Why were the Whigs so strong in Kentucky/Tennessee during the 2nd party era?

[The Last Northerner]

From Wikipedia. I can see the appeal of the Whigs in the mid-Atlantic coast but why the upper inland South?

For Tennessee, Whigs look stronger in the eastern Appalachian part of the State. There might have quite a bit of Whig-Bell 60-GOP type voters in this area... perhaps the poor White yeomen farmer?

Kentucky is a bit stranger with less clear patterns. Did Henry Clay really have that much personal appeal there?

Discuss.

[True Federalist (진정한 연방 주의자)]

 Kentucky and Tennessee were located where internal improvements would do the most good and high tariffs would do the least harm, so it's not surprising that the American System advocated by the Whigs would be popular there.

[The Last Northerner]

Kentucky and Tennessee were located where internal improvements would do the most good and high tariffs would do the least harm, so it's not surprising that the American System advocated by the Whigs would be popular there.

I almost forgot about the first part. Building roads would have appealed to voters here; country patterns suggest that people from inner North Carolina and parts of modern day West Virginia (but not northern Alambama...) voted Whig for this reason too.