The Presidency of James Monroe Democratic-Republican The “Era of Good Feelings” The Missouri Compromise The Monroe Doctrine The Adams-Onis Treaty

Nationalism Unites the Country  Nationalism is a feeling of pride, loyalty, and protectiveness toward your country.  With the end of the war of 1812, the intense political divisions that once split the nation had faded. In their place was a feeling of unity. The War of 1812 sent a wave of nationalist feelings through the country.  As nationalist feelings spread, people slowly shifted their loyalty away from state governments and more towards the federal government.

Monroe Wins the Presidency  Democratic- Republican candidate, James Monroe, won the 1816 presidency with a large majority vote.  The Federalist Party provided little opposition to Monroe, and eventually they disappeared.  One Boston newspaper referred to the lack of political differences in this time period, as the “Era of Good Feelings”.

Henry Clay’s “American System”  Henry Clay, a republican Speaker of the House & War Hawk from the west, proposed a nationalist program to help the country grow… this became known as the “American System”  The plan… (basically an economic growth plan) 1. Establish a protective tariff– a higher tax on imported goods meant to give American manufacturers a chance to develop. 2. Establish a national bank– that would promote a single currency. (Instead of a northern currency and a southern currency.) 3. Improve the country’s transportation system ■ Building of roads, bridges, and canals Problems arose with part of Clay’s “American System”… People in the south felt the protective tariff favored the North’s industrial interests. There were very few factories in the South, so they saw little benefit, but saw prices increase on goods they bought.

While nationalism was unifying the country… sectionalism was threatening to tear it apart.

Growing Sectionalism…  The tariff dispute in Clay’s “American System” demonstrated a growing sense of sectionalism in the nation.  Sectionalism is loyalty to your own region, or part, of the nation rather than the whole nation itself.  America developed into three distinct sections… the north, the south, and the west.  Each section of the nation was trying to get their own way in the government and each trying to make the most money.

The Missouri Compromise  In 1819, the Missouri territory applied for statehood.  The people of Missouri wanted slavery in their new state.  There were 13 slave states and 13 free states at the time. This sparked a HUGE debate in Congress about whether or not Missouri should be allowed to have slavery…because power in the Senate would be un-balanced if they admitted another slave state.  Luckily, Maine also wanted to become a state…  Debates in Congress were heated and fearing a split in the Union, Henry Clay orchestrated a compromise to keep the balance of power equal in the Senate… His plan had 3 parts…  1) In 1820, Maine became a free state & 2) in 1821, Missouri was admitted as a slave state.  3) Slavery was outlawed north of the Missouri Compromise Line (36° 30’ Missouri’s Southern Border) ■ This line was intended to be the dividing line between free and slave states for all future states.

The Missouri Compromise was a temporary solution to a sectional conflict… Northerners pushed west and brought their anti-slavery ideals, while at the same time, Southerners moved west taking their economy based on slave labor with them… It was a disagreement that seemed to have no peaceful solution.

While the war of 1812 heightened the sense of nationalism in the country, Americans realized they had to establish a new relationship with European powers. The nation felt threatened not only by sectionalism, but by events elsewhere in the Americas.  In Latin America, several countries (inspired by America’s own revolution) had successfully fought for their independence from Spain and Portugal.  On the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, several European monarchies planned to help Spain and Portugal regain their colonies.  U.S. leaders feared that if this happened, their own government would be in danger. What should they do?... Foreign Affairs…

General Andrew Jackson was sent into Florida to stop Seminole Indian raids in neighboring states. Instead, without authorization, Jackson attacked & captured several Spanish Forts in western Florida. Spain was fearful of losing Florida, it negotiated with president Monroe’s secretary-of-state, John Quincy Adams, for the purchase of Florida in the Adams-Onis Treaty of Spain also gave up claims to the Oregon territory and the U.S. agreed to Spanish control of Texas.

The Adams-Onis Treaty gave the U.S. control of Florida from Spain for $5 million dollars and defined the boundary between the U.S. and New Spain…(for a while)

The Monroe Doctrine declared that the U.S. would oppose any attempt by European countries to establish new colonies in the Western Hemisphere. 1.The Western Hemisphere was no longer open for colonization by European countries 2.The U.S. would oppose any nation trying to regain control of former colonies (Mexico) that had achieved independence 3.The U.S. agreed not to interfere with existing colonies under European rule (Canada, Cuba) Monroe told European nations to keep their hands OFF the Western hemisphere

Monroe Doctrine

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Which president that we’ve learned about would most likely agree with the message of this cartoon? Why?