The social reform movements of the early republic paralleled and reinforced the philosophical assumptions behind the American System. Encouraged by reform-minded ideas, the concept of the American System helped promote protective tariffs and internal improvements during the administration of President John Quincy Adams. The 2BUS also flourished. However, opposition to the American System also became more intense during this time period, preparing for the eventual downfall of the system after 1829.

Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams and the ‘Corrupt Bargain’

John Quincy Adams was elected as the fifth President by a final vote in the House of Representatives in the turbulent presidential election of 1824, despite the fact that he was second both in the popular and Electoral College votes to Andrew Jackson. It was Clay who pulled strings in the House, where he was Speaker, to elect Adams to Presidency. Adams reciprocated by appointing Clay Secretary of State, the traditional stepping stone to Presidency. Their political enemies called this a ‘corrupt bargain’, a charge that fundamentally crippled the effectiveness of the Adams administration and haunted Clay's future political career.

However, Clay's support for Adams stemmed as much from their mutual political outlook as from the concurrence of their personal ambitions. By 1824, Clay's growing sense of nationalism had shown through in his strenuous support of the General Survey Act and Tariff Act of 1824. Adams, through his career as a diplomat and Secretary of State, came to consider the entire North American continent as the stage on which to play out his political vision by 1824. Adams brilliantly helped create the signing of a Transcontinental Treaty with Spain in 1819, acquiring Florida from Spain and expanding America's western boundaries to the Pacific Ocean. Adams also formulated the Monroe Doctrine in 1823, which declared Central and South America off limits to European control, and a de facto sphere of American influence.