Era Of Good Feelings In Henry Clay's American System

Henry Clay led the nationalistic Jeffersonian economic agenda. This agenda was known as the American System (Holt, 1999). It included high protective tariffs to nourish American manufacturing, create a home market for American agricultural products, a national bank to provide a currency and federal subsidization of internal improvement projects to ease the movement of goods (Holt, 1999). These nationalistic Jeffersons would eventually push through Congress and the current President at the time (President Madison) would sign laws that affected two parts of their program. The Federalist Party diminished after 1815 and many former Federalists embraced the Republican Party.

The Democratic-Republicans transform the political culture of America. They were also the beneficiaries of the first bloodless Revolution. this political culture was named Jeffersonian Democracy. (Schultz, 2013). Jefferson focused on reducing the size of the government, the development of the first national court system, and expanding the agrarian republic.

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 Civil War between the Union and Confederacy preset stereotypes that would define both the Republican and Democratic party for the ensuing decades. The Republican party was associated with the Union, while the Democratic party was associated with the Confederacy. In short, following the end of the war, a victorious Union army ushered in an era of political dominance for the Republican party. Following an economic recession leading up to the election of 1896, Republican control was in jeopardy. Both of the major platforms began to reshape in order to appease the dissatisfaction of the American people.

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. As states were expanding westward after the Louisiana Purchase, so was the debate of slavery. The North did not rely on slavery because it was unprofitable after the American Revolution.

There were many political, economic, and social changes that occurred during the years 1820-1860. Some of which include Manifest Destiny, financial panics, and reform movements. These changes had many substantial consequences that influenced the growth of The United States as a country and society. A major political change that occurred during this time period was the expansion of the United States westward in North America.

Missouri Compromise The Missouri Compromise was the effort of Congress to end the sectional and political rivalries triggered by the request of Missouri late in 1819 for admission as a state in which slavery would be permitted. The Missouri Compromise happened in 1820. It is important because Congress passed a bill granting Missouri statehood as a slave state under the condition that it was to be forever prohibited in the rest of the Louisiana Purchase. Henry Clay, John Quincy Adams, and James Tallmadge were involved in the Missouri Compromise.

Jackson vs. Clay 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’.

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. Jefferson became president in 1801 and began the reign of strictness of the Democratic party, forcing Federalists to conform to their stringent views. Jefferson had made attempts to unify with the Federalists stating: “We are all republicans” in order to strengthen the unity of the country

While settlers were moving west and those that went would help the states with charters and this would breed dissention among several states. Foreign relations would also be a major issue as well with the new America, who was weak and unable to protect is borders. As a result, the government was unable to become a strong presence in foreign relations since they were unable to protect their trade ships or remove foreign powers that had presences in some of the American territories, and unable to pass treaties with other foreign powers (Shultz, 2013). More importantly, the one issue that was hurting America was the debt that it had surmounted from the war and trying to run and maintain the country. As mentioned the American debt was high and a financial collapse was on the verge of happening.

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.

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 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.

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 this era, the United States altered from a primarily agricultural society of small farmers to a more urban economic force of manufacturing

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. Watt and Boulton experimenting with steam in England, Whitney combining wood and steel and creating the cotton gin, Slater dividing factory work among men, Morse spanning a still growing nation with the telegraph, Field expanding transportation and linking the market with steamboats– these men and many more crafted a mighty revolution of industry. This great growth in economics marked the fall of agriculture in the great race for economic