The Era of Good Feeling

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The Era of Good feelings took place from 1817 to 1825. During that time, there was a rapid growth in post-war nationalism. Meanwhile, James Monroe was elected president for two terms. However, The Era of ‘Good’ Feelings is misleading because many issues troubled the country around that time such as the American system, which tied to sectionalist events and economic panic and depression. Though there are some beneficial events, it was an overall devastating era. After the war of 1812, the people of the United States felt enormous pride in winning a war against the almighty Britain and used their nationalism to inspire improvements, such as Henry Clay’s American system. It consisted of the Second National Bank, a strong banking system, the Tariff of 1816, which raised money for the protection of American manufacturing goods, and internal improvements such as networks that build roads and canals which made better transportation to flow foodstuffs and raw materials from west and south to north and east. This shows that America had become a more self-sufficient government and started growing its own national identities. Nationalism also helped the push for westward expansion and the Monroe Doctrine. The Monroe Doctrine is a policy of the United States introduced on December 2, 1823. It stated that further efforts by European countries to colonize land or interfere with states in the Americas would be viewed as acts of aggression requiring U.S. intervention. However, this did not last long and was broken predominantly by the Panic of 1819, which caused mass bank failures, unemployment shot up, and a slump in agriculture. The Panic of 1819 was the first major financial crisis and depression the U.S. faced. It was brought on by the Embargo Act and the War of 1812, manufacturing and influenced the Western view of the Bank of the United States, as it forced many smaller
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