Era Of Good Feelings In Henry Clay's American System

The Gilded Age lasted from 1870 to World War 1, “1900s.” The Gilded Age was a period of fast economic development, but also much social struggle. Mark Twain in the late nineteenth century founded the “Gilded” Age, which means covered with gold on the outside, but not really golden on the inside, for example, tin. This period of time was glittering on the surface but corrupt underneath. In other words, the outside looked beautiful, but the inside looked old and trashy. During this era, it was a period of greed and cunning. Also, it was a period of fast economic development, but also much social struggle.

During the years of 1801-1817 two separate parties had formed, the Jeffersonian Republicans (Democrats) and the Federalists, which feuded bitterly in the political world. During Jefferson’s presidency the Democratic party remained firm in their beliefs, but began to slightly conformed to the Federalists during Madison’s presidency; likewise, Federalists stubbornly held onto their views, but compromised to the stricter views of Democrats when Jefferson was in power.

The Missouri Compromise was a significant turning point in United States history, it lead to many discussions on slaves civil rights, the Dred Scott decision, and the Kansas-Nebraska Act. In a sense, the Missouri Compromise impaired the unity of the United States and was the original fuel for the civil war.

The immense growth of industry and an increasing drive to move further westward from 1815 to 1860 marked a time that would forever change the fabric of America. Economic and territorial expansion would further drive sectionalism within the nation and disrupt national unity to a nearly unfathomable extent.

Around the presidential election of 1824, the presidential candidates -John Quincy Adams, Henry Clay, and Andrew Jackson- took part in the “Corrupt Bargain”, an alliance made between Adams and Clay in order to secure Adams’ presidency. During the Electoral College, Jackson received 99 votes in front of Adams who received 84 votes, while Jackson did receive more votes, he had not gotten a majority of votes, so the House of Representatives were to choose the next president. The spokesman of the House of Representatives, Henry Clay, was to choose between the two candidates. Instead of choosing for the sake of the country, Clay chose to help himself, as Adams had offered him a position as the secretary of state. After Adams’ presidency was secured,

The cause of most political dispute around 1820-1860 was mostly about slavery. There has been division between the North and the South, though compromise had usually serve in calming the disagreement. However, nearing 1860, political compromise appeared useless. Comprises simply postponed addressing the issue, and led to even more greater issues than needed,compromise wasn’t working politically, socially,and economically for our nation.

The American System was a plan brought forth by Henry Clay, about economic development. The American system was brilliant plan that allowed federal funding for internal development. This plan created a protective tariff in order to protect American businesses but in turn created a high tariff on imported goods some American industries can strive. The American System helped the textile business, while British were bringing clothes over and selling them cheaper. The American system also wanted to create high land states, so that the revenues my help economic development. The American System also created higher land taxes to get more money for the government infrastructure, this included construction of canals and roads which would be financed

As the foundations of a successful government system, political parties help keep balance of power and uphold the Democratic ideals of the United States. These parties have origins that can trace back to the early sectional tensions in America. These sectional tensions were the primary reasons for the development and progression of political parties in the United States.

As the colonies of America further differs with their mother country and began to develop into a successful democratic nation, numerous political had changes occurred. With this divergent, a separation of power began to emerge in the form of two political parties. These were the Jeffersonian Republicans and the Federalists. The parties came to be characterized by certain beliefs, and the usages of those principles would differ during the Jefferson and Madison presidencies. During the Jeffersonian era, Although Thomas Jefferson favored a loosely tied government with the exact interpretation of the constitution, his actions sometimes contradicted to the republican ideals, while James Madison leaned towards a strongly

Andrew Jackson vs. Henry Clay: Democracy and Development in Antebellum America is a book written by Harry L. Watson. Harry L. Watson writes the different stances of the presidential race in the Antebellum Era in America. He is very unbiased in his writing, clearly stating each presidential candidate. Andrew Jackson’s beliefs are clearly democratic, meaning he believed that a growing wealth and power in the business community may erode the equality of ordinary citizens. This party was also known as the ‘Jackson Party’. Jackson was born in Tennessee, he supported the power of businesses, he was quite violent, but a great leader. On the other hand, Henry Clay was a part of the Whig party, sometimes known as the Republican party. He believed in the growth of the economy and businesses. His party

The Era of Good Feelings. Just the name itself has a beautiful ring and meaning to it and readers often picture a lush and populated country when hearing the phrase. But a question usually arises in one’s mind when thinking about this era: how wonderful was the Era of Good Feelings for it to deserve such a label? The triumph that came with causing the War of 1812 to come to a draw led to Americans having feelings of nationalism and sectionalism. The years following the War of 1812 acted as a time for the economy to evolve and transition to an independent country. The growth of nationalism and sectionalism were the heart of the Era of Good Feelings; it was the time for America to get to know herself.

The Era of Good Feelings, beginning in 1816 with the election of James Monroe as president, directly followed the War of 1812, was a time of nationalism, hope and and confidence in the United States.However, in the shadow of this national pride, different areas of the country began to shift apart in different ways, opening the door to domestic tension. The Era of Good Feeling was both a time of economic growth and political change for the country. This was caused by a surge in nationalistic feelings throughout the United States, as well as growing sectional tensions. The War of 1812 made the American people feel as though they should be aggressive in foreign affairs,which led to the introduction of a protective tariff and the Monroe Doctrine. However, during this time, sectional differences, such as slavery, population, and transportation infrastructure, divided the country, shaping its regions to be quite different from each other.

According to our book, the American System is an economic plan based on the idea that the federal government should encourage economic enterprise. The American System was stemmed from young Democratic-Republican who falsely supported Jefferson 's idea of a small federal government but actually preferred a large government. The goal of the new American System was to assist the united States in becoming self-sufficient economically, while spurring massive market growth throughout the nation. The leaders of this group were Henry Clay and John C. Calhoun. They believed that the federal government should encourage economic enterprise in three ways: first, the federal government needed to create roads and canals which would be considered internal

Party system refers to the way parties are organized, the balance of powers between and within the parties, and the issues or ideas which the parties are organized around. The Federalist and Jeffersonian Republicans were the first party system to immerge in the seventeen nineties. The federalist focused on the concerns of New England merchants. The wanted to rebuild a relationship with Britain, assumption of debt from the revolutionary war, and programs with encouraged manufacturing. The Jeffersonian republics were run with southern agriculture in mind. They wanted to create a relationship with France, focused on agriculture over commercialism, and free trade. Over time the Federalist party weakened while the Jeffersonian republicans evolved into the Democrats.

The election of 1877 between Rutherford Hayes and Samuel Tilden led to both political parties to have the Compromise of 1877 and finish the end of reconstruction. In that year election both Democrat and Republican where fighting over the territories and who will become president. That fighting led the election results in an inconclusive results because of the disagreement between Democrats and Republicans. The states were undecided and this led to tension and issues among the election candidates. After a long fight both parties came with an agreement which led to the compromise of 1877, which caused the north to retreat all of the military occupancy in the south leading to the end of the reconstruction era and the south being more independent.