The American System
Why is it so significant?
What was the purpose of the American System?
The American System was necessary because it would allow country to unite as one unit instead of working separately. Henry Clay was one of the main leaders in bringing about this idea and his followers were know as the Clay Whig party.
Nationalism
Nationalism is when someone has that patriotic feeling, its where the people have pride in their country and work together as one.
Sectionalism
Sectionalism is where people are only interested in their local interest, or there is regional and local spirit. The country is thought of as sections.
Why is sectionalism bad?
Sectionalism is bad because each section of a nation would have different ways of life so when it came to solving a federal issue if one section did not like the way something is ran another section may live off of that idea, so when it came to solving the problem it would be nearly impossible. For example, the north wanted to raise the tariff taxes because that would help their economy being manufacture states; however, the south was hurt by the raise in tariffs. This caused a huge conflict in Congress leading to a violent attack on the Senate floor. This along with many others show why sectionalism is a bad thing. Just think if we didn't unite as a nation when fighting the American Revolutionary War do you think we would have won?
What were the key components of the American System?
Five Key Components
There were five main key components to the American System. The first one was to keep high tariffs; the idea behind this was to generate money for the federal government. A second component was the preserve the Bank of the United States so we can keep a common currency among all states. A third component was to reduce dependency on imports to allow the growth in the American economy and businesses. A fourth component was to sell public land in the west instead of just giving it free, the money would then be put towards education and internal improvements. The fifth main component was to develop a system of internal improvements, such as roads and canals, to keep the country connected. These are the five key components in the American System.
About Henry Clay
Henry Clay was born on April 12, 1777. He was raised under a modestly wealthily family. All of his careers were in the political scene. He started as a frontier lawyer, then moved on to be a Kentucky Senator, following that is was a speaker of the House of Representatives and eventually became the Secretary of State while John Quincy Adams was in office.He was a Jeffersonian and followed Jefferson's political views. During the War of 1812 he was in the War Hawk's group and felt the war was necessary. In the end he was one of the five delegates Madison sent over to form the Treaty of Ghent to end the war. He was given the nickname The Great Compromiser due to all the compromises he formed, some including the Missouri Compromise and Clay's Compromise Tariff of 1833. Of course you can not forget his role in the American System. As you can see, Henry Clay played a huge role in our government, so big that Abraham Lincoln admired him stating Clay was, "my beau idea of a statesman".
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