President Andrew Jackson (1829–1837), leader of the new Democratic Party, opposed the Second Bank of the United States, which he believed favored the entrenched interests of the rich. When he was elected for a second term, Jackson blocked the renewal of the bank's charter. Jackson opposed paper money and demanded the government be paid in gold and silver coins. The Panic of 1837 stopped business growth for three years.Bray Hammond, Banks and Politics in America from the Revolution to the Civil War (1958); Taylor, The Transportation Revolution 1815–1860 (1962)
