Title: An uncertain Economy 1820-1860 < A Historical Perspective on the American Economy < Economy 1991 < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and beyond
Headings: 
An uncertain Economy 1820-1860
Content: An uncertain Economy 1820-1860 < A Historical Perspective on the American Economy < Economy 1991 < American History From Revolution To Reconstruction and beyond
An uncertain Economy 1820-1860
In the 1820s, America's population was still moving ever westward in search of opportunities and advancement. These people are sometimes depicted as being fiercely independent and strongly opposed to any kind of government control or interference. But in fact they received a lot of government help, directly and indirectly. Government-created national roads, such as the Cumberland Pike (1818) and the Erie Canal (1825), helped move farm produce to market. The federal government set up numerous land-grant colleges to train young people in agriculture, as well as agricultural experiment stations and an array of service agencies, all designed to further the education and welfare of the independent farmer. Americans of this era shared a common desire to better themselves through economic participation. People who held differing opinions about how to achieve the same ends fought many of the political and economic struggles of the 19th century. The results of those struggles underscore the importance of both individualism and a degree of government involvement. When Andrew Jackson became president in 1829, many who were poor or newly rich idealized him as an individualist in their own likeness because he had started life in a log cabin in frontier territory. President Jackson opposed the new Federal Bank of the United States, chartered in 1816;