

1816-1824
1. Rep. James Monroe overwhelmed his Federalist opponent in the 1816
presidential election.
2. reelected in 1820 without opposition. Monroe was the last president of
the “Virginia dynasty”. Began with Washington and included Jefferson and
Madison. He was also the last president to wear a powdered wig and
knee breeches.
3. Monroe’s presidency began with a
surge of nationalism and a spirit of
harmony.
4. Americans looked forward to
enjoying the benefits of peace and
prosperity.
5. A Boston newspaper captured the optimistic
spirit of the times when it proclaimed that
Monroe’s election marked the beginning of an
“Era of Good Feelings.”
1. Henry Clay began as one of
the leading War Hawks.
2. Following the War of 1812,
Clay became leading proponent
of a program called the
“American System.”
3. In antebellum America, the
term internal improvements
referred to transportation
projects.
4. Clay’s American System was designed to promote economic
growth and national unity. It included:
o A tariff that would protect American industries and raise revenue to
fund internal improvements.
o A national bank that would promote financial stability.
o A network of federally funded roads and canals.
o A vibrant economy with increased trade among the nation’s
different regions
5. Clay’s American System is similar to Alexander Hamilton’s.
Both programs favored a strong federal government that
promoted commercial & economic growth.
1. The Marshall Court rendered landmark decisions that
opposed states’ rights and strengthened the power of the fed.
Gov.
2. McCulloch v. Maryland
o Declared the national bank constitutional.
o Confirmed the right of Congress to utilize its implied powers.
o Denied the right of a state to tax the legitimate activities of
the federal government.
3. Gibbons v. Ogden
o Declared that only Congress had the constitutional power
to regulate interstate commerce.
o Established the commerce clause as a key mechanism for
the expansion of federal power.
4. Dartmouth College v. Woodward
o Ruled that a state cannot pass laws to impair a legal private
contract.
o Upheld the sanctity of private contracts against state
encroachments.
1. When Washington took office the North and South were
roughly equal in wealth and population.
2. with each passing decade the North steadily outgained the
South in population growth.
3. By 1819 the free states in the North had 105
representatives in the House while the slave states in the
South had just 81 representatives.
4. the North controlled a majority in the House of
Representatives, the Senate was evenly balanced between 11
free and 11 slave states.
5. In 1819, the territory of Missouri
applied for statehood as a slave state.
6. The northern controlled House of Rep.
responded by passing the Tallmadge
Amendment prohibiting the further
introduction of slaves into Missouri &
providing for the gradual emancipation of
slaves already in the territory.
7. Senate rejected the Tallmadge
Amendment, the issue of extending
slavery into the new territories ignited a
sectional debate.
8. Outraged southerners believed that the
Tallmadge Amendment threatened the
future of the plantation system & implied
a moral attack on slavery and thus the
southern way of life.
9. House Speaker Henry Clay promoted compromise that included the
following provisions:
o Missouri would be admitted into the Union as a slave state.
o Maine would be admitted into the Union as a free state.
o Slavery would be prohibited in the remaining portions of the Louisiana
Purchase north of latitude 36° 30’
10. The Missouri Compromise temporarily defused the political
crises over slavery.
11. debate foreshadowed the divisive sectional debates over
the expansion of slavery that resurfaced during the 1840s and
1850s.
12. Thomas Jefferson sensed the future peril when he wrote,
“This momentous question, like a fire bell in the night,
awakened and filled me with terror.”
1. The Napoleonic Wars accelerated Spain’s decline as a
great power.
2. weak Spanish gov. found it increasingly difficult to
maintain control over its possessions in the Americas.
3. Secretary of State John Quincy Adams exploited
Spain’s weakness by negotiating the Adams-Onis Treaty.
4. Spain ceded
Florida to the United States.
5. U.S abandoned claims to northern
Mexico (Texas).
6. the Treaty defined the
southwestern boundary of the
Louisiana Purchase.
7. Spain lost Florida, Chile, Peru, Columbia, and Mexico
8. Following the defeat of Napoleon, the European powers
suppressed revolutionary movements in Europe.
9. Humiliated by the loss of its New World colonies, Spain
turned to France for help.
10. President Monroe and John Quincy Adams feared that
France might use force to help Spain overthrow the new free
Latin American republics.
11. Monroe presented the American position on Latin America in a
speech to Congress delivered on December 2, 1823. The speech
included the following key points:
o The republican governments in the Americas are different and separate
from those in Europe.
o The American continent is no longer open to European colonization.
o The United States will regard European interference in the political affairs
of independent New World nations as hostile behavior.
o The United States will not interfere in the internal affairs of European
nations.
12. Monroe’s statement received little attention at the time.
European powers refrained from interfering in the New World
because of the power of British warships
13. Monroe’s principles were not forgotten. First called the Monroe
Doctrine in 1852, they became the cornerstone of American foreign
policy in the Western Hemisphere.