One of the constitutional duties of our President is to inform Congress on "the State of the Union and recommend to their Consideration such measures as he shall judge necessary and expedient (Article II, Section 3 of the U.S. Constitution). Among these measures, were included the ratification of treaties, building of our national defense, adjusting taxes and tariffs and sometimes declarations of war. After the War of 1812, a very frequent topic of Presidents James Madison, James Monroe, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson was the need to rebuild our nation’s roads and canals. America was once again at peace but with a renewed understanding of her economic dependence and subservience to Great Britain. They knew, that America must become an economic powerhouse by exploiting the wealth of natural resources and vast farmlands. James Madison leaned on a burst of nationalism after the war to build what Henry Clay would eventually define as the "American System". Henry Clay gave a famous speech on the House floor lasting three days in 1832 describing the system as having three parts that reinforce each other. Tariffs to protect American manufacturing, a National Bank to fund improvements, and federal spending on roads and canals. Henry Clay may have given his famous speech in 1832, but the federal spending on roads and canals began almost immediately after the War of 1812 ended. In 1815, James Madison witnessed a time known as the 'Era of Good Feelings' when nationalism erased the geographical divisions between the North and South and between the East Coast cities and the settlers on the Western frontier. In 1831, just one year before Clay defended the American System for 3 days on the Congress floor, President Andrew Jackson celebrated the fruits of that nationalism, or the"construction of works of internal improvement", and looked to the future when the railroad and steam power would physically unite the most extreme parts of our country that were once united only in spirit.
President Jackson began his 1831 address by reviewing the amazing improvements made over the last decade and a half. The hard work of farmers resulted in plentiful crops, the manufacturers who were turning profits and hiring many industrious workers. The rising wages and construction of works of internal improvements that were progressing at unprecedented rates. Because of the improvements of roads and canals, what use to take weeks to transport could now be accomplished in just a few days. But this was just the beginning, with the advent of the railroads and steam power, even the most extreme parts of our country would no longer be isolated. America was on the verge of becoming an economic superpower. In 1807, Robert Fulton and Robert Livingston designed the first steamboat , and by 1831 there were more than 200 steamboats involved in travel and trade on the Great Lakes, the Mississippi River and the Atlantic Ocean.
Here are the words of Andrew Jackson on the State of the Union in 1831 and the recent improvements in roads and canals.
"Agriculture, the first and most important occupation of man, has compensated the labors of the husband-man with plentiful crops of all the varied products of our extensive country. Manufactures have been established in which the funds of the capitalist find a profitable investment, and which give employment and subsistence to a numerous and increasing body of industrious and dexterous mechanics. The laborer is rewarded by high wages in the construction of works of internal improvement, which are extending with unprecedented rapidity. Science is steadily penetrating the recesses of nature and disclosing her secrets, while the ingenuity of free minds is subjecting the elements to the power of man and making each new conquest auxiliary to his comfort. By our mails, whose speed is regularly increased and whose routes are every year extended, the communication of public intelligence and private business is rendered frequent and safe; the intercourse between distant cities, which it formerly required weeks to accomplish, is now effected in a few days; and in the construction of rail roads and the application of steam power we have a reasonable prospect that the extreme parts of our country will be so much approximated and those most isolated by the obstacles of nature rendered so accessible as to remove an apprehension some times entertained that the great extent of the Union would endanger its permanent existence."
It had only been 16 years since the War of 1812 ended, and America had made tremendous strides in transportation. It took hard work and dedication of both Congress and the President to develop the right polices and fund these great projects. There was much work to be done, and many questions over the constitutionality of public works projects. Madison and Monroe both urged Congress to pass constitutional amendments to allow federal funding of these projects, and all four of the president of this time vetoed bills proposed by Congress to fund these projects. Nevertheless, compromises were made and funding was allocated. Reflecting the importance of improvements to Roads and Canals, the US House Committee on Roads and Canals established as a select committee in 1815, became a standing committee in 1831.
Below is a timeline of policy discussions from 1815 until 1830 regarding the building of roads and canals as found in the President's Annual Messages to Congress.
1815 James Madison - Public Works. After the War of 1812, Madison urges Congress to pass a constitutional amendment allowing the Federal government to fund public works projects including the rebuilding of roads and canals to promote transportation and interstate commerce.
1817 James Monroe - The National Road. James Monroe discusses the need to rebuild America after the War of 1812 and the need for a constitutional amendment to allow the federal government to spend funds on roads and canals.
1822 James Monroe - The Constitution and Federal Highways. James Monroe discusses whether or not Congress has the constitutional power to fund the building or maintenance of federal highways.
1823 James Monroe - Chesapeake and Ohio Canal. James Monroe, celebrates the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal that was funded and dug by the State of New York without the use of federal funds.
1823 James Monroe - Post Office Department. James Monroe shares an update on the Post Office including the establishment of 88,600 miles of post roads.
1824 James Monroe - Federal Funding of Roads and Canals. James Monroe discusses the constitutionality of federal funding of roads and canals.
1825 John Quincy Adams - The Macadam System of Road Construction. John Quincy Adams praises the newest form of road construction, based on work by John Loudan McAdam, known as the Macadam system of road construction.
1825 John Quincy Adams - Mapping out a National Road from Washington D. C. to New Orleans. John Quincy Adams announces he final plans for the completion of the National Road from Washington D.C. to New Orleans.
1825 John Quincy Adams - The Santa Fe Trail. John Quincy Adams discusses an act to authorize treaties with Indian tribes to allow a road from the frontier lands of Missouri to New Mexico.
1829 Andrew Jackson - Signaling the Maysville Road Veto of 1830. Jackson vetoed the authorization of the purchase of $150,000 worth of stock in the Maysville road, also known as the Cumberland Road.
1830 Andrew Jackson - Veto of Louisville and Portland Canal Bill. The bill authorized a subscription to raise funds for the canal with the U.S. government purchasing a large portion of the stock
References
Presidency.ucsb.edu. (2019). Third Annual Message | The American Presidency Project. [online] Available at: https://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/documents/third-annual-message-3 [Accessed 22 May 2019].
National Archives. (2019). Guide to House Records: Chapter 17: Roads and Canals. [online] Available at: https://www.archives.gov/legislative/guide/house/chapter-17-roads-and-canals.html [Accessed 22 May 2019].
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