THE ERA OF GOOD FEELINGS

ECONOMIC NATIONALISM

In the period after the War of 1812, America experienced economic prosperity= prestige for the national government

Democratic Republicans will work to strengthen the federal government-

Consider this…“The Republicans have out-

Federalized Federalism”

The Bank of the United States

1811: The charter for the first national bank expired State chartered banks thrived but with little or no regulation- bank notes had uncertain value & couldn’t trade them for gold

Although it was again controversial, in 1816 Congress chartered the Second Bank of America (located in Philadelphia)

Protective Tariffs

Peace after the War of 1812 brought with it a flood of cheap British goods

American manufacturers wanted tariffs to protect young American industries Protected the self-interest of manufactures Desire to have economic independence

from Britain Tariff of 1816 was intended to protect

industry against foreign competition rather than raise revenue

Internal Improvements

The War of 1812 showed America needed internal improvements= building roads & developing water transportation 1815: Construction of the National

Road (1st federally financed interstate) began & stretched from the Atlantic Coast into Ohio

Building roads was controversial so it remained the responsibility of states/ private enterprise for 100 years

Improvements in transportation & communication are the beginnings of the industrial revolution

Era of Good Feelings

Madison’s Secretary of state, James Monroe wins the election of 1816

Sec of State: John Quincy Adams Sec of Treasury: William Crawford Sec of War: John Calhoun

Monroe was a true Republican and never full embraced the economic nationalism that characterized the era after the War of 1812 He encouraged an amendment to repair the

National Road rather than allowing Congress to pass an act

The End to the Era of Good Feelings

Problems in Florida Calhoun sent General Andrew

Jackson to pursue Indians into the Spanish territory

Jackson took a Spanish post and hanged two of their leaders without a trial

This angered Spain but eventually they would agree to the Transcontinental Treaty which ceded Florida to the U.S. in return for assumption of Spanish debt to American merchants

They also set the western boundary of the Louisiana Purchase at the Sabine River in Texas

The Panic of 1819

Cause: the sudden collapse of American cotton prices in the English market

Effect: the price collapse set off a decline

in the demand for other American goods

Langdon Cleves (the new director of the Bank of America) cleaned up the practices of the national bank and put pressure on state banks to do the same

Missouri Compromise

1819: Missouri requested statehood America had an equal number of free and

slave states New York congressman, James Tallmadge Jr.,

asked for a resolution prohibiting the further introduction of slaves into Missouri

The House passed it but the Senate rejected it A crisis was avoided when Maine asked for

statehood= Missouri would be a slave state & Maine a free one

An agreement to exclude slavery in the northern portion of the Louisiana Purchase was made

Judicial Nationalism

The Chief Justice of the Supreme

Court, John Marshall will strengthen the power of the Federal government Dartmouth College v Woodward: expanded the

definition of contract & placed private corporations beyond the reach of the state that granted the charter

McCulloch v Maryland: upheld the “implied powers” of Congress to charter the Bank of America and denied the state’s right to tax it

Gibbons v Ogden: granted the federal government supremacy in regulating interstate commerce

The Monroe Doctrine In Monroe’s annual message to

Congress in 1823, he set out four major points that would later become the Monroe Doctrine1. The American continents were

closed to further colonization by European powers

2. Any attempts by European powers to extend their political systems to the Western Hemisphere would be a threat to American safety

3. The US would not interfere with existing European colonies

4. The US would stay out of the internal affairs of European nations

Election of 1824

Four viable Republican candidates : Henry Clay- supported the American

System (national bank, protective tariffs, internal improvements)

John Quincy Adams- supported internal improvements but not tariffs

William Crawford- supported states’ rights & strict construction of the Constitution

Andrew Jackson- tried to avoid commitment to major issues

The Corrupt Bargain

There was no clear winner by the electoral college or the popular vote- although Jackson received the most votes in both The decision fell to the House of Representatives

where Henry Clay was the Speaker Clay supported John Quincy Adams and so the

House chose him to become the next president There is no proof that Adams made a deal with

the Speaker, but Clay would become Adams’ secretary of state, a job the last 3 presidents held before becoming the chief executive