1. The Presidency of James Monroe

2. James Monroe 1758 – 1831 Democratic-Republican 5th President (1817-25)
Last President to have participated in the Revolution
Former Governor of Virginia, Secretary of State, and Secretary of War; as Ambassador to France he negotiated the details of the Louisiana Purchase
Slave owner who brought slaves to serve him in the White House

3. “The Era of Good Feelings”
Term created by a newspaper editor to describe Monroe’s presidency
In the years following the War of 1812, nationalism (intense pride in one’s country) surged and Americans, for the first time, truly thought of themselves as Americans first, ahead of their loyalty to their state or geographic region
The collapse of the Federalist Party left only the Democratic-Republican Party to dominate politics, so there was little political disagreement

4. Second National Bank of the US
The expense of the War of 1812 led Congress to create a new National Bank
The Bank was not overly popular with small farmers because it was aimed at helping Eastern industrialists
Despite this, the need for federal regulation of currency had prompted senators John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay to force through a bill in 1816 creating the Second National Bank

5. The Panic of 1819
The Second Bank of the United States, however, was too generous in offering easy credit, leading to it overextending itself by issuing more loans than it had money
When the European economy recovered following the Napoleonic Wars, demand for American farm goods collapsed; at the same time, the Bank began recalling its loans in an attempt to stabilize its ability to fund the U.S. government’s needs – these two circumstances combined led to massive foreclosures on American farms, creating America’s first economic depression

6. McCulloch v. Maryland
1819
The state of Maryland, angry that Congress had revived the Bank of the U.S., passed a bill taxing any currency issued by the Bank’s Baltimore branch; the Bank’s branch manager (McCulloch) refused to pay the tax
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that: 1) the “necessary and proper” clause in Article I of the Constitution gives Congress the “implied power” to create a Bank; 2) the federal government stands above the states and 3) the states can not interfere with the operation of federal agencies

7. Dartmouth College v Woodward
1819
Dartmouth College, operating under a charter granted by King George III in the 1760s, was forcibly transformed by the state of New Hampshire from a private to a public college
Dartmouth’s trustees sued, arguing that their charter, even though it predated the Revolution, was a valid contract and could not be voided by the state legislature
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed, denying states the right to interfere with private contracts

8. Gibbons v. Ogden
1824
Aaron Ogden was operating steamboats between New York and New Jersey under an exclusive license from the state of New York
Thomas Gibbons began operating a competing line of steamboats under the argument that the Constitution grants all regulation of interstate commerce to Congress, not the states
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed with Gibbons: Article I, Section 8 grants Congress alone has the right to regulate interstate and foreign commerce

9. New States Join the Union
18th: Louisiana (1812) - slaves
19th: Indiana (1816) – no slaves
20th: Mississippi (1817) - slaves
21st: Illinois (1818) – no slaves
22nd: Alabama (1819) - slaves
The admission of Alabama left the nation perfectly balanced between states which allowed slavery and states which did not (11 of each)
By this point, however, the “Era of Good Feelings” was already fading as sectional differences between the North and the South began to grow

11. The Missouri Compromise (1820)
1819: Missouri (which allowed slavery) applied for statehood
This threatened the balance in Congress by giving pro-slavery states more votes in the Senate
U.S. finally agreed to admit Missouri as a slave state but only once Maine was admitted as a free state to keep balance
Congress also drew a line through the Louisiana Territory: north of the line, no slavery; south of the line would allow slavery
The Compromise was largely the work of Senator Henry Clay of Kentucky, who came to be called the Great Compromiser

12. The Treaty of 1818 Also known as the Convention of 1818
Treaty between the U.S. and Britain, which permanently set the boundary between the U.S. and Canada at the 49th parallel from Minnesota to the Rocky Mountains
The Treaty also allowed both the British and Americans to “share” the Oregon Territory for the next ten years and granted American fishing boats the right to fish the Grand Banks

13. The First Seminole War
Spanish Florida was a big problem for the U.S.’s southern states – it harbored runaway slaves and was a base for attacks by Seminole Indians into U.S. territory
In 1818, General Andrew Jackson was ordered into Florida to deal with the Seminole threat, but was also ordered not to engage the Spanish; however, after destroying the Seminole’s stronghold at Tallahassee, Jackson then seized the Spanish capital at Pensacola as well

14. Adams-Onís Treaty Spain was infuriated by Jackson’s actions
The U.S. put the blame on Spain for not being able to control the Seminoles
Spain finally agreed to sell Florida to the U.S. for $5 million in return for the U.S. agreeing to a formal border between the U.S. and Spanish Texas

16. Latin Rebellions
In the early 1820s, Mexico and other Central and South American colonies rebelled against Spanish rule
The U.S. was concerned that Spain would try to retake these newly independent nations in Latin America; they also worried about Russian expansion into Alaska and what that might mean for Russian claims against the Oregon Territory

17. The Monroe Doctrine
In 1823, President Monroe issued a formal statement of U.S. policy regarding the Americas
1) The U.S. would not tolerate European countries interference in the affairs of countries in the Americas
2) No new European colonization would be allowed in Americas
3) The U.S. would not interfere in the affairs of countries in the Americas or of in Europe