American System (economic plan)
- American System (economic plan)
The American System was a
mercantilist economic plan based on the "American School " ideas ofAlexander Hamilton , expanded upon later byFriedrich List , consisting of a hightariff to supportinternal improvements such as road-building, and a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and form a national currency. This program was intended to allow the United States to grow and prosper, by providing a defense against the dumping of cheap foreign products, mainly at the time from the British Empire.History
The system was first proposed in 1824 by
Henry Clay of Kentucky, who hoped to improve the nation's economic growth. It was largely passed in theEra of Good Feelings after theWar of 1812 and helped produce a such programs. [ Charles M. Wiltse, "John C. Calhoun: Nationalist, 1782-1828" (1944), pp 103-41.]Main points
* The establishment of a protective tariff; a 20%-25% tax on imported goods that protects a nation’s business from foreign competition. Congress passed a tariff in 1816 which made European goods more expensive and encouraged consumers to buy relatively cheaper American-made goods.
* The establishment of a
national bank that would promote a single currency, making trade easier, and issue what was called "sovereign credit", i.e., credit issued by the national government, rather than borrowed from the private banking system. In1816 , Congress created theSecond Bank of the United States .* The improvement of the country’s
infrastructure , especially transportation systems, making trade easier and faster for everyone. Poor roads made transportation slow and costly.This program became the leading tenet of the Whig Party of Henry Clay and
Daniel Webster . It was opposed by the Democratic Party ofAndrew Jackson ,Martin Van Buren ,James K. Polk ,Franklin Pierce , andJames Buchanan prior to the Civil War. Among the most important internal improvements created under the American System were theErie Canal and theCumberland Road .Further reading
Modern books
*Croly, Herbert, "The Promise of American Life" (2005-reprint)
*Joseph Dorfman. "The Economic Mind in American Civilization, 1606-1865" (1947) 2 vol
*Eckes,Jr. Alfred E. "Opening America's Market-U.S. Foreign Trade Policy Since 1776" (1995) University of North Carolina Press
* [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=90104191 Foner, Eric. "Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War" (1970)]
*Gill, William J. "Trade Wars Against America: A History of United States Trade and Monetary Policy" (1990)
*Carter Goodrich, "Government Promotion of American Canals and Railroads, 1800-1890" (Greenwood Press, [http://www.questia.com/PM.qst?a=o&d=100695027 1960] )
** Goodrich, Carter. "American Development Policy: the Case of Internal Improvements," "Journal of Economic History", 16 ( 1956), 449-60. in JSTOR
** Goodrich, Carter. "National Planning of Internal Improvements," "Political Science Quarterly", 63 (1948), 16-44. in JSTOR
*John Lauritz Larson. "Internal Improvement: National Public Works and the Promise of Popular Government in the Early United States" (2001)
*Lively, Robert A. "The American System, a Review Article," Business History Review, XXIX (March, 1955), 81-96. recommended starting point
*Lind, Michael "Hamilton's Republic: Readings in the American Democratic Nationalist Tradition" (1997)
*Lind, Michael "What Lincoln Believed: The Values and Convictions of America's Greatest President" (2004)
*Remini, Robert V. "Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union". , 1991
*Edward Stanwood, "American Tariff Controversies in the 19th Century" (1903; reprint 1974), 2 vols., favors protectionism
* Charles M. Wiltse, "John C. Calhoun: Nationalist, 1782-1828" (1944)Older books
#G. B. Curtiss, Protection and Prosperity: an ; W. H. Dawson, Protection in Germany (London, 1904
#Alexander Hamilton, Report on the Subject of Manufactures, communicated to the House of Representatives, 5th December 1791
#H. C. Carey, Principles of Social Science (3 vols., Philadelphia, 1858-1859), Harmony of Interests Agricultural, Manufacturing and Commercial (Philadelphia, 1873)
#Friedrich List, Outlines of American Political Economy (1980-reprint)
#Friedrich List, National System of Political Economy (1994-reprint)
#A. M. Low, Protection in the United States (London, 1904); H. 0. Meredith, Protection in France (London, 1904)
#Ellis H. Roberts, Government Revenue, especially the American System, an argument for industrial freedom against the fallacies of free trade (Boston, 1884)
#J. P. Young, Protection and Progress: a Study of the Economic Bases of the American Protective System (Chicago, 1900)
#Clay, Henry. The Papers of Henry Clay, 1797-1852. Edited by James Hopkinsources and notes
* [http://www.hti.umich.edu/cgi/t/text/pageviewer-idx?c=moa;cc=moa;q1=American%20System;rgn=full%20text;idno=AEU5176.0001.001;didno=AEU5176.0001.001;view=image;seq=0003 The American System: Speeches on the Tariff Question and Internal Improvements] by Congressman Andrew Stewart
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.
Look at other dictionaries:
American System — The term American System can mean one of the following:* American system of manufacturing, for a system of manufacturing developed in America. * American System (economic plan), for the program of Henry Clay and the Whig Party. * American School… … Wikipedia
American School (economics) — See also American System (economic plan). Part of a series on Economic systems Ideological systems … Wikipedia
American Civil War — American Civil War … Wikipedia
Economic democracy — is a socioeconomic philosophy that suggests a shift in decision making power from a small minority of corporate shareholders to a larger majority of public stakeholders. There is no single definition or approach for economic democracy, but most… … Wikipedia
Economic Affairs — ▪ 2006 Introduction In 2005 rising U.S. deficits, tight monetary policies, and higher oil prices triggered by hurricane damage in the Gulf of Mexico were moderating influences on the world economy and on U.S. stock markets, but some other… … Universalium
American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 — Stimulus bill redirects here. For other uses, see Stimulus bill (disambiguation). ARRA redirects here. For other uses, see ARRA (disambiguation). American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 Full title An act making supplemental appropriations… … Wikipedia
Economic history of the United Kingdom — The economic history of the United Kingdom deals with the history of the economy of the United Kingdom from the creation of the Kingdom of Great Britain on May 1st, 1707,[1] with the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of… … Wikipedia
Economic history of Brazil — The economic history of Brazil covers various economic events and traces the changes in the Brazilian economy over the course of the history of Brazil. Portugal, which first colonized the area in the 16th century, enforced a colonial pact with… … Wikipedia
Economic policy of Barack Obama — Main article: Political positions of Barack Obama Barack Obama s current economic advisors are Austan Goolsbee of the University of Chicago and Jeffrey Liebman of Harvard University.[1] In 2006, Obama wrote: We should be asking ourselves what mix … Wikipedia
Economic history of Chile — Colonial era to 1690In colonial times, the segmentation of Chile into latifundios left only small parcels for native American and mestizo villagers to cultivate. Cattle raised on the latifundios were a source of tallow and hides, which were sent … Wikipedia
