President Andrew Jackson took office in 1829. beginning a 30-year period in which his Democratic Party blocked the efforts of the 'elitist" Whig Party to give the U.S. federal government a greater role in developing the country's infrastructure and stabilizing its financial system. Although the existence of slavery in the South did not divide the two political parties at the time, its possible expansion into the western territories did, leading to increasing sectional hostility between North and South. The fear in Southern states that any increase in federal power might lead to the abolition of slavery limited the federal role in domestic affairs, blocking the development of a national transportation system and beginning a cycle of financial panics and economic depressions that would repeat roughly every 20 years. It would take a civil war to tip the balance in favor of government activism.

In the 1820s, Henry Clay envisioned a bold new role for the federal government: building America’s infrastructure, strengthening its economy, and shaping the nation’s future. He called it the 'American System.' But was the Constitution willing to let Washington build?

In this premier episode of our new series, Marshall traces the battle over “Internal Improvements” from Clay and John Quincy Adams to Andrew Jackson and the rise of populist democracy. What began as a fight over roads, canals, and federal power soon became entangled with the deepest conflict in American politics: slavery. For the next three decades, Southern opposition would help derail the vision of a more economically activist federal government.

This episode begins a series exploring what Americans wanted their government to build, what they believed it had the power to build, and why those questions still haunt American politics.

The debate over whether America was founded as a Christian nation has endured for more than two centuries, but what does the historical record actually say? In the final installment of this series, Blake, Marshall, and Mike revisit the evidence, challenge some of the most persistent myths surrounding the American Founding, and examine what the Founders believed about Christianity, government, and religious freedom.

Drawing together the evidence from across the series, they separate fact from fiction and ask what the Founding generation actually intended when it came to religion, government, and the identity of the United States. Is America a Christian nation? The answer is more complicated and more fascinating than either side of the debate often admits.