Maysville Road Bill

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MAYSVILLE ROAD BILL

Following the tumultuous presidential election of 1824 the nation's political factions realigned. The newly formed National Republicans led by John Quincy Adams (1767–1848) and Henry Clay (1771–1852) advocated aggressive federal promotion of national economic development. Internal capital improvements and the use of protective tariffs constituted the core of their policies. Their support came from Northeastern manufacturers, Southern agricultural leaders, and others who stood to benefit from the development of a commerce infrastructure. Many of their advocates were from the cosmopolitan upper class.

In contrast, supporters of Andrew Jackson (1767–1845) and John C. Calhoun (1782–1850) were much more diverse. Jackson was a popular military hero fresh from victories in the War of 1812 (1812–1814). He carried a populist banner, aligning many common citizens and "plain folk" behind him. Jackson defeated Adams in the presidential race in 1828.

During this period the United States still suffered from very poor overland transportation systems. A railroad network had not yet been built, and travel was essentially seasonal, since in many areas roads became mud quagmires during the winter months. Many people like Adams and Clay believed that the young nation's economy could not grow to support the emerging capitalist system without substantial improvements to the infrastructure.

At the beginning of his administration, Jackson's policies on transportation and other issues were not well formulated. Calhoun and Martin Van Buren (1782–1862), who both competed to be Jackson's chief advisor, held very different views. When Van Buren finally won, he urged Jackson to oppose federal financing of intrastate public works projects. Van Buren believed a growing trend to fund such projects could deplete the federal treasury by encouraging legislative practices of logrolling and pork barrel projects. (Log rolling was the combining of several distinct project funding bills, each unlikely to pass on their own, into a single piece of legislation to increase their chances of success.) Van Buren feared the fiscal affairs of the federal government would become a mess with numerous improvement projects arising across the country.

Acting on Van Buren's advice, Jackson raised constitutional issues regarding commitment of federal funds for specific internal state improvements in his first annual message to Congress in December, 1829. Jackson proposed providing states with blocks of federal funds when surpluses occurred, and having the states allocate the funds to specific projects themselves. He believed that paying off the national debt took precedence for the federal government. Jackson based his position on the political philosophy of strict constructionism. (Strict constructionism meant that any unclear terms appearing in laws or the Constitution should be given their exact and technical meaning. Individuals must not attempt to expand a law through exploring implied meanings.)

The political battle over funding internal improvements came to the national forefront in 1830, when Congress passed a bill sponsored by Jackson's bitter political foe Henry Clay. The bill authorized a $150,000 federal purchase of stock in the Maysville, Washington, Paris, and Lexington Turnpike Road Company. The company proposed a 60-mile road from Maysville, an inland port on the Ohio River, to Clay's hometown of Lexington. The project lay entirely within the state of Kentucky.

On May 27 Jackson vetoed the bill, maintaining that the road had no connection with any existing improved transport system and that it was fully within a single state. Jackson argued that the proposed bill required an unconstitutional use of federal dollars. The veto decision was highly unpopular with many in the newly established Democratic Party, which Jackson led, including those in the Ohio Valley who supported federal aid for canals and roads.

Jackson's veto was instrumental in establishing long-term federal policy limiting the use of federal transportation funds to interstate projects as well as harbors and river improvements serving foreign trade. No longer did Congress provide sizable federal expenditures for intrastate canals and roads. Jackson's stance on pioneering a sound fiscal policy concerning public works was one of the most important ideological contributions of his presidency. The only large road project funds approved by Jackson while he was president were for continued construction of the interstate Cumberland Road connecting Cumberland, Maryland with Illinois. Jackson approved funds for it four days after the Maysville Road veto.

See also: Federalism, Andrew Jackson