The “ Era of Good Feelings ” (1815-1824)

TheThe

““Era of Good Era of Good FeelingsFeelings””

(1815-1824)(1815-1824)

The Election of 1816The Election of 1816

James Monroe [1816-1824]James Monroe [1816-1824]

• Republican• Part of Virginia

dynasty• Part of the emerging

nationalism– Good will tour– Inspect military

defenses

Era of Good Feelings?

• Positives– Tranquility– Prosperity– Nationalism

Troubling Issues– Tariff– The Bank– Internal

improvements– Sale of public lands

• Crystallizing of sectionalism

• Conflict over slavery

Panic of 1819• Contraction due to inflation, depression,

bankruptcies, bank failures, unemployment, debtor’s prisons

• Overspeculation of the frontier lands• Bank of the US forced western banks to foreclose

on farms– US Bank looks like devil to foreclosees

• Poorer classes were troubled– Inhumanity of debtor’s prisons

Growing Pains of the West• 9 states had joined the union

– Admitted alternately free and slave• Land exhaustion forced farmers west• Generals Harrison and Jackson pacified the

frontier• Creation of the Cumberland Road• Land Act of 1820 – authorized buyers to

purchase 80 acres at $1.25/acre minimum

US Population DensityUS Population Density

18101810 18201820

John Quincy Adams:John Quincy Adams: A bulldog among spaniels!

• Secretary of State under Monroe

• Negotiated treaties with Britain and Spain

• Treaty of 1818 with UK– Share Newfoundland

fisheries– Share Oregon– Set 49° as northern

boundary

The Convention of 1818The Convention of 1818

Florida• Remained under Spanish control after War

of 1812• South American revolutions forced Spain to

take attention away from Florida• Jackson saw opportunity to combat

Seminole Indians and capture fugitive slaves– Seized St. Marks and Pensacola

• Adams negotiated the “Florida Purchase Treaty of 1819” – Spain ceded Florida in exchange for Texas

Adams-Onis Treaty, 1819Adams-Onis Treaty, 1819

The West & the NW: The West & the NW: 1819-1819-18241824

Slavery and the Sectional Balance

• Rivalry was beginning between the free North and the slave South over the West

• 1819 – Tension erupts as Missouri requests admission to US as a slave state

• House of Reps denies it by passing Tallmadge Amendment

The Tallmadge AmendmentThe Tallmadge Amendmentp No more slaves shall be brought into

Missouri pAll slaves born in Missouri after the territory became a state would be freed at the age of 25.

p Passed by the House, not in the Senate.

p The North controlled the House, and the South had enough power to block it in

the Senate.

Missouri Compromise• Congress agreed to admit

Missouri as a slave state and Maine as a free state– Balance between N and S

remained intact• All future slavery was

prohibited in LA territory north of 36°30’

• Compromise lasted 34 years

The Election of 1820The Election of 1820

The Monroe Doctrine, 1823The Monroe Doctrine, 1823

3. What would the US do if the warning was not headed?

Monroe Monroe Doctrine Doctrine

2. What warning is given to the European countries?1. What

foreign policy principles are established?

p Referred to as America’s Self-Defense Doctrine.

The Election of 1824:The Election of 1824:The “Corrupt Bargain”The “Corrupt Bargain”

The Election of 1824:The Election of 1824:The “Corrupt Bargain”The “Corrupt Bargain”

Candidate Popular Vote

Electoral Vote

Andrew Jackson

43% 99

J.Q. Adams 31% 84

William Crawford

13% 41

Henry Clay 13% 37

Adams wins the Election

• Jackson did not have a majority in the Electoral College– House of Reps makes decision

• Henry Clay – Speaker of the House had considerable influence– Chose Adams – most similar politically– “Corrupt Bargain” – became Sec. of State