Era Of Good Feelings

Historians have traditionally labeled the period following the War of 1812 as the “Era of Good Feelings.” Evaluate the accuracy of this label considering the emergence of nationalism and sectionalism.

For example, there was a high tariff placed on foreign goods. This was beneficial for the north because it increased the chances of Americans purchasing the goods produced in their factories. However, this was disadvantageous for the south. Since slaves were viewed as objects, imported slaves were considered imported goods and were sold with high tariffs attached to them. The three regions were becoming more sectionalist because they were becoming increasing concerned with problems facing their own area, and not the country as a whole. The sectionalism that emerged during this time period did so within a short period of time. This is easy to see in the election maps of 1820 and 1824. Within these four years, the United States went from being uniformly supportive of one candidate (Monroe in 1820), to having support for several candidates. While much of the south was in support of Andrew Jackson, the first president who did not have a formal education and supported the “common man”, much of the north backed John Q. Adams, the eventual winner. These maps illustrate the regional differences that eventually led to the lack of a majority vote. Sectionalism became quite prominent with the emergence of different factions within the Republican Party and eventually the creation of new parties. Each region was sectionalist in that they voted for the candidate who would be the best advocate for their area, rather than leader for their country.

The south began to rely on agriculture as their basis of economic growth. For this to be success, slavery was an almost a natural need for the people of the south. Cotton began to grow as a cash crop for the South. Cotton was dependent on many workers needed for it to exist, thus the need for such a large amount of work force. Slavery in the late 1700’s was beginning to die down and cotton was paying the biggest price for it. Not until Eli Whitney’s invention of the cotton gin did the issue of slavery spark up again and cotton begins to thrive. In 1820 Missouri wished to be part of the Union as a slave state. With there already being an equality of Slave states and Free states it caused tension and sectionalism within the country; because of the edition of Missouri would cause an unbalance of free and slave states. In hopes to resolve this conflict a compromise was reached known as the Missouri Compromise. Through the Missouri Compromise Missouri was able to enter as a slave state, while Maine was able to enter as a free state. However, as pointed out, it created a line between slave states and Free states. Any state below Missouri was able to practice slavery, and any state above was to be a Free State. Even John Quincy Adams led to the sectionalism, with his supportive views of the Compromise. (Document F) He expressed views in the emancipation of slavery as a

Although the United states did expressed Nationalism in some ways, all this was forgotten when the country stated to divided it self into different sections with different believes. One of the great differences between these sections was tariffs. Hohn Randolph of congress said in 1816, "With my goodwill, sir, no one interest agriculturists bear the whole brunt of the was and taxation, and remain poor, while the others run in the ring of pleasure, and

All in all, the period after the War of 1812 may seem to be an "Era of Good Feelings" because of nationalism and westward expansion, but in fact it was not because of increasing sectionalism and state issues. As a result of winning the War of 1812 against Great Britain,

On the other hand, as the country advanced and refined, it became known that the fixed views of the two political parties needed to be reasonable if the nation were to expand. Jefferson made the first action toward reconciliation and moderation of his political outlook with the Federalists by contributing a sense of peace in his First Inaugural Address (Doc. 3). Jefferson declared, “We are all Republicans, we are all Federalists,” signifying Americans are all in this society together and collectively make the world outstanding. Jefferson and his party had to further control their thinking when the chance to purchase the Louisiana Territory from France appeared in 1803 (Doc. 4). There was a lack of preparation in the Constitution for a president to buy more territory. However, the opportunity may have not continued to be accessible for a long amount of time, and Jefferson changed his own “strict construction” aspects and doubled the size of the United States.

The period after the War of 1812 during the presidency of James Monroe is often referred to as the “era of good feelings” because of a feeling of nationalism, a feeling of pride and national unity. The end of the Federalist Party also provided the nation with a feeling of nationalism, for there was no political opposition toward the Republicans. This title, however, may not be the most accurate label for this particular time period, for this time period marked the beginnings of sectionalism, with heated debates over tariffs, the National Bank, and most importantly, over slavery.

The period after the war of 1812 was labeled “The Era of Good Feeling” by historians. Some people believe that this is an accurate label of this time period, but others disagree. Due to the emergence of sectionalism- concern with local interests, and nationalism- patriotic feelings and self pride, people had mixed feelings about this time period. Many people felt that times were high, and that nationalism and sectionalism could only bolster the union, while others thought that it was sectionalism and nationalism that caused disunion. Some of the documents used in this essay support the claim that the period after 1812 was an era of good feelings. Other documents will oppose this claim with proof from their own perspectives.

The change in nation reflect a growing sense of national pride and identity. After the war of 1812 we beat the british and the country had a lot of nationalism. During the Era of Good Feeling the government took over almost all of the economy and gave the states less and less power. When Andrew jackson became the president and changed the economy and government. When Andrew Jackson Vetoed the bank and giving the money to state banks. When the Era of Good Feeling began the country was united and had lots of nationalism , but when Andrew Jackson came to office his ideas split apart the country.

The era of good feelings was a reflected spirit on the rise of the American nationalism that was spreading throughout United States in the years after the war of 1812. Not only were there patriarchal feelings towards America, there was also a rise of national politics. There were many reasons why the years 1812-1817 was named the era of good feelings. The Hartford Convention kicked off the process of the “Era of Good Feelings”, and after the convention several things happened to cause the era. These include the end of the two-party system and also the signal of the end of the War of 1812. Although the Era of Good Feelings can sometimes be a misleading characterization of the time period, overall it does deserve its name because of the peace

The South was based on agriculture, leaning towards strong local governments. The North was heavily influenced by Henry Clay’s American System, accompanied with large scale industrialization and cities. The most distinctive political difference between the northern and southern states was their view on slavery. The southern states found slaves a necessity in order to have a labour force to operated the cotton gins in the plantations; however, the northern states opposed the use of slaves due to their morales. This sectionalism caused a division among American citizens, affecting the government’s ability to unite the two political ideologies. To attempt to satisfy the demands of both the North and South, the Missouri Compromise of 1820 was created to resolve issues of slavery in newer western states. This compromise brought upon the 36-30 Parallel Line, a geographical line that split the North and South, depicting the contrasting political and societal views and increasing sectionalism (F). This power struggle between states and the federal government only caused unrest, resulting in no further beneficial reforms or rulings, causing the Era of Good Feelings to not hold true to its name.

During Monroe’s two terms, sectionalism, an excessive regard for sectional or local interest, increased greatly. This increase in sectionalism is due to acts like the Tariff of 1816. A tell tale sign that the Tariff of 1816 was going to cause sectionalism was that in the U.S. House of Representatives, the

Although the aftereffects of the era of good feelings dominated the beginning of the time period and compromises were at first effective, sectionalism over national subjects, especially slavery, led to a crisis in which compromises often meant more increase in political tensions. (Doc F) Sectionalism abruptly increased in the 1820 and 1830's with The Missouri Compromise and the Tallmadge Amendment. Tallmadge's radical proposition was that Missouri gradually emancipated its slaves and prohibit slavery in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase which produced raging political debates. If Missouri went either as a slave state or free state, the precarious balance of eleven to eleven states in the senate would be upset. The compromise

By any criteria the years following the War of 1812, otherwise known as the “Era of Good Feelings,” must be considered a time of exceptional growth and development in the United States, but above all, it may be considered a time of evolution and ripening of American nationalism, unification, and economic prowess. The war of 1812 was a very problematic war. States did not fulfill their duties, while commanders and leaders were not informed or supplied enough to keep up the war. But what awakened during this time and afterwards is something much greater then victory. The war wasn’t just about Britain holding land and impressing American sailors into their navy; it was a second war of independence. It was the first war as a united country,

The period of James Monroe’s presidency has gained the term used worldwide as the “Era of Good Feelings”. It was adopted by this name because of Monroe’s action in visiting the U.S military basis and because of the spirit of nationalism and optimism gained by the people from the War of 1812. Foreign affairs exemplifies why this name is partly fact. However, the perception of unity that this era defines is somewhat misleading. Throughout this period, there were various problems that contradicted the era’s name. Some of the serious issues that divided the nation were economic depression and sectionalism.