Maysville Road veto facts for kids
The Maysville Road veto happened on May 27, 1830. At that time, Andrew Jackson was the President of the United States. He stopped a bill that would have allowed the government to buy shares in a company. This company was planning to build a road in Kentucky. The road would connect Lexington, Kentucky to Maysville on the Ohio River. The entire road would be inside Kentucky.
People who supported the road saw it as part of a bigger national road system, like the Cumberland Road. In 1830, Congress passed a bill to give federal money for this project. But President Jackson said no. He believed it was against the Constitution for the federal government to pay for projects that were only inside one state. He felt that the government should not get involved in local money matters. Jackson also pointed out that funding these projects would make it harder to pay off the national debt.
People who wanted "internal improvements" (like new roads and bridges) thought the government should help connect the country. They believed it would create an "American System" that helped everyone. Jackson's decision was greatly influenced by his Secretary of State, Martin Van Buren. Some people think Jackson's reasons for the veto were personal, not just political. They suggest he held a grudge against Henry Clay, a political rival from Kentucky. Others believe Van Buren wanted to protect the trade business of New York's Erie Canal.
Contents
Why Congress Debated the Maysville Road Bill
Supporters of the Maysville Road bill said it was important for the whole country. They saw this road as part of a much larger system. This system would stretch from Zanesville, Ohio, all the way to Florence, Alabama. If the whole highway was important for the nation, they argued, then each part of it must be too.
They remembered a Supreme Court decision from six years earlier, Gibbons v. Ogden. In that case, the Court said the government had the power to control trade between states. This included parts of a journey that were within just one state. Also, the Maysville Road would connect Kentucky's inland areas to the Ohio River. This made it a key route for moving goods.
Robert P. Letcher, a Representative from Kentucky, explained why the road was national:
The road designed to be improved is intended to intersect at the great national road in the State of Ohio. It connects itself also on each side with the Ohio River. These two connections most certainly and justly entitle it to the appellation of a national work.
Also, the federal government had paid for other projects that were only in one state before. These projects had still helped the whole nation. Representative Coleman gave examples:
But gentlemen say, every inch of the Maysville road is in the State of Kentucky. How can it be national? I answer, every inch of the Delaware Canal, sixteen miles in length, is in the State of New Jersey; and every inch of the Louisville Canal is in one county; nay, I believe in one city. How can they be national? Yet, Congress have subscribed for stock in both of them.
These arguments tried to show that the Maysville Road was very important for the nation. But those against the bill said that this way of thinking would mean every road was a national road. They worried there would be no limit to the federal government's power.
President Jackson's Veto Decision
President Jackson believed that federal money should only be used for powers clearly listed in the Constitution for Congress. Earlier, President Thomas Jefferson had a broad view of spending power. He used it for the Louisiana Purchase and to build the Cumberland Road. But President James Madison, who helped write the Constitution, thought this kind of spending was unconstitutional. He showed this by vetoing the Bonus Bill of 1817. Jackson agreed with Madison's view. He felt Jefferson's broad view wasn't enough to approve the Maysville Road bill.
One of Jackson's main reasons against the bill was that the project was too local. It was understood that Congress could only fund projects that helped the whole nation. But the Maysville project was a "purely local matter."
It has no connection with any established system of improvements; is exclusively within the limits of a State, starting at a point on the Ohio River and running out 60 miles to an interior town, and even as far as the State is interested conferring partial instead of general advantages.
Jackson quickly made it clear that this didn't mean he would approve all "national" projects. Even if there wasn't a constitutional reason against them, he thought it would be unwise to spend money on them at that time. This was because of the national debt. He believed no money should be spent on these projects until the debt was paid off.
Generally, Jackson did support internal improvements. During his first term, he approved federal spending for transportation projects almost twice as much as President John Quincy Adams. He thought it was good policy to spend federal money on national improvements. But two things had to be true. First, the projects should be part of a general plan, not just random laws. Second, the Constitution should be changed to clearly set limits on federal power.
Some experts say Jackson's veto was more about personal feelings than politics. This is because he approved other local improvement bills. Jackson's veto might have been part of his rivalry with Henry Clay. Clay was a big supporter of the Maysville Road as part of his "American System."
Because the Maysville Road project was local, the veto didn't face much opposition in Congress. In fact, the veto pleased voters in New York and Pennsylvania. They had paid for their own projects and didn't want to fund similar ones in other states. It also appealed to Southern states' rights supporters. They didn't need canals or new roads. For Jackson, this decision showed his belief that building roads and canals was more a job for the states than the federal government. This idea of limiting the federal government's power became a key part of Jacksonian democracy.
In 1846, President James K. Polk, who admired Jackson, vetoed the Rivers and Harbors Bill for similar reasons. Henry Clay and his Whig Party supported both the 1830 and 1846 bills. They believed the national government should help promote trade and modernize the economy.
The Legacy: U.S. Route 68
Even though Henry Clay and the Whig Party lost the argument in 1830, the two different ideas about government spending continued. A route very similar to the planned Maysville and Lexington Turnpike later received a lot of federal help in the 20th century. This route became part of U.S. Route 68. This federal aid and naming showed a change from the ideas Jackson set out in his 1830 veto.
Images for kids
-
Andrew Jackson by Asher Brown Durand.jpg
-
Henry Clay by Charles Balthazar Julien Févret de Saint-Mémin.jpg
