Title: Industrial Revolution: 1816-1860 | 5-Minute Economist
Headings: Industrial Revolution: 1816-1860
Industrial Revolution: 1816-1860
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE HISTORY
EPI DATA FOR UNITED STATES: 1816 - 1860

Content: This combination led to a number of policies designed to strengthen and unify the nation. The most important tenets 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. Portions of the American System were enacted by the United States Congress. The charter of the Second Bank of the United States was renewed in 1816 for 20 years. High tariffs were maintained from the days of Alexander Hamilton until 1832. Millions of settlers moved to the more fertile farmland of the Midwest, partially encouraged by government-created national roads and waterways, such as the Cumberland Pike (1818) and the Erie Canal (1825).