Age Of Good Feelings Dbq Analysis

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The War of 1812, commonly referred to as the “Second Revolution”, had a very complex system of causes. The still fledgling country of the U.S. had just distanced itself from France who, throughout their revolution and under the Napoleonic regime, threatened neutrality at every turn. Washington urged at the end of his two terms for the states to remain neutral, free of the entanglements, of Europe. The following presidents followed suit with Washington and Adams terminated the alliance with France with the convention of 1800. Then, Jefferson took office in the election of 1800, “the revolution of 1800”, and for the first time in history a Democratic-republican held office. New England and the Federalists began to see how the tables turned away from them by each passing day. The government no longer encouraged the growth of business as much as it had under Adams and to make matters worse the British and France were hindering foreign trade. Jefferson was hard pressed to solve…show more content…
This Nationalism grew throughout the war and even fostered in the “Age of Good Feelings” after the war. Hugh Nelson, among many others, believed that the U.S. must “demonstrate to the world…” that the “Republican government was competent to assert its rights…” (doc. 7). The overwhelming opinion was that there was “one principle to make a nation great… and that is to protect every citizen” to many in the U.S. “protection and Patriotism are reciprocal…” and as such, a great pride was riding on the declaration of war (doc. 2). All in all an overlaying Nationalism as well as; a bit of politics, a hunger for land and troubles on the Western Frontier, an anger toward impressment, and an outrage towards the seizure of ships brought about the declaration of the War of 1812 and the second war in which the United states would stand against tyrannical
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