The 1800’s has been acknowledged as one of the most historical periods in American history. During this time America was expanding westward creating new businesses and becoming more industrialized causing the economy was progress. The things that were being created during this time were blowing people away. Cities started building skyscrapers and railroads were built across the country, giving transport from the east coast to the west coast. This cost the government billions of dollars, but in the long run it made transporting products faster over long distances. There were a lot of changes that were going on in America, one of the big things was the transition from a regional economy to a national economy. The American system by Henry Clay, the post-civil war, and the creation of the transcontinental railroad all played a role in the transition to a national economy.

Henry Clay was the man that created his version of the American system. He was also a part of a group called the Whig party, and they created a new form of federalism. The federalism that they created focused on the federal government, trying to improve and push the economy to the west. According to Myller, “Clay devoted his life to unlocking the vast economic potential of the West” (1996, p.143). During the same time as the Whig party, tariffs were frequently being used to protect American businesses that created revenue and money for the government. Tariffs were taxes that were placed on certain items or purchases that people made. Tariffs were created to give equality to everyone and create a peaceful atmosphere. If tariffs were given out unequally it would have caused problems, possibly making the economy worse. The tariffs were put in to place by the government because it helped regulate the people of America, preventing citizens to overrule the government. It also helped to regulate society to ensure everyone was taxed the same and so that prices on items would be around the same price. Tariffs also helped the government get money to keep functioning and take care of the nation. Many people of the common society may see tariffs as a negative thing were the government takes people’s money, but that money is used to provide a strong stable economy. Tariffs had many benefits and also many flaws, but in regard to the economy, tariffs were a great help with boosting the economy.

Another thing that played a role to the national economy was the Post-civil war. This created a big expansion in to the west, making new farmlands, and more railroads. The Post-civil war created a lot of jobs because there weren’t any more slaves. With all of these jobs opening up it still didn’t stop whites from negatively assessing African-Americans. The new economy that was being built helped to recover from the Post-civil war. This new economy was able to help with African-American slavery; those who had just come out of slaver were able to start their new lives as the individuals that they are. They were given freedom, the chance to create new lives, which was a goal of many people in the United States at the time. In this time of recovery from slavery, those who were previous slaves were now allowed the same rights as everyone else and were able to have the same jobs as others did at the time. Those who weren’t previous slaves were able to move forward and away from their wrongs in the past as they learned how to work without, and now alongside, slaves. The abolishment of slavery not only helped with the boost of new economy because there were people with new found rights now able to participate in the economy, but also helped those who felt like they did not have the same human rights as they should have.

When the transcontinental railroad was created in America it definitely played a role in development of the national economy. The transcontinental rail road not only created an outbreak in local trade, but also an outbreak in national trade and the result of that was a large influx in the economy, “the railroads promoted the creation of towns and cities as well as the development of land along the route for agriculture, mining, and logging” (Joy 2015, n.d). The way the railroad improved the economy was by the amount of trade that was happening at the time. Both national and local trade were now able to quickly distribute goods, and they had a larger connection between other states as well. Not only did the railroad impact the national economy, but it also affected the merchants who were no able to use the railroad for trading. Beside using the railroad for trade, it was also used for transportation. The use of transportation on the railroad slowly became popular after the initial introduction of the railroad, and was something that the economy became reliant on as a source of income. Although many people were accustomed to the older way of transportation, there was an appeal towards transportation via the railroad because they realized it was a more efficient mode of transportation. Traveling now became more mainstream because getting from place to place was less complicated and because of that the economy improved on a national scale. The rail road had a positive effect in transitioning from an America economy to a National economy.

Henry Clay, the post-civil war, and the creation of the transcontinental railroad were all large implements in the improvement of the economy. Henry Clay, along with his version of the American system, was able to witness the use of tariffs which placed taxes on purchases that were made. The post-civil war used the ending of slavery to help with the economy because there were now more people able to work and participate in supporting businesses. The transcontinental railroad used trade and transportation to boost economy as it moved goods and people across the United States. These three factor all played a large role in the progression of the economy that we see today.

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