The Fantastic American System
By William Myrick II
The Fantastic Overview
Nationalism - a feeling of pride, protectiveness, and loyalty towards your country.
Strive to be self sufficient as a country and not rely on other countries.
Sectionalism - Loyalty to the interest of your region or section of the country, rather than to the nation as a whole.
Sectionalism is a threat to nationalism.
The 3 key components of the American System were a tariff, national bank, and roads and canals.
The tariff was a tax on imported goods which raised the price of European goods and caused people to buy cheaper goods from America.
The National Bank would promote a single currency which would make trade easier.
The roads and canals would make transportation in America much easier and faster for everyone.
Henry Clay was born April 12, 1777. He was a political leader throughout his whole life when he started working as a frontier lawyer soon becoming Kentucky's senator which lead to him becoming the Speaker of the House. He also was Secretary of State under John Adams in the 1820s. In congress he pushed for the Compromise of 1850 which defused a 4 year political fued between slave and non-slave states regarding territories from the Mexican-American war. He died shortly after the end of the war.