This detailed study of Henry Clay and the American System -- a
program of vigorous economic nationalism dependent on active
government and constitutional aspects of what was perhaps Clay's
greatest contribution to national policy, a contribution that has
received surprisingly little study until now.
During the first half of the nineteenth century the new United
States experienced rapid material growth, transforming a largely
agrarian, pre-modern economy into a diversified, industrializing
one. As Speaker of the House in the years following the War of
1812, and later as founder of the Whig party, Clay argued strongly
for the development of a home market for domestic goods so that
Americans would not be dependent on foreign imports. This "American
System" was originally little more than a protective tariff on
foreign goods, but it soon came to encompass a collection of
policies that included a national banking system and distribution
of federal funds to improve transportation. Baxter reveals the
inner workings of Clay's program and offers the first careful
analysis of its successes and failures.
This lively and incisive account will appeal to anyone
interested in American history and the processes that shaped modern
America
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