Henry Clay's American System
Proposed Plan:
-Support for a high tariff to protect American industries and generate revenue for the federal government
-Preservation of the Bank of the United States to stabilize the currency and rein in risky state and local banks
-Development of a system of internal improvements (such as roads and canals) which would knit the nation together and be financed by the tariff and land sales revenues.
-Maintenance of high public land prices to generate federal revenue
The American System
Who supported it?
Henry Clay, John Q. Adams
-Both were left over federalists and they supported a strong central government
Why support it?
Clay argued that the West, which opposed the tariff, should support it since urban factory workers would be consumers of western foods. Also in Clay's view, the South, which also opposed high tariffs, should support them because of the ready market for cotton in northern mills.
Overall the entire nation should support it because it will improve the nation as a whole and bring in money because of the easy accessible roads and canals which would improve trading!