Unit 8: The American Dream

1. Unit 8: The American Dream Lesson 8.1: Invention, economic development, and progress.

2. Students will analyze the relationship between progress, crisis, and the “American Dream” within the United States.

3. Setting the stage In this lesson, we will analyze the relationship between innovation, economic development, progress and various perceptions of the “American Dream” through Reconstruction

4. Warm up What are some inventions that you can think of that have had a large impact on our society today? How have these innovations led to “progress”?

5. The Industrial Revolution The following website gives information on people, events, social effects, and inventions of the American Industrial Revolution. http://industrialrevolutioninamerica.com/ Complete the worksheet “The Industrial Revolution in America” using this website.

6. American System What is the American System? The American System was an economic plan that played a prominent role in American policy during the first half of the 19th century. Rooted in the ideas of Alexander Hamilton, the plan "consisted of three mutually reinforcing parts: a tariff to protect and promote American industry; a national bank to foster commerce; and federal subsidies for roads, canals, and other 'internal improvements' to develop profitable markets for agriculture."Congressman Henry Clay was the plan's foremost proponent and the first to refer to it as the “American System”.

7. What was the plan all about? A plan to strengthen and unify the nation, the American System was advanced by the Democratic-Republican Party and a number of leading politicians including Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun and John Quincy Adams. The System was a new form of federalism that included: Support for a high tariff to protect American industries and generate revenue for the federal government Maintenance of high public land prices to generate federal revenue Preservation of the Bank of the United States to stabilize the currency and rein in risky state and local banks Development of a system of internal improvements (such as roads and canals) which would knit the nation together and be financed by the tariff and land sales revenues.

8. More Detail on Main Points of Plan The establishment of a protective tariff, a 20%-25% tax on imported goods, would protect a nation’s business from foreign competition. Congress passed a tariff in 1816 which made European goods more expensive and encouraged consumers to buy relatively cheap American-made goods. The establishment of a national bank would promote a single currency, making trade easier, and issue what was called sovereign credit, i.e., credit issued by the national government, rather than borrowed from the private banking system. In 1816, Congress created the Second Bank of the United States. The improvement of the country’s infrastructure, especially transportation systems, made trade easier and faster for everyone. Poor roads made transportation slow and costly. Among the most important internal improvements created under the American System was the Cumberland Road.

9. Activity Primary source document analysis

10. reflection What is the connection between invention, economic progress, and the American Dream? In accordance to the American System, what did Hamilton and the federalists believe was necessary in order for our nation to achieve its potential?