- Unit 5C: The Era of Good Feelings (1816 to 1824)
- Nationalism in full force after Ghent and New Orleans
- Federalist party in full retreat -- One party politics with Republicans in control
- Election of 1816 -- Monroe and the Virginia Dynasty
- Washington (Jefferson)
- Jefferson (Madison)
- Madison (Monroe)
- Monroe (JQ Adams)
- James Monroe
- last of the Founding Fathers generation
- Virginian with no real special abilities, but a pleasant and able administrator -- just what the country appeared to need in 1816. Unfortunately, weak presidents often bring trouble when strong Congressional leaders lead the country
- Strongly backed a plan to recolonize ex-slaves in Liberia (Monrovia is the capital)
- Strong Congressional Leaders at the Time -- these men will come to dominate American politics like the founding fathers. Every generation has its leaders. Who are the leaders today?
- Henry Clay (KY)
- Speaker of the House
- Warhawk from 1812
- Strong Nationalist with blatant political aspirations for the White House
- Real leader of the Radical Wing of the Republican party
- Ties to all sections because of where he's from (KY)
- Needs to link West with NE -- both for political and economic reasons -- natural link was from West to South over agricultural issues
- American System
- NEW NATIONAL BANK TO REPLACE THE ONE LOST IN 1811 -- provides easy and abundant credit (NE)
- Protection tariff -- 25% on imports passed in 1816 -- protects value of American products (NE)
- Internal Improvements paid for by the government (West and NE)
- Roads -- including a national road
- bridges
- canals
- west could ship food to the northeast in exchange for manufactured goods
- Not much for the South -- South will come to oppose the tariff -- they have to import almost everything due to an over dependence on a one crop system
- New England will oppose internal improvements, fearing that easy access to the west will draw more settlers away from the area
- John C. Calhoun (SC)
- presidential aspirations
- ardent Nationalist now, but later the "Father of Secession"
- Secretary of War under Monroe -- linked to powerful families running SC
- Daniel Webster (NH -- MA)
- more an old Federalist than a new Republican
- will always stand for his section and his nation
- Leader of the Senate and a close friend and ally of John Marshall
- John Quincy Adams (MA)
- presidential aspirations (1st son to follow his father to the White House)
- early Federalist to switch to Republicanism
- Secretary of State and a foreign affairs expert, especially with Britain (Monroe Doctrine really his baby)
- General Andrew Jackson (TN)
- Hero of New Orleans
- Indian fighter -- helps force the issue of Florida in 1819
- Supported by "Mobocracy"
- Hero of the common man
- Elected senator in 1823
- "Era of Good Feelings"
- mood characterized by a quote in a Boston Newspaper in 1817
- everyone in the country seemed happy
- even old cranky Federalist New England seemed ready concentrate on business
- country appeared united, prosperous and ready to assume its rightful place among the great nations of the world
- it was a false sense of security -- ok through 1818
- McCulloch vs. Maryland (1819) -- established federal superiority over states
- issue over whether state would tax the bank
- Marshall declares a state law unconstitutional
- Federal government supreme over states
- Panic of 1819
- overspeculation in western lands
- banks failed
- unemployment and hard times, real but short lived -- west and south really hurt -- commoners really hurt -- helps Jackson and hurts the political establishment
- Missouri Crisis and Compromise of 1820 -- redevelopment of sectionalism
- Missouri applies for statehood in 1819 -- slave territory settled mainly by southerners
- Tallmadge (a representative from NY) -- proposes an amendment where no more slaves will be brought to MO and provides for gradual emancipation of slave children already there
- Issue opens deep wound in the country -- everyone must choose a side
- Southerners see Tallmadge Amendment (which they defeat in the Senate) as an attempt by the North to gain control of the Senate by bringing in more Free states
- At the time -- 11 free states and 11 slave states -- but look at the map -- slavery is hemmed in (Texas belongs to Spain / Mexico)
- Constitutional Issue -- If Congress can interfere with slavery in MO (a territory), could it do so in a state? --
- Tensions mounted on both sides of the Mason - Dixon Line and threatened to tear the country apart
- Just when things looked bleakest, Henry Clay of Kentucky stepped up with a compromise
- Missouri Compromise of 1820
- Maine allowed to become a free state (1820) -- keeps Senate balance
- Missouri becomes a slave state (1821)
- 36º 30' line set for all time as the boundary between free and slave
- Henry Clay seen as the "Great Compromiser" (really enhances his stature)
Election of 1820
- James Monroe runs unopposed, but one elector votes for John Q. Adams
- Adams set up for 1824
- George Washington will be the only person elected unanimously