Suchergebnisse

This article connects slavery politics with the curtailment of antebellum infrastructure policy and the limits placed on the development of the early American state. Because many Southerners feared that a unified Northern majority could hinder slavery's expansion or continued existence, they successfully worked to curtail federal power, even in areas seemingly unconnected to slavery. They helped to undermine a national improvement system, the federal government's ability to build improvements within state borders, and Congress's power to levy tolls to fund road repairs. In addition, Southerners' efforts to curb certain improvement projects curtailed the federal government's overall administrative capacity.