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. As the Era of Good Feelings flowered, the entire country and its inhabitants benefitted greatly. The United States during the 1820s was not very populated compared to modern times (E). John C. Calhoun, …show more content…
In Thomas Jefferson’s letter to John Randolph in the spring of 1820, Jefferson shared his fear of America’s increasing isolation from the rest of the world (F). However, Randolph’s letter to Congress written in 1816 expressed how isolation could help improve the nation’s economy (A). His letter clearly implied how a strong economy was better than a stable international one because the money would stay in the United States. John Quincy Adams’ November 7, 1823 diary entry brought out his fear of sending a minister to protest “against the interposition of the Holy Alliance.” This shows how the United States refused to engage in foreign affairs (H). In the Era of Good Feelings, sectionalism was a very important thing; it improved the feeling of nationalism, helped the economy, and strengthened relationships between the states. But good things always have a consequence, and the result of sectionalism forced the people to rely on each other for their
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Show MoreIn the essay, “Thomas Jefferson’s America 1801,” written by Stephen E. Ambrose explains how America gained new territory and changed history. Ambrose ensure that the readers knew how Jefferson’s great leadership influenced America’s new revival. Jefferson’s legacy was the main purpose for Ambrose to write this essay. Ambrose’s language style is incorporated by using older language, board vocabulary, and describes the land with expressive words. Ambrose’s purpose was to give an informative essay to describe life and society in the 1800s.
Sectionalism was a leading contributor to America’s inability to reach compromise. The North and South possessed passionate political views that differed immensely. Both the Northern and Southern states felt unheard and unconsidered. The reannexation of Texas proved to be pivotal in how close America came to going to fill out war then. Northerners were willing to take Texas as she was, sought not to change the character of her institutions and realized that slavery existed in Texas.
America entered into the Era of Good Feelings which was a time of one party rule and peace. Democratic Republicans ruled the national government and voters had to chose a candidate from this political party. Culturally America didn’t change as slavery still in the south, industry still in the north, and western lands are still unknown. However, Henry Clay’s American System created a compromise between all regions with Northern industry, Southern Slavery, and Western Farmers. Therefore, The Missouri compromise increased sectionalism and brought economic differences to each region of the United States.
Many stuff were being established such as railroads, buildings, and etc.. America seemed so full of happiness. America even created opportunities so that every American would pursue their dreams (Background Essay,Para.1). I bet the other countries, also, were astonished of how quickly we were growing. It all seemed we were gonna always be a “happy” country.
This national focus was completely different than the revolutionary generations’ national focus instead focusing on westward expansion and industrialization for the entire nation, this is successful for the nation resulting in a coast to coast nation and a modernized nation. Political unity changed from a united government to a fractured political landscape. Before 1824, the political landscape was united and legislatively effective; this period was called the Era of Good Feelings (1812 – 1824). Throughout the Era of Good Feelings effective government dominated, which led to progress in developing and strengthening the nation. This period of effective government was established after the War of 1812 (1812 – 1815), creating unity amongst Americans.
History 201 In the three-letter correspondence between Thomas Cooper and Thomas Jefferson, the two influential men argue whether a British or American government is superior. Thomas Cooper delicately argues for the successes of the British government due to its capability to function as one of the leading nations of the world while Thomas Jefferson argues vehemently for the prosperity of the American society because it maintains safety and happiness for the country and for the individual. Both men’s claims are supported by sufficient evidence throughout the letters.
How did it lead to the Civil War? What is nationalism? How can/do citizens/patriots show nationalism? -Sectionalism is someone's loyalty to a section of a country instead of the country as a whole. Sectionalism hurt the United States because it made people focus on only the part of the country they lived in instead of helping or worrying about the country as a whole.
In his Farewell Address in 1796 George Washington heeded a final word warning, a last piece of advice to the country regarding relations with foreign nations. “...avoid entangling alliances”. Washington was not an idealist, he was level headed with a realistic understanding of global affairs, allowing him to determine the best course of public action based on self-interest. And perhaps his sectionalism was what saved our government’s development all those years ago. In his speech George Washington seemed to stress the dangers of foreign influence.
All in all, the title of the “Era of Good Feelings” is a somewhat-inaccurate title for the time period after the War of 1812. Considering the large amounts of sectionalism that spawned from social, economic, and political issues, these “good feelings” could not have been based off of these disputes and disagreements. Calling the time period the “Era of Good
The Era of Good Feelings played an important role in the America history. During the Era of Good Feelings, many people were moving to the cities to work in a factory instead of farming or working at home. There were nationalism and sectionalism happened concurrently during that time. Nationalism had been raised in America during the Era of Good Feelings, because the War of 1812 and also the Monroe Doctrine, but sectionalism occurred concurrently and had a greater effect in the economics and politics of the period due to the geography, slavery and tariff. Nationalism grew during the War of 1812, when America went to war with Britain.
Sectionalism came over and brought problems to the country. Sectionalism is the separation and differentiation between people and regions. It was obvious that the country was divided, and the two big sections were the North and South regions. For many years, both sections produced different products and generated different earnings to the American economy. However, people from the south felt that they receive less than what they deserve, and according to them, the government overprotected the industry.
Despite what it may seem, the history of the United States is steeped in isolationism. Even George Washington was a strict isolationist who bashed those taking sides in the French Revolutionary Wars and who wanted nothing more than for America to focus on its own greatness. So what could have driven such a domestically driven country to choose a side in the bloodiest conflict in history? An attack on her own soil, at Pearl Harbor.
Thesis Both Nationalism and Sectionalism developed concurrently during the Era of Good Feelings. The two main reasons why nationalism increased was because of Henry Clay’s American System and Monroe’s policy to increase nationalism. Clay’s AS created a better national infrastructure that tightened America together. Monroe’s policy was to promote national unity and America’s power, which strengthens nationalism.
The “Era of Good Feelings,” from 1815-1825, was not an accurate label of the period after the War of 1812 because of various conflicts in economic nationalism , disagreements in politics, and the disunion of the citizens. In addition, several sectional issues emerged, mostly between the North and the South, regarding to the Tariff of 1816 and the conflict over slavery. Both nationalism and sectionalism had a great influence on whether the period from 1815-1825 was actually the “Era of Good Feelings.” Despite the fact that nationalism was emerging, it also caused many economic issues, thus, the “Era of Good Feelings” was not labeled accurately. After the War of 1812, many Americans had a feeling of patriotism in the 1820s when they were still celebrating the Fourth of July after many years, which shows how unified the citizens were.
Claude McKay explains in his poem “What is America”. “Beneath the touch of Time’s unerring hand, Like priceless treasure sinking in the sand”(Claude McKay 10) people thank America. Americans thank America for what they have given them and what they have experienced. This person is proud to be an American and won’t have a second guess on representing their country. Barack Obama states his opinion in his article on “Patriotism”.