John C. Calhoun has proposed legislation to earmark the revenue "bonus", as well as future dividends, from the recently established Second Bank of the United States for an internal improvements fund.

Opposition to the Bonus Bill of 1817 has come from sectional rivalries in the older eastern states, fearing that providing the means for settlers to travel west would drain their population and from questions of the bill's constitutionality.

Proponents of the bill stressed the nearly universally accepted need for improvements.

Although President James Madison has urged a variety of measures, including federal support for roads and canals, he vetoes the bill as unconstitutional on March 3 under the enumerated powers of Congress in Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution; his veto message represents an important explication by the "Father of the Constitution."

James Monroe is sworn in as the fifth President of the United States the following day.