Transcript Coming Together: American System Group 2 period 5

THE AMERICAN SYSTEM
THE ECONOMIC ….
Tom Lowry
Matthew Bhatty
Zach Morgan
Brendan Crosslin
Oak Pinratana
Garrett Williams
NATIONALISM AFTER THE WAR
• The standing army was enlarged to 10,000
troops
• The navy was also strengthened
• The capital building was rebuilt in full splendor
Reasons for the American System
• Newly created American industry suffered
horribly from the great influx of British goods.
• A large central bank was needed to regulate
and control credit
• Transportation was despicable, especially in
the west. Such poor transportational means
meant that trade and communication were
severly limited from region to region.
Henry clay’s three goals
1. Henry Clay wished for a larger bank that would
provide an easy an abundant credit for all
citizens.
2. Henry Clay saw the necessity of a protective
tariff to combat British attempts to strangle the
infantile American industry.
3. Transportation was key in Henry Clay’s plans. He
knew the only way to unite all regions of the
united states was to connect them via a vast
network of means of transportation.
Big Bank
• A large central bank was
needed to regulate and
control credit
• It would control and
standardized American
currency and grant loans to
newly made factories as well
as construction projects.
Protective tariff
• After the war of 1812, England swamped
America's market with below value goods
• Infant American companies couldn’t compete
and were suffering greatly.
• Congress passed a protective tariff of 25% in
order to limit the catastrophic effects of the
British efforts.
• Henry Clay knew the protective ta
Transportation
•America lacked any real form of transportation to get an
individual from East to West. Roads were merely deep ruts
scarred into the ground. Water ways, although effective, were
costly and had limited maneuverability.
•Clay knew the difficulties of travel, and in the American System
he sought to limit or even remove the hardships of the road.
•His dream was to construct a vast expanse of roadways,
canals, and railways that connected every major population
center in the United States.
•Not only would it ease the long treacherous journey west, it
would also increase commerce amongst the different regions of
the United States.
Difficulties of distances
The sheer size of the United States did far more damage
to the unity of the nation then the British ever did.
Sectionalism was rampant in the newly constructed
nation. Not only distance separated Americans but ideals
and occupations as well. Clay knew Americans could
come together under the common cause of economic
success. And by connecting the regions together through
vital trade routes, Clay believed the South and West
could send raw materials and food to fuel the factories of
the North and East, and in return the North And East
could ship their finished products back to the rural
regions.