The Era of Good Feelings1816-1840

What was the “Era of Good Feelings?”

• At the end of the War of 1812, the Federalist Party died out because its opposition to the war was unpopular. This time period is known as the Era of Good Feelings because there was only one political party.

The American System• During the War of 1812 Americans

discovered that there were problems in Hamilton’s financial plan. It was difficult to move goods around the country when there are no good roads!

• Result= people want the national government to fix this problem and create a better economic transportation system.

• The champion of this integrated (interconnected) American economy was Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House from Kentucky. His plan to improve the United States by allowing each state economy to work together was called the American System.

It had three parts:

National Transportation System= moves raw materials to factories & products to buyersA. Roads called “turnpikes”B. Canals= Erie

Canal C. Steam engines= steamships & eventually railroads

National Bank= better control of $ & provide more loans to businesses

High Protective Tariff= protect American businesses from foreign competition

• Clay’s American System is important because it would help make the United States more economically competitive with Europe by creating an inter-connected economy and increase movement to the west.

• One of the reasons why Clay wanted the American System to go into effect was because after the War of 1812, the United States started the Market Revolution.

The Market Revolution•1. The embargo

before the War of 1812

•2.Interchangeable parts

•3. Mass production

• The growth of railroads and canals helped the growth of an industrial economy and supported the westward movement of settlers.

• Most transportation improvements were located in the Northeast.

• Most canals and railroads connected food farms in the Midwest to factory cities in the Northeast.

• The most famous canal, completed in 1825 was the Erie Canal, which connected the Great Lakes to New York City.

Eli Whitney’s Inventions• In 1793 Eli Whitney invented the

Cotton Gin. It removed the seeds from cotton blossoms faster, cheaper and more efficiently which made cotton more profitable. During the War of 1812 he also invented interchangeable parts for rifles used by the American Army.

• These interchangeable parts were used to produce affordable machines that could be used to make products in bulk, which led to the development of factories in New England. Combined with better transportation, it became both faster and cheaper to grow cotton, transport it to New England and use the textile mills or New England to mass produce cloth.

Regional Economies

Basis of the North’s Economy:

• Textile factories

• Trade with Europe

• Cheap labor (women/immigrants)

Main Elements of the North’s Agriculture:

• Subsistence farms

• Food production

Basis of the South’s Economy:

• Plantations

• Subsistence farmers

• Trade with North & Europe

Main Elements of the South’s Agriculture:

• Cash crops (cotton)

• Slave labor

Factories & LowellIn New England, there quickly grew demand for mass produced items from factories. However, with the economy there still based on small-scale subsistence farming, the question arose over who would work in the factories? Factory owners quickly looked to young, unmarried women. Farmers started to send their daughters to work in the factories and send their wages home to help support their families.

Lowell SystemBecause these women lived away from home, the factories built dormitories and factory-towns for the women. These factories also had all parts of production included in one building. This is called the “Lowell System.”

Because their wages helped to support their families, women were paid less than male factory workers who were seen as needing more money to support a family. Women began to complain about the low wages, long hours and harsh working conditions. They started the first labor unions to bargain as a group for better work conditions. Women also demanded the right to vote because they were now more independent from their families. This led to the start of the Women’s Suffrage Movement in the 1840s.

“Old” Immigration (before Civil War)• Due to a large influx of

immigrants from Ireland escaping from the Potato Famine, women workers were gradually phased out. The Irish replaced them because since they were immigrants, they were willing to work for less money than native born Americans.

Irish Germans

•  Poor/lacked skills

•Chain migration=

immigrated one

person at a time

•Catholic

• LOTS of

discrimination

• Lived in city slums

•Replaced women in

factories b/c worked

for lower wages

•  Middle class/trade

skills

•Whole families

immigrated

• Educated

•Protestant

• Less discrimination

• Lived in Midwest

•Bought farms and

grew food

Sectionalism• The Industrial

Revolution also let to the growth of sectionalism= people were more loyal to their section of the country than the nation as a whole. This meant each section of the country developed its own economy & interests.

Sections

The Business Cycle• All of this economic expansion eventually led to the first

recession (Panic) in American history. It was caused by over over-speculation in land and factories. In other words, people borrowed too much money from the banks to buy land or start a business, planning to sell it for more money later. When they failed to make more money, and banks demanded re-payment for the loans, people could not pay off their mortgages and lost all of their money. The economy collapsed and lots of people were bankrupt.

• It took a long time for the economy to recover because the philosophy of the government towards the economy was called “laissez-faire.” In French this means, “leave it alone.” So the government refused to step in and help the economy to improve. Eventually, the invention of better machines kicked off the economy again. This cycle of economic booms and busts (expansions and depressions) is known as the Panic of 1819.

Business Cycle

The Missouri Compromise (1820)As people moved west, eventually

territories gained the population required by the Constitution to apply for statehood. Out of the land gained in the Louisiana Purchase, Missouri was the first territory to become eligible. The problem was Missouri wanted to become a slave state. At that time, there was a balance of slave and free states. To allow Missouri to enter the union as a slave state would upset this congressional balance and give more power to the South. The result was a deadlock in Congress. In 1820, Henry Clay came up with a solution known as the Missouri Compromise.

• In this compromise, he proposed 3 things to happen:

• 1. Missouri enters as a slave state

• 2. Maine enters as a free state

• 3. A line was drawn at 36’30. All land N of the line= free. All land S of the line= slave.

Monroe DoctrineBy the 1820s, Spain’s colonies in Latin America successfully won their independence and gained independence. Most Americans saw these revolutions as extensions of our own and supported them after the revolutionaries created democratic governments in their new countries. Because many of these new nations were small and weak, Americans worried that the Europeans might decide to take them over as colonies after Spain left. We also were afraid the Europeans, with new colonies in the Western Hemisphere might decide to attack us again.

ResultResult: To protect ourselves as well as the Latin American countries from European takeover, in 1823 James Monroe made the biggest bluff in American history. His “Monroe Doctrine” said 3 things:• 1. Europe should stay out of the

Western Hemisphere– no colonization

• 2. The US would stay out of Europe• 3. The US would use our military to

enforce this & fight violatorsThis was a bluff because the United States was still weak after the War of 1812 and we did not have a navy strong enough to enforce the Monroe Doctrine. He hoped the Europeans would believe our bluff and stay out of our affairs. This was a very bold statement to make, and shows that due to nationalism, we believed ourselves to be more powerful than we really were!

1824 Election

During the 1820s, voting in the United States began to change. Although in the East, voting rights were still restricted to people meeting 4 qualifications:•1. white•2. male•3. 21 or over•4.own land

In the new frontier states, everyone who was both white and male over the age of 21 could vote. This expansion of “suffrage” (voting) made the election of 1824 very interesting. Jackson actually received more votes than Adams, but neither won the majority in the Electoral College. To break the deadlock, the election had to be decided by the House of Representatives. Because Henry Clay, the Speaker of the House hated Jackson, he convinced people to vote for Adams. Jackson ended up losing the election. Jackson’s supporters blocked all actions of Adams. They called the election of 1824 the “Corrupt Bargain” claiming Adams cheated. This caused Jackson to win in 1828.

Jackson as PresidentThe changing character of American politics in “the age of the common man” was characterized by • heightened emphasis on equality in

the political process for adult white males

• the rise of interest group politics and sectional issues

• a changing style of campaigning • increased voter participation.

Andrew Jackson personified the “democratic spirit” of the age by challenging the economic elite and rewarding campaign supporters with public office this is called the Spoils System.

The Nullification CrisisSouth Carolinians (led by Vice President John C. Calhoun) argued that sovereign states could nullify the Tariff of 1832 and other acts of Congress. A union that allowed state governments to invalidate acts of the national legislature could be dissolved by states seceding from the Union in defense of slavery. This is called the Nullification Crisis.

President Jackson threatened to send federal troops to collect the tariff money.

Manifest DestinyDuring this period of westward migration, the American Indians were repeatedly defeated in violent conflicts with settlers and soldiers and forcibly removed from their ancestral homelands. This is because Americans (including Andrew Jackson) believed in Manifest Destiny: belief that it was America’s “Manifest Destiny” & God’s will to stretch from Atlantic to Pacific, which provided political support for territorial expansion.

Indian RemovalJackson wanted to remove all Indians living East of the Mississippi River to unwanted land West of the river so that the land could be given to “Common Man” farmers who voted for him. In 1832 Congress passed the Indian Removal Act:Swapped Indian land East of the Mississippi River for land on reservations in Oklahoma

Trail of TearsThis affected the Cherokee tribe living in Georgia the most. They were either forced to march far away from their homes (the “Trail of Tears,” when several tribes were relocated from Atlantic Coast states to Oklahoma) or confined to reservations.