The Era Of Good Feelings

1816
The Second Band of the United States, after much heated debate, was charted by Congress was charted by Congress, in the wake of the debacle of public finance during the War of 1812 and the suspension of specie payments by private banks in 1814. The United States government owned 20 percent of the stock and named 5 of it's 25 board of directors. In return for protecting the Treasury's assets, without having to give the government interest the bank paid the government a bonus of $1,500,000, otherwise the the bank was structured after its predecessor.

James Monroe is elected the 5th President of the United States.

First steamboat operates on Mississippi.

1817
The Bonus Bill for federal aid to roads is vetoed.
The American Colonization Society is founded.
Jackson's raids in Florida (ending the first seminole War, 1817-1818)

1817-1825
Construction of Erie Canal in New York State.

1818
At the Anglo-American Convention of 1818, the Rush-Bagot agreement was signed.

1819
Adam-Onis Treaty resulted in the acquisition of Florida. This treaty also defined the boundary between Louisiana Purchase and Spanish possession to the Southwest. The boundary was drawn along the present boundary of Texas on the east and north, along the Arkansas River to the rocky Mountains and a long the 42 parallel to the Pacific. Spain conceded her claims to Oregon to the United States in return for the American claim to Texas.

Financial panic and depression begins.

Supreme Court rules in MCCulloch v. Maryland and Dartmouth College v. Woodward.

1820
The Missouri Compromise. The dispute over slavery interrupted the era of good feelings between the sections of the country when Missouri applied for statehood in 1819. New York House of Representative, James Tallmadge introduced an amendment to the Missouri statehood bill that would have prohibited the further introduction of slaves into Missouri and would have freed, at the age of 25, all children of slaves born in Missouri after its admission to the union. A bitter debate over the right of Congress to legislate on the issue of slavery ensued. The decision as to whether or not Missouri would become a slave state was critical because it threaten to upset states already had more votes in the House. The South feared that the prohibition of slavery in states by Congress would set a dangerous precedent
leading to the ultimate prohibition of slavery.

After the failure of the Tallmadge Amendment in the Senate, a compromise was struck. The essential provision of the Missouri Compromise provided that : Missouri would be admitted to the union as a slave state, Maine would be admitted as a free state and the territory north of the 36/30 parallel line be "forever free."

This compromise appeared to settle the issue of slavery until Missouri adopted a constitution prohibiting African Americans from entering the state. Antislavery members of Congress refused to recognize Missouri. Finally at the suggestion of Henry Clay, a resolution passed Congress requiring that Missouri never to pass laws denying citizens of other states their rights under the Constitution.

The debate over the admission of Missouri to statehood was significant because the North had expressed its moral objection to slavery and the South now felt forced to defend its "peculiar institution"; the South began denying the right of Congress to exclude slaves from states; and the threats of secession on both sides (North an-d South) foreshadowed the session of the South that helped to precipitate the Civil War.

The United Society of Believers in Christ's Second Appearing.

1821
Missouri admitted to the Union as a slave state.
Monroe, having won the popular vote in the presidential election of 1820, received all but one electoral vote.

1822
The United States recognized Latin American republican governments.
The plans of Denmark Vesey, a free black, for a slave insurrection in Charleston South Carolina, are uncovered.

1823
President James Monroe proclaims the "Monroe Doctrine" in his annual presidential message. Monroe's message was a foreign policy statement indicating the determination of the United States to prevent Europe from interfering in the affairs of the Americas. It stipulated that America was no longer open to colonization by European powers, that America would not interfere in the local affairs of European nations and warned Europe not to interfere with the republican form of government in America.

James Fenimore Cooper publishes his first Leatherstockings' novel, THE PIONEERS.

Nicholas Biddle becomes president of the Bank of the United States.

New Harmony communal experiment is started by Robert Owen.

John Hall successfully uses interchangeable parts at Harper's Ferry Armory.

1825
John Quincy Adams is elected president by the House of Representatives. The presidential campaign of this year marked the end of the Era of Good Feeling and the revival of strong sectionalism.

1826
The lives of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams come to an end on July 4th, the fiftieth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.

The American Temperance Society is founded.

William Morgan disappearance inflames Anti-Masonry. A movement against the Masonic Lodge that began in 1826 was exploited by New York politicians to turn public sentiment against Andrew Jackson who was a Mason. It began with the publication of a pamphlet that claimed to reveal the secrets of Masonry. Morgan was kidnapped, taken to Niagara and nothing more was heard from him. The lodge was already disliked in the West because of its exclusiveness. The Antimasons' movement was significant because it was the first third party in American politics, men who rose with he Antimasons later became members of the Whig Party, many of which became prominent Republicans and the party held the fist national nominating convention to select a presidential candidate in 1831

1827
Creek Indians ceded lands to Georgia.

Workingmen's Party is founded in Philadelphia.

FREEDOM'S JOURNAL, the first African American newspaper, is published. This African-American newspaper came into existence before the Civil War as a medium of abolitionist sentiment. FREEDOM'S JOURNAL initiated the trend of African American news papers throughout the United States to fight for liberation and rights, demonstrate racial pride, and inform readers of events affecting the African American community. Unfortunately, due to small readership, the paper ended its circulation in 1830.

1828
Congress passes the Tariff of 1828. This bill raised rates so high that the South called it the "Tariff of Abominations." South Carolina asserted the right of "interposition" of a state against an unconstitutional act of Congress.

Andrew Jackson wins the presidential election and becomes the 7th President of the United States.

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Three American Presidents


James Monroe
1817-1825

John Quincy Adams
1825-1829

Andrew Jackson
1829-1837