A Blueprint for Growth.

The brainchild of former War Hawk and Speaker of the House Henry Clay, the American System was a neo-Federalist program of protective tariffs, a national bank, and internal improvements. Clay and his allies argued that it would foster economic growth and interdependence between geographical sections. Yet the system had its greatest impact in the West. In return for Western support of a tariff to aid domestic manufacturers, Eastern lawmakers backed federal aid for the construction of canals, roads, and turnpikes. Impact. The largest effect of these internal improvements was to link rural farmers with markets. In 1816 a Senate report stated that nine dollars would move one ton of goods from Britain to the United States. Once on American soil, that same nine dollars covered the costs of moving the goods just thirty miles inland. To help remedy...