Chapter 12 Notes Tariff of 1816, Henry Clay, Land Act of 1820, Missouri Compromise, Panic of 1819, James Monroe, Monroe Doctrine

Tariff of 1816 After the war, British competitors dumped their goods onto America at cheap prices. America responded with the Tariff of 1816, the first in U.S. history designed for protection –It put a 20-25% tariff on dutiable imports.

Henry Clay Clay created an economic program called "the American System.“ This included a protective tariff, a national bank jointly owned by private stockholders and the federal government, and federal subsidies for transportation projects ("internal improvements"). Public lands in the West were to be sold rather than given away to homesteaders so the proceeds could be used for education and internal improvements. The program was intended to promote economic development and diversification, reduce dependence on imports, and tie together the different sections of the country. The American System became the chief plank in the platform of Clay's Whig party, which was formed in opposition to the Democratic party of Andrew Jackson, creating "the second party system." Whigs were found in all parts of the country, but especially among the prosperous classes, in areas wanting government economic aid, and among Protestant religious bodies that hoped a strong government would further their agenda of moral reform.

Land Act of 1820 The West, still not populous and politically weak, was forced to ally itself with other sections, and demanded cheap acreage. The Land Act of 1820 gave the West its wish by authorizing a buyer to purchase 80 acres of land at a minimum of $1.25 an acre in cash; the West demanded and slowly got cheap transportation as well.

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was an effort by Congress to defuse the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. At the time, the United States contained twenty-two states, evenly divided between slave and free. Admission of Missouri as a slave state would upset that balance; it would also set a precedent for congressional agreement in the expansion of slavery. Earlier in 1819, when Missouri was being organized as a territory, Representative James Tallmadge of New York had proposed an amendment that would ultimately have ended slavery there. This effort was defeated, as was a similar effort by Representative John Taylor of New York regarding Arkansas Territory.

Continued… The extraordinarily bitter debate over Missouri's application for admission ran from December 1819 to March Northerners, led by Senator Rufus King of New York, argued that Congress had the power to prohibit slavery in a new state. Southerners like Senator William Pinckney of Maryland held that new states had the same freedom of action as the original thirteen and were thus free to choose slavery if they wished. After the Senate and the House passed different bills and deadlock threatened, a compromise bill was worked out with the following provisions: –(1) Missouri was admitted as a slave state and Maine (formerly part of Massachusetts) as free –(2) Except for Missouri, slavery was to be excluded from the Louisiana Purchase lands north of latitude 36°30.

Continued… The Missouri Compromise was criticized by many southerners because it established the principle that Congress could make laws regarding slavery. Northerners condemned it for acquiescing in the expansion of slavery (though only south of the compromise line). Nevertheless, the act helped hold the Union together for more than thirty years. It was repealed by the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, which established popular sovereignty (local choice) regarding slavery in Kansas and Nebraska, though both were north of the compromise line. Three years later, the Supreme Court in the Dred Scott case declared the Missouri Compromise unconstitutional, on the ground that Congress was prohibited by the Fifth Amendment from depriving individuals of private property without due process of law.

Panic of 1819 In 1819, a paralyzing economic panic engulfed the U.S., bringing deflation, depression, bankruptcies, bank failures, unemployment, soup kitchens, and overcrowded debtors’ prisons. A major cause of the panic had been over speculation in land prices, where the Bank of the United States fell heavily into debt. The West was especially hard hit, and the Bank of the U.S. was soon viewed with anger. There was also attention against the debtors, where, in a few overplayed cases, mothers owing a few dollars were torn away from their infants by the debtors.

James Monroe ( ) Fifth president of the United States Born in Westmoreland County, Virginia. Monroe was an aide to George Washington during the Revolution. He served as a member of the Continental Congress, as a U.S. senator from Virginia, as U.S. minister to France, Spain, and England, and as governor of Virginia ( ). Appointed secretary of state by James Madison, Monroe also held the post of secretary of war during the War of Because the Federalist party had dissolved and most people belonged to the Democratic-Republican party during his administration, his two terms became known as the Era of Good Feelings. The country prospered with the growth of industry and settlement of the West. During Monroe's years in office, Florida was purchased from Spain and became part of the United States, the Missouri Compromise took place, and the Monroe Doctrine became part of the foreign policy of the United States.

The Monroe Doctrine December 2, 1823, statement of policy issued by President James Monroe in his annual message to Congress. Influenced and developed by Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, the Monroe Doctrine declared a hands-off policy in the Western Hemisphere. It asserted that the United States would not interfere with European colonies already established in North and South America but that it would not tolerate further colonization. The United States in turn would not interfere in the affairs of Europe. Any attempt by any European nation to interfere in the Western Hemisphere would be looked upon as a threat to American safety and could be reason for war. In 1904 President Theodore Roosevelt extended the Monroe doctrine with his Roosevelt Corollary.