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How Did Henry Clay Shaped The American Economy

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The Development of the American Economy
Before Henry Clay’s American system, America has been importing goods from outside of the country and only buying goods within their region. Clay’s American system helped America limit buying consumer products from foreign countries and increased the sales of local producers. The post-Civil westward expansion plays an important role in expanding farmlands for agriculture. Large quantities of food supply were available and railroads were used to transport these foods because it was fast, efficient and inexpensive. Henry Clay’s American system and the post-Civil War westward expansion, and the significance of railroads all helped shaped the transition of America’s economy from regional to national economy. …show more content…

A strong emphasis was put on the need for the federal government to play a strong role in the economy. The federal government would sponsor this system by unifying the nation's agriculture, commerce and industry (Classic Senate Speeches, 2017). The American system is composed of three reinforcing parts. One was a tariff that would protect and promote American industry as well as generate revenue for the federal government. They did this by taxing all goods that were purchased outside of the United States, this was to increase the sales of local producers. This strategy helps limit the amount of money being spent on foreign goods which help keep money within United States. Money will be used and spent within America. The second one was a national bank that would foster commerce to stabilize the currency in local banks. Currency will be stable and not fluctuate, and all states would have the same rate of a dollar. This was the Bank of the United States. The bank of United States offered easy credit to Americans. The third one was internal improvements for roads, canals and other subsidies (Classic Senate Speeches, 2017). This would be subsidized by tariffs and sales of public lands. The improvements will bring the nation together as well as generate federal revenue. The roads and canals will help agriculture travel from one place to another. States will be trading goods with one another instead of importing foreign goods which brings money out of the

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