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Slavery Politics, Internal Improvements, and the Limitation of National Administrative Capacity

Salem State College, MA, mulcad01{at}gmail.com

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.

Key Words: race • ethnicity • politics • federalism • intergovernmental relations

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Political Research Quarterly, Vol. 61, No. 4, 671-685 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/1065912908324587


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This Article Abstract Free Full Text (Free PDF) Free Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Mulcare, D. M. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?