[connectedkids] 1916. San Francisco has had a varied and impressive polit

[Acey Seckletstewa]

N the Senate Clay espoused the name Whig. Having explained the origin of
the term in English and colonial politics, he cried: "And what is the
present but the same contest in another form? The partizans of the
present Executive sustain his favor in the most boundless extent. The
Whigs are opposing executive encroachment and a most alarming extension
of executive power and prerogative. They are contending for the rights
of the people, for free institutions, for the supremacy of the
Constitution and the laws." There soon appeared three practical issues
which forced the new alignment. The first was the Bank. The charter of
the United States Bank was about to expire, and its friends sought a
renewal. Jackson believed the Bank an enemy of the Republic, as its
officers were anti-Jacksonians, and he promptly vetoed the bill
extending the charter. The second issue was the tariff. Protection was
not new; but Clay adroitly renamed it, calling it "the American system."
It was popular in the manufacturing towns and in portions of the
agricultural communities, but was bitterly opposed by the slave-owning
States. A third issue dealt with internal improvements. All parts of the
country were feeling the need of better means of communication,
especially between the West and the East. Canals and turnpikes were
projected in every direction. Clay, whose ima

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