The Era of Good Feelings

Major Themes & Events

● Collapse of the Federalist Party

● Rise of national unity

● James Monroe’s Presidency

Background & Context

● The War of 1812 caused division

across the nation

● James Madison is President

○ Madison is a Democratic

Republican

● The two major parties are the

Democratic Republicans & the
Federalists

Multiple Choice

What are the two major politcal parties during this time?

• Democrats and Republicans

• Democrat Republicans and the Federalists

● Federalists met to discuss issues they

saw in the war.

● Their plans included:

○ Removing the 3/5's Compromise
○ Requiring a ⅔ majority in Congress

for admission of new states

● The convention & its ideas discredited

the party after America’s victory

The Hartford Convention

Fall of the Federalist Party

● Federalists opposed the War

of 1812

● The Hartford Convention

discredited the Federalists

● The Treaty of Ghent (1814)

ended the war

● Many Americans saw the

Federalists as traitors
afterwards

Multiple Choice

True or False: Many Americans saw the federalists as traitors after the war of 1812

• True

• False

● Federalist Candidate: Rufus King

● Democratic Republican

Candidate: James Monroe

● Monroe won overwhelmingly:

183-34 electoral votes

● The Federalist Party held its last

caucus in 1825, and disappeared
entirely by the late 1820s

The Election of 1816

Monroe

King

Post Election Cause & Effect

Cause

Effect

Death of the Federalist Party

→ Only one dominant party

(Democratic Republicans)

One dominant party

→ Lack of political division

Lack of political division

→ Harmonious nation

End of War

→ Joyous nation

Harmonious, joyous nation

→ Rise of national purpose &

sense of national unity

The American System

● Congressman Henry Clay proposed

improving America’s infrastructure
- roads, canals, & railways

● Also promoted a tariff to protect

American industry; and a national
bank to foster commerce

● Monroe opposed but many projects

passed by Congress

● Series of visits to key places around

the country in 1817 & 1819

● Goal: Spread the message of unity

& harmony

● Key locations in New England,

where Federalists had strong roots

● Monroe dressed in

Revolutionary-era clothing

The Goodwill Tour

● Most of the nation considered

themselves Republicans by the
end of the 1819 tour

● “The Era of Good Feelings” was

coined by a Federalist journal
when Monroe visited Boston

● Monroe ran unopposed by

another main party in 1820

Effects Of The Goodwill Tour

The Monroe Presidency

Key Events:

● Panic of 1819
● The Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)
● The Missouri Compromise (1820)
● The Monroe Doctrine (1823)
● Allows Indian removal in Georgia (1825)
● Mississippi, Illinois, Alabama, Maine & Missouri

become states

● America’s 1st widespread

financial crisis

● Caused by post-war economic

changes and unregulated
banking

● Slowed westward expansion

& hurt the economy

● Lasted until 1821

● Pushed the US towards an independent economy

The Panic of 1819

Multiple Choice

What is the panic of 1819?

• America's rise out od debt

• America's 1st widespread financial crisis

The Adams-Onis Treaty (1819)

● Treaty between US &

Spain

● Spain ceded Florida to

the US & redefined the
boundary

● Settled an ongoing

border dispute

● Benefited both nations

● Admitted Missouri as a slave state & Maine as a free state

● Prohibited slavery in the rest

of the Louisiana Purchase

● Very controversial,

many worried the
nation was too divided

The Missouri Compromise

The Monroe Doctrine (1823)

US foreign policy opposing European colonialism:

1. Told Europeans Europeans to

no longer interfere in the
Western Hemisphere

2. If they did, the US would

view this as a threat

3. The US promised to stay out

of the affairs of existing colonies

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of the Monroe Doctrine?

• It was a document that told Europe to do its own thing and leave American alone to do their own thing.

• It was a document that requiered American to pay taxes to the Europeans

● Georgians demand better farm land

● Monroe agrees in 1825

● Georgia passes laws to abolish Cherokee

law & government, and distribute their
territory to white farmers

● Paved the way for the Indian Removal Act

(1830) & the Trail of Tears

Indian Removal in Georgia (1825-31)

Trail of Tears Memorial

“The Era of Good Feelings”

● How “good” was this era?

○ Consider everything that characterized

this time period

○ Do you think the era lives up to its name or

not? Why?