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[[/“The Era of Good Feelings” was a time in American history that is best known connected to the administration of the fifth President of the United States, James Monroe. This time period received its name from a Boston Federalist newspaper in 1817, during which Monroe visited the city of Boston. During this time, the country was dealing with a lot of political resentment between the Federalist and the Republican parties that made this time period anything but “Good Feelings”. There was the Panic of 1819, The Missouri Compromise and the Monroe Doctrine all during this “Era of Good Feelings”.

Panic of 1819

The Panic of 1819 was the first time the new country faced an economic down turn and the first time this country had to deal with a fiscal depression. During this time the United States had a surge in not only the imports but also the exports. “European demand for American goods, especially agricultural staples like cotton, tobacco, and flour, increased. To feed the overheated economy, state banks proliferated, and credit was easy. “The federal government offered for sale vast tracts of western lands, fueling real estate speculation funded by bank notes. Reserves of specie, or hard money, plummeted, especially in the West and the South”. But during this time, Thomas Jefferson foreseen Bad things to come. Jefferson was quoted as far back as 1814 saying that “We are to be ruined by paper, as we were formerly by the old Continental paper,” and two years later, he asserted that “we are under a bank bubble” that would soon burst. The first president of the Second Bank of America should have been regulating the nation’s currency better but instead turned the other way while big loans were handed out and added fuel to the nation’s inflation. The problems of the bank continued to grow fast so the banks president, William Jones, resigned during the postwar expansion. The banks president would soon after become the job of Langdon Chews of South Carolina, followed by a Philadelphia lawyer, Nicholas Biddle Although the bank sharply contracted loans in 1818, the damage had been done. The Bank of the United States, far from helping the economy, was among the destabilizing forces that led to the depression of 1819. “At the same time, swelling crop yields in Europe reduced the demand for American farm products, whose prices plunged. An economic contraction in Europe led banks there to reduce credit. The crisis abroad, coupled with the contraction at home, forced American banks to call in their loans as well.” By the beginning of 1819, Americans could no longer receive credit that was at once readily available. Businesses began to flop along with American banks. Americans were dealing with some very tough times as they were not able to afford food and basic necessities in some regions. The unemployment rate rose very fast and the sale of public land dropped drastically. Cities outside of New England like Philadelphia, Pittsburgh and Cincinnati were especially hit hard during this time, as were agricultural suppliers and prisons were filled with debtors. The depression would last for about two years.

The Missouri Compromise

Before 1819 Missouri was still an uncharted territory. But in 1819 Missouri applied for statehood into the union. The issue at hand was whether or not to accept it as a slave state or a free state. At this time there were twenty-two states in the Union, eleven free states and eleven slave states. The southern states wanted Missouri to enter as a slave state and the northern states wanted Missouri to enter as a free state and wanted slavery abolished all together. Both sides were upset because no matter what side Missouri was accepted into, it would force the balance of power in the Senate to be unbalanced. “A resolution was proposed by New York Representative John Tallmadge in February. The resolution suggested once Missouri became a state no more slaves could be transported over the border. It further stated all children of slaves born in Missouri after its admission would be granted freedom at age 25. This proposal passed the House of Representatives but was rejected by the Senate. Congress adjourned and the dissension continued. During the following session (1819-1820), the House passed a similar bill with an amendment introduced on January 26, 1820 by John W. Taylor of New York, allowing Missouri into the union as a slave state. In the meantime Maine (part of Massachusetts at the time) applied for admission as a free state.” In an attempt to please both sides the Senate decided to connect both measures, passing a bill with the admission of Maine that had an amendment enabling the people of Missouri to form a state constitution. A second amendment was adopted before the bill was returned to the House of Representatives. Senator Jesse B. Thomas of Illinois proposed excluding slavery from the Missouri Territory north of what is known as the 36 parallel, except within the limits of what was proposed as the state of Missouri. Sadly enough this compromise only lasted four years, and was said later to be a compromise to avoid a civil war between the north and the south.

The Monroe Doctrine

The Monroe Doctrine was first introduced to the nation on December 2, 1823 in a speech by President James Monroe. The reasoning for the doctrine was justified because the United States feared that the islands of the Caribbean would be ceded from Spain due to some type of French or British intervention. At that time, Secretary of State John Quincy Adams sent a letter to the American minister to Spain explaining his worries. “Such indeed are, between the interests of that island and of this country, the geographical, commercial, moral, and political relations, formed by nature, gathering in the process of time, and even now verging to maturity, that in looking forward to the probable course of events for the short period of half a century, it is scarcely possible to resist the conviction that the annexation of Cuba to our federal republic will be indispensable to the continuance and integrity of the Union.” Around this time the United States was becoming extremely interested in the northwestern part of North America but was worried because Russia was also interested, exploring the Alaskan coast. Adams was becoming more worried that Spain, Britain or Russia would try and come into the northwestern part of the United States; Adams suggested to President Monroe that a unilateral declaration be imposed to avoid any conflict. Monroe agreed and put the declaration into his speech delivered on December 2 before congress. In the doctrine Monroe stated that the western hemisphere was no longer available or open for colonization; He wanted it to be known that the political system was different in Europe than that of the United States; The United States would regard any interference in the western hemisphere’s affairs as a threat to nation security; And that the United States would refrain from participation in the European wars and would not disturb any of the existing colonies in the Western Hemisphere. “The immediate impact of the Monroe Doctrine was mixed. It was successful to the extent that the continental powers did not attempt to revive the Spanish empire, but this was on account of the strength of the British Navy, not American military might, which was relatively limited.”

Overview

During this time period the nation was still very young and was still trying to figure itself out. The country was still expanding and still dealing with issues that any new county would have to deal with. The United States was on its fifth president, James Monroe. The Panic of 1819 showed that there was still a lot to learn from a relatively young government. The Second Bank of America was giving out loans to any and everybody. It finally reached a point where the federal bank just could not handle all the loans it was giving out and it caused the country to face its first major financial depression. The Missouri Compromise gave proof that the young county was still trying to find itself. As the United States began to grow it was a nation divided among differences and sectionalism. The people of the north believed in one thing whereas the people of the south believed in another. The Missouri Compromise was supposed to appease both sides of a bitter disagreement and is said to be the last stand to avoid a civil war. Unfortunately it only lasted four years before it was repealed and gave way to a war between both sides. The Monroe Doctrine was first introduced in a speech given by President James Monroe, from the advice of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, that basically told other countries that the rest of the uncharted territories in America was off limits to them, and that in the event that they tried to colonize the uncharted territories the United States would consider that an act of war. So given all the things that this country was going through during this time period it’s easy to say that this time was anything but “The Era of Good Feelings”.  

1. “Panic of 1819: The First Major U.S. Depression.” The Globalist. David Reynolds, February 10, 2009. http://www.theglobalist.com/storyid.aspx?StoryId=7523 2. “Missouri Compromise” New World Encyclopedia. http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Missouri_Compromise 3. “Monroe Doctrine” http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h255.html 4. “James Monroe and the Era of Good Feelings.” The Virginia Magazine, Harry Ammon. Vol. 66 October 1958. No. 4 ]]