cantile interest, which supported a central bank, was still strong to overcome opposition from the West. Two decades later, however, with the election of Andrew Jackson the balance of power swung decisive to the West, which was deeply suspicious of Eastern banking interests. The Second Bank was as unpopular in the West as its predecessor had been, and it was likewise permitted to lapse when its charter came up for renewal in 1836. Central banking effectively vanished from the national agenda, even though the banking system again fell into chaos after the Second Bank's abolution.
The opposition to both Banks was compounded of sectional and economic grievances. The farmers, businessmen, and workers of the West might find little they could agree upon, but they were united in suspicion of Eastern financial interests. Echoes of this old suspicion still linger in the popular contrast between Wall Street and Main Street, or in the contrast between the Snowbelt and the Sunbelt. Yet these are only a faint echo of the strength of sectional feelings--stron
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