Whigs of the Frontier
Henry Clay, Abraham Lincoln, Davy Crockett, and Internal Improvement
Dec 26, 2008
Despite the dominance of the Democratic party in the states west of the Appalachians and along the Mississippi River, the Whigs' call for economic development- internal improvements- subsidized by government had certain appeal. Three self-made men residing in this area made it their mission to help their fellow settlers.
The American System
After performing manual labor with little formal education, save a law clerkship, Henry Clay moved to Kentucky to practice law. He also became a state legislator and was elected U.S. Senator in 1806. Clay realized the importance of improved infrastructure in the frontier economy. His first speech as Senator was in support of a bridge over the Potomoc. In addition, he presented a resolution advocating appropriation of land for a canal on the Ohio River at the Kentucky shore.
Eventually, Clay devised an economic development program by 1820 that would be the center of the Whig party in the 1830's. The "American System" would include federal sponsored internal improvements, high protective tariffs, and a national bank. Clay thought expansively, "I would see a chain of turnpike roads and canals from Passamaquaddy to New Orleans; and other similar roads interacting mountains to facilitate intercourse between all parts of the country and to band and connect us together."
However, Clay only had mild success in passing internal improvement legislation. Internal improvement bills were vetoed by Presidents James Madison and James Monroe on constitutional grounds. Clay managed to get funding for the expansion of the Cumberland Road across the Alleghenies. Conversely, the Maysville Road proposal for Kentucky, pressed by Clay, was vetoed by Andrew Jackson for not being interstate commerce.
The Long Nine
Clay was idolized by young Abraham Lincoln, another self-made man of humble origins. Born in Clay's Kentucky, later moving to Indiana and Illinois, Lincoln saw first hand that a farmer needed good roads to get his product to market. His experience as a flatboatman, delivering goods to New Orleans, made him appreciate the hazards of travel. According to Doris Kearns Goodwin, Lincoln believed improvements to infrastructure could lift thousands of farm families out of poverty.
As a state legislator, Lincoln tried to do just that. In the state house session of 1836-37, Lincoln was part of the Whig delegation from central Illinois known as the "Long Nine" (they were all at least six feet tall). With bipartisan support from Democrats, the Long Nine provided the energy to pass a state bond to fund internal impovements such as $10,000,000 for railroads, $400,000 for rivers, and $200,000 for counties without railroads and rivers. Also passing was the Illinois-Michigan Canal bill. But the Panic of 1837 halted all construction.
Anti Jackson
Lincoln also admired David Crockett, a man who grew up in poverty in Tennessee but became a national celebrity. After serving under General Andrew Jackson fighting indians, Congressman Crockett supported Jackson and the Democrats. However, after sparring with Jackson over squatter land rights, indian removal policy, and banks, Crockett found himself in the Whig camp.
With that camp, Crockett consistently favored internal improvement legislation. Like Clay, he backed the Maysville Road bill. He also voted for the Buffalo to New Orleans Road bill, despite suggesting an amendment changing the course of the road to Washington D.C. to Memphis, thereby running it through his district. The original bill was rejected.
Crockett also turned his attention to rivers. In February of 1831, a bill was proposed to allocate $50,000 to improve navigation of the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers. Crockett, arguing in favor of the legislation, criticized states' rights proponents, "I should like to know what state is to take charge of the Mississippi and to clear obstructions of that river." The bill failed as Jackson's supporters frequently blocked Crockett's efforts at internal improvements.
Clay, Lincoln, and Crockett understood the necessity of internal improvements for the prosperity of their constituents and the nation. But they went upstream against Democratic concerns about constitutionality.
Sources
Goodwin, Doris Kearns, Team of Rivals, New York: Simon and Schuster, 2005.
Sargent, Epes, The Life and Public Services of Henry Clay, New York: Greeley and McElrath, 1844.
Shackford, James Atkins and John B. Shackford, David Crockett: The Man and the Legend, University of Nebraska Press, 1994.
 |
 |
 |
