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What's the main difference between John Quincy Adams' "American System" and Andrew Jackson's economic approaches?
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The main difference between John Quincy Adams' "American System" and Andrew Jackson's economic approaches lies in their views on federal involvement in the economy. Adams supported a strong national economy through federal projects like roads and canals, aiming for regional self-sufficiency and national unity. In contrast, Jackson, opposing the perceived corruption of strong government, advocated for minimal government involvement, reducing tariffs, and vetoing federally funded state projects to promote state responsibility.
During his presidency from 1825 to 1829, John Quincy Adams
supported the "American System" first proposed by Speaker of
the House Henry Clay. Adams was in favor of building a strong
nation through strengthening the national economy and
saw that the federal government could do so through the "sponsorship of
projects and institutions designed to improve the conditions of society"
(Miller Center University of Virginia, American President: A Reference
Resource, "John Quincy Adams Front Page"). He wanted to build the
strengths of each region in order to make the nation
self-sufficient. More specifically, both he and Clay believed that if
they strengthened the "factory-based northern economy," then the South could
provide the factories with cotton to make textiles rather than exporting the
cotton to England, and then both the South and the West could purchase
"northern manufactured goods" ("John Quincy Adams").
To that end, President Adams proposed a...
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program to Congress
for the "creation of a national market that included roads, canals, a national
university, a national astronomical observatory, and other initiatives" ("John
Quincy Adams"). Adams, though he was not a supporter or tariffs, was also
forced into signing into affect the Tariff of 1828, which put
significant limitations on both textile imports and exports, forcing the South
to rely on Northern markets rather than British markets. The tariff created
significant political division between the North and the
South.
In contrast to Adams, President Andrew Jackson, president from
1829 to 1837, was a nationalist, which means he supported the
union and was strongly against any union divisions. Jackson's own
economic plan stemmed largely from the disunity he perceived
to be a direct result of the Tariff of 1828, seeing the tariff and
strong government in general as a form of
corruption. However, Jackson signed into affect the Tariff of 1832,
which reduced some of the earlier tariff's rates but did not end it entirely
("Tariff of
Abominations"). He also "urged a return to simple, frugal, minimal
government" (American President: A Reference Resource, "Andrew Jackson
Front Page").
Another issue that clearly portrayed Jackson's minimalist
government and economic stance was his veto of the Kentucky
Maysville Road Bill. Based on principles purported by the Adams'
administration, many were in favor of the bill, seeing it as a means of
strengthening Kentucky by establishing easy commerce between two major cities.
However, Jackson vetoed the bill, saying that it was unconstitutional
for the federal government to fund state projects and that such state
projects need to be funded by the states themselves ("Maysville Road
Act").