internal improvements

(noun)

A term used historically in the United States for public works from the end of the American Revolution through much of the nineteenth century, mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure, including roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors, and navigation improvements.

Related Terms

Examples of internal improvements in the following topics:

  • The Role of the Government

    • The American System advocated a strong federal government and a program of internal improvements, protective tariffs, and a central bank.
    • Internal improvements consisted of public works mainly for the creation of a transportation infrastructure, including roads, turnpikes, canals, harbors, and navigation improvements.
    • The national system of internal improvements was never well funded in this period, as debates raged about the constitutionality of federal involvement in state improvement projects.
    • Tariffs faced opposition from southern planters, internal improvements were labelled unconstitutional by anti-Federalists, and the National Bank eventually lost its charter.
    • " The cages are labeled: "Home, Consumption, Internal, Improv. "

  • The Adams Presidency

    • Adams encouraged internal improvements (such as roads, ports, and canals), the founding of a national university, and federal support for the arts and sciences.
    • During his term, Adams worked on transforming America into a world power through "internal improvements" as a part of the "American System" of economics.
    • This system consisted of a high tariff to support internal improvements such as road-building, as well as the charter of a national bank to encourage productive enterprise and to form a national currency.

  • The End of Reconstruction

    • Hayes's friends also let it be known that he would promote Federal aid for internal improvements, including help for a railroad in Texas, and name a Southerner to his cabinet.

  • The Madison Presidency

    • Upon assuming office on March 4, 1809, James Madison, in his first Inaugural Address to the nation, stated that the federal government's duty was to convert the American Indians by the, "participation of the improvements of which the human mind and manners are susceptible in a civilized state."
    • Madison also implemented an effective taxation system based on tariffs, a standing professional military, and the internal improvements championed by Henry Clay under his American System.
    • However, in his last act before leaving office, Madison vetoed the Bonus Bill of 1817, which would have financed more internal improvements, including roads, bridges, and canals.
    • At the time, Britain used its navy to prevent American ships from trading with France—an act the United States considered a violation of international law.
    • Madison's reputation as president improved, and Americans finally believed that the United States had established itself as a world power.

  • Modern Management

    • Corporate officials used various techniques - such as timing their workers with stop watches and using stop-motion photography - to study the production process and improve efficiency.
    • Frederick Winslow Taylor observed that the use of more advanced machinery could improve efficiency in steel production by requiring workers to make fewer motions in less time.
    • They hired young men at age 18–21 and promoted them internally until a man reached the status of locomotive engineer, conductor, or station agent at age 40 or so.
    • Frederick Winslow Taylor, a mechanical engineer by training, is often credited with inventing scientific management and improving industrial efficiency.

  • A Market Society

    • During the Market Revolution in the first half of the nineteenth century, traditional modes of commerce were made obsolete by improvements in transportation, communication, and industry.
    • Americans now could quickly produce larger amounts of goods for a nationwide, and sometimes an international, market and rely less on foreign imports than in colonial times.
    • As American dependency on imports from Europe decreased, the importance of internal commerce increased dramatically.

  • The Limits of Prosperity

    • While the Market Revolution led to many improvements, prosperity in the United States was not without its limits.
    • The Market Revolution led to rapid expansion in manufacturing, new innovations in technology, and improvements in transportation.
    • Many traditionally skilled and artisanal modes of commerce were made obsolete by the improvements of the Market Revolution.
    • Despite the profits realized by bankers, industrialists, and planters who were beneficiaries of the Market Revolution, some individuals' fates were adversely affected by the improvements in industrialization, communication, and transportation during this period.
    • Earlier economic downturns had arisen from international conflicts such as the Embargo Act and the War of 1812, and these downturns had resulted in widespread domestic foreclosures, bank failures, unemployment, and slumps in agriculture and manufacturing.

  • The Cold War's Costs and Consequences

    • Some are benign, such as the availability of new technologies for nuclear power and energy and the use of radiation for improving medical treatment and health.
    • The international non-proliferation regime inherited from the Cold War still provides disincentives and safeguards against national or sub-national access to nuclear materials and facilities.
    • Formal and informal measures and processes have effectively slowed national incentives and the tempo of international nuclear-weapons proliferation.
    • Because there was no formalized treaty ending the Cold War, the former superpowers have continued to various degrees—depending on their respective economies—to maintain and even improve or modify existing nuclear weapons and delivery systems.
    • Because of potential risk to national and international security, nuclear-weapons states have inherited substantial responsibilities in protecting and stabilizing their nuclear forces.

  • A Growing Society

    • All the provinces, and many towns as well, tried to foster economic growth by subsidizing projects that improved the infrastructure, such as roads, bridges, inns and ferries.
    • The coastal ports began to specialize in fishing, international trade, and shipbuilding—and, after 1780, in whaling.

  • Reaction to the Holocaust

    • There was a lack of international consensus on how to deal with Jewish refugees after WWII.
    • That summer Ickes had toured Alaska and met with local officials to discuss improving the local economy and bolstering security in a territory viewed as vulnerable to Japanese attack.