Second Party System
Jackson continued to attack the banking system. He issued his Specie Circular in July 1836. (Specie is a word that means gold and silver used as money.) The Circular said that only gold and siver coins, and not paper money, could be used to buy federal land. This made most businessmen and bankers join the Whig party. Also, cities that depended on commerce (trade) and industry became supporters of the Whig party. Jackson became more popular with subsistence farmers (farmers who grow crops to eat, but not to sell) and day laborers.