Portal:Indiana/Selected article/14

The Indiana Mammoth Internal Improvement Act was a law passed by the Indiana General Assembly and signed by Governor Noah Noble in 1836 that greatly expanded the state of Indiana's internal improvement program. It added an additional $10 million (USD) to spending and funded several projects, including turnpikes, canals, and railroads. The following year the state economy was adversely affected by the Panic of 1837 and the overall project ended in a near total disaster for the state, which narrowly avoided liquidation. By 1841, the government could no longer make even the interest payment, and all the projects, except the largest canal, were handed over to the state's London creditors in a negotiated partial bankruptcy in exchange for a 50% reduction in debt. Again in 1846, the last canal was surrendered to the creditors for another 50% reduction in the debt. Of the eight projects in the measure, none were completed by the state. Only two were finished by the creditors who took them over. The act is considered one of the greatest debacles in the history of the state.