Second Bank of the United States - News, Updates, Images & Quotes

The Bank's charter expired in 1836 and it was restructured as a state bank by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. After a spree of speculation in cotton, lavish advances to the Bank’s officers, and the suspension of payment in specie, Biddle was arrested and charged with fraud. Although not convicted, he was still undergoing civil litigation when he died. Within five years, the establishment was forced to close its doors forever, and America's third experience with central banking came to a close.

— G. Edward Griffin; The Creature From Jekyll Island view

The Bank was still alive but had been mortally wounded. By this time [1834], Jackson had completely paid off the national debt incurred by the War of 1812 and had even run up a surplus. In fact, he ordered the Treasury to <em>give back to the states</em> more than $35 million [...] It is not surprising, therefore, that on January 30, 1835, an assassination attempt was made against him. [...] It was the first such attempt to made against the life of a President of the United States. The would-be assassin was Richard Lawrence who either was truly insane or who <em>pretended</em> to be insane to escape harsh punishment. At any rate, Lawrence was found not guilty due to insanity. Later, he boasted to friends that he had been in touch with powerful people in Europe who had promised to protect him from punishment should he be caught.

— G. Edward Griffin; The Creature From Jekyll Island view

The turning point [for the removal of the Bank] came when Governor George Wolf of Pennsylvania, the Bank's home state, came out publicly with a strong denunciation of both the Bank and Biddle.

— G. Edward Griffin; The Creature From Jekyll Island view

[...] the consequence of the loose monetary policy of the Second Bank of the United States was that America was introduced to her first experience with what now is called the "boom-bust" cycle.

— G. Edward Griffin; The Creature From Jekyll Island view

It is certainly no exaggeration to say that the Second Bank of the United States was rooted as deeply in Britain as it was in America.

— G. Edward Griffin; The Creature From Jekyll Island view

In every respect the new bank [Second Bank of the United States] was a carbon copy of the old [...] The charter required the Bank to raise a minimum of $7 million in specie, but even in its second year of operation, its specie never rose above $2.5 million.

— G. Edward Griffin; The Creature From Jekyll Island view