卷入这一事件，棘手的事情就来了。

2 treasury   

n.宝库；国库，金库；文库

参考例句：

• The Treasury was opposed in principle to the proposals.财政部原则上反对这些提案。
• This book is a treasury of useful information.这本书是有价值的信息宝库。

3 advisers   

顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授

参考例句：

• a member of the President's favoured circle of advisers 总统宠爱的顾问班子中的一员
• She withdrew to confer with her advisers before announcing a decision. 她先去请教顾问然后再宣布决定。

4 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

5 Congressman   

n.（美）国会议员

参考例句：

• He related several anecdotes about his first years as a congressman.他讲述自己初任议员那几年的几则轶事。
• The congressman is meditating a reply to his critics.这位国会议员正在考虑给他的批评者一个答复。

6 renewal   

adj.(契约)延期，续订，更新，复活，重来

参考例句：

• Her contract is coming up for renewal in the autumn.她的合同秋天就应该续签了。
• Easter eggs symbolize the renewal of life.复活蛋象征新生。

7 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

10 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

11 injustice   

n.非正义，不公正，不公平，侵犯（别人的）权利

参考例句：

• They complained of injustice in the way they had been treated.他们抱怨受到不公平的对待。
• All his life he has been struggling against injustice.他一生都在与不公正现象作斗争。

12 laborer   

n.劳动者，劳工

参考例句：

• Her husband had been a farm laborer.她丈夫以前是个农场雇工。
• He worked as a casual laborer and did not earn much.他当临时工，没有赚多少钱。

13 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。