Question

What was a religious effect of Henry Clay’s American system? (How/Did it have an effect on religion?)

Answer 1

Moves toward industrialization, took people away from their farms and moved more people into the cities. The cities became places full of less moral behavior such as drinking, crime, and dating. Immigration also brought behaviors "native" Americans believed were contrary to the culture of the US.

The American System was created by Henry Clay after the War of 1812. The War of 1812 proved the US was dependent on Great Britain and needed to industrialize. The American System included creating a National Bank and using tax dollars to create roads and canals for transportation. The system would eventually include creating rail lines as well. By creating a better transportation and financial system, factories could be created. These factories encouraged people to leave family farms and move to the cities where they had less supervision. Problems emerged and people were left needing religion to guide their lives.

The Second Great Awakening sparked a religious revival. The revival sparked an individual path to salvation and encouraged people to live moral lives. To help bring more people to salvation, social reforms came out of the Second Great Awakening. Temperance, abolition, education, and institution reform began to fix the problems that industrialization caused.