The Era of Good Feelings &
National Economy
Era of Good Feelings
Nationalism
Population Growth
Transportation
Industrial Growth
Commercial Agriculture
Effects of Market Revolution
Era of Good Feelings
Monroe Years: optimism, nationalism,
goodwill, one-party unity
 Assumptions a bit oversimplified:
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– Era consisted of debates over economy, anger
over national bank, disunity over sectional
tensions, frustrations over public land
– Factions enough that Republican Party split
into two parties
Cultural Nationalism
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Popular votes for Monroe cast
by younger generation
Younger generation excited
about westward expansion w/
little interest in European
affairs
Young, fervent and of the idea
that America was moving into
time of great prosperity
Heroes of Revolution and early
America enshrined in paintings
and patriotic musings in
textbooks
– Artists: John Trumball, Charles
Willson Peale & Gilbert Stuart
Population Growth
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Industrial development requires laborers & consumers
1800-1825: Population doubled
1825-1850: Population doubled again
– 5.5 million in 1800 to 33 million in 1861
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High CBR and influx of immigrants (Germany and G.
Britain)
African American population grew also- although slave
importation banned in 1808
Non-white population did decline overall from 1790
(20%) to 15% in 1850
Westward
Movement: Growth
of Cities by 1850
Economic Nationalism
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Tariff of 1816:
–
Congress raised tariff rates to protect U.S. manufactured
products
–
First protective tariff in U.S. history
Henry Clay’s American System:
–
Three Parts:
1. Protective Tariffs: Promote U.S. manufacturing & raise
revenue
2. National Bank: provide national currency, keep economy
from growing stagnant
3. Internal Improvements: promote growth & transportation
Panic of 1819:
–
Bank tightened credit in order to control inflation
–
Problems: many state banks closed; value of money deflated;
unemployment & bankruptcies
–
Speculation was rampant in the West, bank foreclosed many
small western farmlands
–
In response, many westerners called for land reform &
opposition to national bank
Slave Debate & Settlement
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New Issues Leading to Compromise:
– New states had small populations
relative to North and South
– Politicians bargained w/ other sections
for their objectives
– Westerners wanted:
 Cheap money (easy credit) from
state banks
 Land made available by low prices
(gov’t provide cheap land)
 Improved transportation
– Slavery Issue:
 Those settling in South wanted
slavery for economic needs
 Settlers in North had no need for
slavery
 Slavery became focus of argument
and debate when Missouri applied
for statehood
The Compromise
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1791-1792: Vermont entered Union as Free state, Kentucky entered
as slave state
Politicians desired to keep sectional balance in Congress
Northern pop. grew faster THUS- 1818: North had 105
Representatives to South’s 81
Senate states were divided equally
So long as balance remained, South could block legislation that
threatened them
Slavery existed in Missouri and this concerned Northern politicians
Also: Missouri first state in Louisiana Territory to apply for
statehood- what would the issue of slavery lead to in the other
states soon to follow?
Transportation
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Vital to national and industrial economy
– Efficient network of interconnecting roads and canals for moving
people, raw materials and manufactured goods
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Roads:
– Lancaster Turnpike: 1790 connected Philly w/ rich farmlands in
the west
– Roads privately built and toll roads constructed that connected
major cities in NE
– State ‘righters’ blocked Federal spending of interstate roads
 Exception: Cumberland Road (National) stretched from Maryland to
Illinois
 Begun in 1811, completed in 1850
 Federal and state money used, states received ownership of diff.
segments
Cumberland Road
Canals & Steamboats
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Canals:
– Erie Canal in New York (1825) important: linked western farms
w/ eastern cities
– Canal frenzy was sparked ‘cause of success
– Canals joined together lakes, rivers east of Mississippi
– Improved transportation meant lower food prices in the east,
more immigrants settling in west & stronger economic ties
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Steamboats:
– Clermont (1807): first successful of steam-powered travel up
Hudson River
– Commercial steamboats made round-trip transportation faster
and cheaper
Erie Canal System
•Help unite the
country as well
as improve the
economy and
the infant
industry.
•Because of
the British
blockade
during the War
of 1812, it was
essential for
internal
transportation
improvements
Railroads
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First U.S. rail lines in
1820s
Rails competed directly
w/ canals for faster and
cheaper transportation
routes
People and goods
traveled on rail
Railroad transformed
Cleveland, Cincinnati,
Detroit & Chicago into
economic commercial
centers
Growth of Industry
Early 19thc century: U.S. industry just began
 Mid-19thc: industry surpassed agriculture as
most valuable asset
 End of 19thc: world’s leader
 Rapid growth due to combination of factors:
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Mechanical inventions
Capital
Factory System
Labor
Unions
Industrial Factors
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Mechanical Inventions:
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– Patent laws protected new ideas;
spurred creativity
– Interchangeable parts:
 Basis for mass production
methods in northern factories
Factory System:
– Embargo and War of 1812 spurred
U.S. industry
– Tariffs allowed new factories to
prosper
– New England: leading manufacturing
region- abundant water for power &
shipping; ready labor supply
– Factory system expanded- growth of
financial banking and insurance
followed
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Labor:
– Factories had to compete w/ cheap
land in west
– Lowell, Mass: young workers recruited
and stayed in dorm-like housing
– Child labor used extensively (children
as young as 7 working in factories)
– Mid-century when immigrants
employed in large numbers
Capital:
– 1811: New York passed law that
business could incorporate & raise
money (capital)
– Companies could sell stock, buy stock
– Only money risked was $ invested in
venture
– Corporations could raise revenue
enough to build factories, canals &
railroads
•1830s: Industrialization grew
throughout the North
•Southern cotton shipped to
Northern textile mills was a good
working relationship
Early Textile Loom
Commercial Agriculture
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Early 1800s: agriculture became means of business; less
of sustenance
Cheap Land in the West: farmers provided w/ loans at
low interest rates
Markets: Ohio R. and Mississippi R. were only means of
transport for western farmers UNTIL canals and railroads
were opened
New transportation opened new markets in growing
factory cities
Cotton & the South
Principle cash crop in South (18thc): Cotton
 Eli Whitney’s cotton gin transformed the regional
agriculture (1793)
– Cotton more profitable than tobacco of Colonial
period
 Cotton fiber could be separated from seeds more easily
 Capital invested in new lands in Alabama, Mississippi and
slaves
 Cotton was shipped overseas for sale to British textile
factories
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Market Revolution
Farm specialization, growth of cities, industry &
capitalism meant end of self-sufficient
households
 Farmers fed workers in city, workers in city
provided farmers w/ finished goods
 Standard of living improved
 Society changed as well:
– Women
– Social mobility
– Slavery
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Social Changes
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Women:
– No longer working farms
next to husbands
– Women could find domestic
service and teaching jobs;
few factory jobs though
– Majority of working women
single & if married, worked
in the home
– Arranged marriages less
common and some women
chose to have fewer
children
– Still: legal restrictions
remained
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Slavery:
– Slavery becoming
economically unfeasible in
Virginia & Carolinas
 Soil was exhausted due to
two centuries of tobacco
farming
– Constitutional ban on
importation of slaves in
1808
– Growth of cotton industry
sprung new tides of slavery
– Issues of slavery were not
going away on their own
 Missouri Compromise
illustrates this