Era of Good Feelings After the War of 1812, James Monroe was elected the fifth president of the United States in 1816. The Federalist Party died after the Hartford Convention leaving Jeffersonian Republics control, which wasn't for long after the Corrupt Bargain where Henry Clay convinced the House of Representatives to elect Adams as president and make himself secretary of state. This caused a split in parties, the National Republicans and the Democrats. After Monroe was elected president the time was named the "Era of Good Feelings" mainly because of the spread of nationalism. Others still say that this time was a time of sectionalism which can be well supported and wasn't a time of good feelings but a time of panic and division. Although both sides of the story can be argued nationalism did not spread more than sectionalism which was much more visible through the states in political, economic, and social aspects. States over the years have argued over state government and the federal government and the Article of Confederation was a perfect example how the state government does not work. In Document D Maryland questions the authority of the federal government to incorporate a bank. During the McCulloch v. Maryland case Maryland attempted to tax the bank. Maryland got overruled and didn't get their way. Still it serves as a good example of sectionalism where states are thinking only for themselves and not for the good of the nation. Thomas Jefferson in Document F also claimed that the Missouri Compromise will be divide the United States and obliterate unity. This claim is true considering now that the North and South now compete for more free and slave states. In order for Missouri to become a slave state Maine had to become independent again showing signs of sectionalism the North vs. the South. Signs of nationalism although are seen in Document H. John Q. Adams wrote in his diary about the Monroe Doctrine which warns the Holy Alliance to stay out of the Caribbean and Americas claiming they were the defenders of democracy. The United States did not have the army to back up this bold statement but it was still a bold sign of nationalism and did this for the purpose of controlling commerce in this region and improving the state of the economy. In fact during this time the economy was not at its greatest. The Panic of 1819 was an economic depression caused by over speculation in the western lands.
The states attempted to limit the power of the national government because they feared that it would become a monarchy. In an effort to limit the power of the national government, Congress created one without enough power to govern effectively, which led to serious national and international problems. One of the main weaknesses under the Articles of Confederation was its incapability to regulate trade and levy taxes. The states controlled all of their “cash flows.” Sometimes, the states were in debt because of tariff wars that they would engage in with one another.
The Panic of 1893 was one of the most grim and profound problems that plagued America at the end of the 19th century. The financial catastrophe began in May of 1893 when two companies – The Philadelphia and Reading Railroad and The Cordage Company declared bankruptcy after failing to fulfill payments on their loans. The joint financial failures of the companies sparked a crash in the stock market. This served as a catalyst for a surge of bank failures because many New York banks were big investors in the Stock Market. The financial disaster began in New York and soon permeated its way throughout the country. Over a six-month period, over 8,000 businesses, 156 railroads, 400 banks failed, and 20% of Americans were unemployed By July of 1893, there was massive unemployment in factories and extensive wage cuts....
Under the Articles of Confederation each state had its own sovereignty. And the central government was to provide thing such as national security, treaties, courts, and currency. However the government could not tax. If the states didn't pay their bills to the government there was nothing the government could do about it. This is just one of many reasons why the Articles didn't work. In 1786 Virginia tried to get the Articles modified by holding a meeting known as the Annapolis Conference. This meeting failed because only five states sent delegates. A few months later another meeting was held in Philadelphia.
The Panic of 1819, preceded by land speculation, the expansion of state and private banks, easy credit, inflation, and an increase in agricultural exports, was triggered by the tightening of credit, the collapse of the export market, and increased imports.
The Era of Good Feelings was the name applied to the period in the United States corresponding with the term of President James Monroe, following the war of 1812. Shortly after he was put into office, his term was known as the Era of Good Feelings. However, it is clear that the Era of Good Feelings was mislabeled because although there was still a sense of nationalism, it was overshadowed by sectional conflict over the second bank, the tariff, and the demand for slavery.
The Era of Good Feelings was one in which the federalist dissolved thus leaving only one party; the republicans which left no room for party politics, this resulted into nationalism which was emphasized not only with that of Madison's letter but also the Star Spangled Banner, the Bonus Bill, the Monroe Doctrine, The Court Decisions of John Marshall and most importantly National Spirit through the U.S. After the win of James Monroe a Virginian Republican president nationalism was looked at through that of a great perspective wherein Monroe won 231 of the electoral vote verses Adams of the electoral vote. (Doc I-Presidential Election, 1820) Also as the war between American and Britain came to a halt there were some minor issues that took place however, both countries settled the disputes between each other rather than going to war. This is because the British had taken note of U.S. sovereignty, therefore the U.S. was able to put forth Nationalistic ideals seeing that one of the strongest European nations had now respected the sovereignty that we, as a young country, had established. This was followed by a letter that Madison wrote to Congress in 1815 which represented once again the spirit of National Pride.
The federalists view saw the republicans view as a weakness. They insisted on a stronger common government. The federalists had an understanding that there could only be one sovereign in a political system, one final authority that everyone must obey and no one can appeal. They thought this was the only effective way in creating an effective central government. The independent states seemed to think it was clear that each one of them were independently sovereign, although based on history only small countries were suitable for the republican government. With history proving the republicans wrong for trying to create a republican government in the states the federalists were slowly trying to create a stronger central government. There first step was making the sovereign states agree to the Articles of Confederation which established a close alliance of independent states. The federalist central government was referred to as a “confederacy”.
Unsuitably named, the Era of Good Feelings didn’t meet the expectation of how it was considered a nationalistic period because sectionalism emerged under the surface causing tensions within the nation. Initially from one of those tensions, the economy was destabilized and left people quizzical on the American banking system. Moreover the sectionalism between the North and South strengthened because Northerners were becoming more opposed to slavery and Southerners were becoming more united in their defense of slavery as an institution. Lastly, the political disagreement in this time period only showed disunity within the government. Regardless whether the Era of Good Feelings was accurately labeled or not, it indeed built a foundation for America to fulfill its future triumphs and potential.
In 1777, the states enacted the Articles of Confederation to preserve democracy and prevent tyranny from those who sought to centralize power. But in their efforts to keep their independence, the states created a weak central government that was unable to improve an insolvent economy and poor foreign relations.
Rhode Island which is the only one state adopted a new state constitution that all white men had the right to vote. Tocqueville, who was French writer, identified democracy as an essential attribute of American freedom, but the democracy was limited. Blacks and women still had low status. Despite increased democracy in America, blacks were seen as a separate group. The War of 1812 revealed that United States still was not a truly integrated nation. “In 1815, President James Madison put forward a blueprint for government-promoted economic development that came to be known as the American System” (Foner P286). This plan based on a New national bank, Tariffs and Federal financing for better roads and canals. However, the Bank of the United States didn’t regulate the currency and loans effectively. The Panic of 1819 disrupted the political harmony of the previous years. Fearing that Spain would try to regain its colonies, Adams drafted the Monroe Doctrine in1832. It reflected American nationalism, but “sectionalism seemed to rule domestic politics” (Foner P291. Andrew Jackson was the only candidate in the 1824 election to have national appeal, but None of the four candidates received a majority of the electoral votes. Henry Clay supported John Quincy Adams and helped him to win the voting. During the Age of
The Great Depression was in no way the only depression the country has ever seen, but it was one of the worst economic downfalls in the United States. As for North America and the United States, the Great Depression was the worst it had ever seen. In addition to North America, the Depression greatly affected Europe and other various countries throughout the world significantly during the 1920’s and 1930’s. The Great Depression was caused by the collapse of the Stock Market, which happened in October of 1929. The crash exhausted about forty percent of the paper values of common stocks. It was the worst depression due to the fact that at the time of the Great Depression the government involvement in the economy was higher than it had ever been. A unique government agency had been set up exclusively to prevent depressions and their related troubles for instance bank panics. All of ...
Although the treaty of Ghent failed to address the important issues that brought the United States to war, the War of 1812 helped the country improve itself internally by way of increased nationalism, greater industrialization and a more stable economy, and an overall safer nation. After the War of 1812, the people of the United States of America started to take a greater pride in their country and a nationalism rivaling that experienced during the American Revolution was felt throughout the states. After the War of 1812, the great hostilities of the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties were broken as the Federalist Party was ruined and most of its members were absorbed into the Democratic-Republican Party. The result of this was a more unified government. Although many officials still disagreed with one another, as they were expected to, there were no longer the titanic battles that were present at the turn of the century.
As the country began to grow and expand we continued to see disagreements between the North and South; the Missouri Territory applied for statehood the South wanted them admitted as a slave state and the North as a free state. Henry Clay eventually came up with the Missouri Compromise, making Missouri a slave state and making Maine it’s own state entering the union as a free state. After this compromise any state admitted to the union south of the 36° 30’ latitude would be a slave state and a state north of it would be free. The country was very much sectionalized during this time. Thomas Jefferson felt this was a threat to the Union. In 1821, he wrote, ”All, I fear, do not see the speck on our horizon which is to burst on us as a tornado, sooner or later. The line of division lately marked out between the different portions of our confederacy is such...
Even before the Constitution was ratified, strong argument were made by Alexander Hamilton, John Jay, and James Madison in the Federalist Papers urging the inclusion of a federal form of government to replace the failed confederation. In Federalist Paper No. 9 Hamilton states, “This form of government is a convention by which several smaller states agree to become members of a large one, which they intend to form. It is s kind of assemblage of societies that constitutes a new one, capable of increasing, by means of new associations, until they arrive to such a degree of power as to be able to provide for the security of a united body” (Usinfo.state.gov). The people of the United States needed a central government that was capable of holding certain powers over the states.
In spite of the prominence of the states in everyday life, the most demanding public policy questions former to the American Civil War involved discussions over the possibility of national power with most Americans believing it should remain partial. Yet federalism was still the center of political arguments. The Constitution did not report if states did nor did not reserve any remaining sovereignty in the powers given to the national government. The fact that the states were much more capable in accomplishing governmental purposes adequately t...