Direct answer: The American System was created and championed by Henry Clay, a U.S. politician from Kentucky, in the early 1820s (with the term first popularized in his speeches around 1824). The plan promoted three core components: a protective tariff to support American industry, federal funding for internal improvements (like roads and canals), and the establishment of a national bank to stabilize the economy and finance growth. This set of ideas became a signature policy of the Whig Era and helped shape national economic policy in the United States after the War of 1812.