The “Era of Good Feelings”
APUSH – Mr. Hesen
New Nationalism
Americans feel new sense of NATIONALISM
– Causes
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“Victories” in War of 1812
Death of Federalist Party
Decline of economic and political dependence on Europe
Westward expansion and optimism
Americans saw themselves as AMERICANS!
New Lands
– New states in the West (IN and IL) and in South (MS
and AL)
– Amerindians wiped out in Ohio Valley areas
– Spirit of westward expansion
– Davy Crockett – first pop culture icon – great hunter
and fighter – Americans identified with him
Henry Clay’s American System
Second National Bank
– Voted by Congress in 1816
– Local banks started springing up all over country
– Country was flooded by depreciated bank notes used during
War of 1812
– Modeled after 1st National Bank but with more capital
– Jeffersonians supported new bank; Federalists denounced it…no
one cared
Henry Clay’s American System
Tariff of 1816
– Purpose – protect U.S.
manufacturing from British
competition
– First protective tariff in U.S.
history
– Imposed 20-25% duties on
imports
– Started a protective trend
in U.S. trade
Henry Clay’s American System
Views on Tariff of 1816
– South – John C. Calhoun
• Recent war hawk and
nationalist
• Initially supported tariff
• Later opposed tariff –
helped New England too
much at South’s expense
Henry Clay’s American System
• Views on Tariff of 1816
– New England – Daniel
Webster
• Opposed the tariff
• Shippers in N.E. thought it
would damage their
industry
• New England not
completely industrialized
yet
Henry Clay’s American System
• Views on Tariff of 1816
– Henry Clay
• Saw tariff as a way to develop
a strong domestic market
• Eastern trade would flourish
• Tariff revenues would help
modernize Ohio Valley
• Fix road systems in West
• Foodstuffs and raw materials
from South and West would
flow into North and East
Speech Writing Activity
Pick one (1) of the men we spoke about yesterday and
draft a speech that he would have given in Congress to
either support or oppose the Tariff of 1816.
Make sure you include reasons why you support or
oppose the tariff and its impact on your constituency.
Era of Good Feelings, 1817-25
James Monroe elected in 1816
– Continued Virginia dynasty
– Death of the Federalist Party
– Term coined by newspaper
writer following Monroe’s
election
Era of Good Feelings, 1817-25
Anything but good…
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Sectionalism
Tariff problems
Internal improvements
BUS
Sale of public lands
Panic of 1819
Slavery in the West
Era of Good Feelings, 1817-25
Monroe oversaw four(4) major events during his
presidency:
– Panic of 1819
– Westward Expansion
– Missouri Compromise of 1820
– Monroe Doctrine
Panic of 1819
First major depression since 1780s (AoC)
Causes:
– Overspeculation on frontier lands
– Inflation from War of 1812
– Trade imbalance with Britain and France
Calls for reform emerged:
– Western farmers hated the BUS
– People wanted responsible government
– New land legislation – smaller parcels sold for less
money
***Monroe re-elected in 1820 for dealing with
depression
Westward Expansion
Western Characteristics:
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Were not focused on state’s rights (unlike South)
Depended heavily on federal govt. $$$
Contained wide diversity of people immigrating from East
Some free and some slave
Wanted to maintain sectional balance in Congress
Reasons for Expansion:
– Cheap lands
– Land exhaustion in East (tobacco)
– Speculators took small payments
– Depression during the embargo years (TJ)
– Fewer Amerindians
– Transportation Revolution (canals and steam)
Missouri Compromise of 1820
Missouri asked Congress to enter the
union in 1819
– Tallmadge Amendment passed House
• No more slaves could be brought to
Missouri
• Gradual emancipation to those in Missouri
Missouri Compromise of 1820
• The South viewed Tallmadge Amendment as a
threat to sectional balance
• Southerners feared the future of the slave system
• Senate refused to pass the Amendment – crisis
ensued
“This momentous question, like a firebell in the
night, awakened and filled me with terror.”
- TJ
Missouri Compromise of 1820
Henry Clay led compromise
• Provisions:
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Congress agree to admit Maine as a free state
Future slavery prohibited north of 36⁰ 30’ line
Compromise worked well on both sides
Slavery became a dominant issue in American politics
John Marshall and Judicial Nationalism
Major Cases before the Marshall Court:
– Fletcher v. Peck (1810)
– Martin v. Hunter’s Lessee (1816)
– McCulloch v. Maryland (1819)
– Dartmouth College v. Woodward (1819)
– Cohen’s v. Virginia (1821)
– Gibbons v. Ogden (1824)
Brief description and IMPACT
Foreign Relations
Rush-Bagot Treaty (1817)
– During Madison’s presidency
– Limited naval armaments on the Great Lakes
– U.S. and Canada shared the longest unfortified
border in the world
Treaty of 1818
– Negotiated by John Quincy Adams
– Provisions:
• Fixed American-Canadian border at 49th parallel
• 10-year joint occupation of Oregon Territory
• Americans could share fisheries in Canada
• Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)
– Spain relinquished power to Florida
– Amerindians (Seminoles) flooded across the U.S.
border
– Andrew Jackson sent to control Amerindians – First
Seminole War
Monroe Doctrine (1823)
– Britain sought alliance with U.S. to protect Latin
American interests
– Provisions (written by JQA)
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Monroe warned European powers
Imperial powers can keep lands, but gain no new ones
New republics must govern themselves – no interference
Message was mostly directed towards Russia and Great
Britain
Response to Monroe Doctrine
– British reaction was mixed – thought U.S. was
directing at them
– Became cornerstone to U.S. foreign relations in
19th and 20th Centuries
– JQA became one of the most significant Sec. of
States EVER!
You are a newspaper journalist in the 1820s reflecting back on all of the
foreign policies created during Madison’s and Monroe’s administrations.
Choose two (2) foreign policy measures from the following:
Rush-Bagot
Treaty of 1818
Adams-Onis
Monroe Doctrine
Create an editorial and demonstrate your knowledge of the topic and your
preliminary opinion of the foreign policy measures in place.
Nationalism in Literature ACTIVITY
• Noah Webster
• William McGuffey
• Knickerbocker Group
– Washington Irving
– James Fenimore Cooper
– William Cullen Bryant
• Henry Wadsworth
Longfellow
• Transcendentalism
– Henry David Thoreau
– Ralph Waldo Emerson
– Walt Whitman
Nationalism in the Arts ACTIVITY
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Gilbert Stuart
Charles Willson Peale
John Trumbull
Thomas Cole
Asher Durand
Frederic Edwin Church
Albert Bierstadt