Everything about The Era Of Good Feelings totally explained
The
Era of Good Feelings (1815–24) describes a period in
United States political history in which partisan bitterness abated. The phrase was coined by
Benjamin Russell, in the Boston newspaper,
Columbian Centinel, on
July 12,
1817, following the good-will visit to
Boston of
President James Monroe.
Overview
Overt political bitterness declined because the
Federalists had largely dissolved and were no longer attacking the president, then causing an era of good feeling because there was only one political party. The nation was politically united behind the
Democratic-Republican Party. The Era of Good Feelings started after the
War of 1812. The
Hartford Convention of 1814-15 underscored the disloyalty of the Federalists during the war. Nationalism surged even though there were no redress of pre-war grievances at the
Treaty of Ghent, but America had survived the onslaught of a mighty military power, Britain. Americans even had scored a few land and sea victories. The battles of the
Thames,
Lake Champlain and
Baltimore were all American victories. Victories were attained against the world's largest and most prestigious navy. The
USS Constitution was able to defeat
HMS Guerriere,
USS United States defeated
HMS Macedonia, the
USS Enterprise defeated the
HMS Boxer, American vessels defeated British in the
Battle of Lake Erie, and finally America was even able to extend its navy across the Atlantic where the
USS President defeated 3 frigates off the coast of
Ireland. These victories instilled pride in the new nation. President Monroe paid little attention to party in dispensing patronage. In the
election of 1820, Monroe was re-elected with all but one electoral vote. A myth has arisen that one elector deliberately voted against him so that
George Washington would remain the only unanimously elected president. Factually, the elector disliked Monroe's policies; at the time he cast his vote, he couldn't have known that his would be the only one to prevent a unanimous election.
Slavery had come to the forefront as a national issue, but
Henry Clay's negotiation of the
Missouri Compromise ameliorated the crisis. The solution was to balance admission of
Missouri Territory as a
slave state, with the admission of
Maine as a free state. The issue of slavery was part of the larger issue between the
North and the
South of economic and social sectionalism. At this time, local politics were still largely conducted without party labels or party conventions.
The era gave a pause to bitter debates over the protective tariff and the
Second National Bank.
Florida was acquired from
Spain to general acclaim. President Monroe promulgated the
Monroe Doctrine, advising European powers against attempts to reassert their control over former colonies in the
New World. The Monroe Doctrine boldly asserted the status of the United States as a full-fledged nation, and this gained the administration popular support during a time of increased nationalism.
"…We owe it, therefore, to candor and to the amicable relations existing between the United States and those powers to declare that we should consider any attempt on their part to extend their system to any portion of this hemisphere as dangerous to our peace and safety. With the existing colonies or dependencies of any European power we've not interfered and shan't interfere. But with the Governments who have declared their independence and maintain it, and whose independence we have, on great consideration and on just principles, acknowledged, we couldn't view any interposition for the purpose of oppressing them, or controlling in any other manner their destiny, by any European power in any other light than as the manifestation of an unfriendly disposition toward the United States…" ―The Monroe Doctrine, December 2, 1823
End
After the
Panic of 1819 and the
Missouri Compromise of 1820, the national mood grew more tense. However, the relentless daily bitter attacks by one party against the other didn't resume until about 1828. Before 1820, the Democratic-Republican Party members of Congress had met in caucus and decided on the party's presidential candidate. That system collapsed in 1824 as five men competed:
John Quincy Adams,
John C. Calhoun,
William H. Crawford,
Henry Clay and
Andrew Jackson.
Calhoun took himself out of the running by deciding to seek the
Vice Presidency. The other four formed regional coalitions with state politicians and pursued the electorate. At the polls, turnout was light because there were no parties to mobilize voters. Then, because no one received a majority in the electoral college, the decision on the presidency went to the
House of Representatives. Clay, who was
Speaker of the House of Representatives, swung the election to Adams, who then appointed Clay as Secretary of State. The result outraged Jackson and his supporters. They alleged that a "
corrupt bargain" had taken place and immediately began their crusade to regain the "stolen" presidency.
Further Information
Get more info on 'Era Of Good Feelings'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://era_of_good_feelings.totallyexplained.com">Era of Good Feelings Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
