The Monroe Presidency

Essential Question: What were the major challenges of the Monroe presidency, and how did the Monroe Doctrine impact global politics?

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The "Era of Good Feelings"

The Democratic-Republican party continued to be very popular in the country.James Monroe pushed for "national unity" during what was known as the "Era of Good Feelings" in which there were no major political divisions.The Federalist party had dissolved in the wake of the War of 1812.In fact, Monroe ran unopposed in the 1820 election because the Federalists no longer had any candidates to run against him!

Sectionalism

Since there was no real opposition from the Federalist party, divisions started to occur between regions, or sections, of the country. This is what is known as sectionalism.The needs of each region of the country became more important than the unity of the country.Three men became the face of sectionalism in the country -- John Calhoun, Daniel Webster, and Henry Clay.

Calhoun represented the white folks in the South.

Webster represented the abolition and anti-war movements of the North
Clay promoted war and Western expansion as a representative of the West

Sectionalism

These men, who each go on to have long, successful political careers for the next 30 years, all represent a different aspect of the growing divide in the country after the War of 1812.

Economic Troubles

After the War of 1812, there were a few economic challenges that America faced:

A new federal bank needed to be created to lend money and regulate the economy -- this was called the Second National Bank (super creative!)
British goods started to flood American marketplaces because they had more advanced industries and could produce goods cheaper.
America passed the Tariff Act of 1816 to make imported goods (British goods especially) more expensive.

These tariffs hurt the South and West, but was good for the North.
These tariffs led to protests in the South.

Tariffs were kept high, which angered Southerners
Roads and railroads were not built

Southerners had rivers and didn't feel the need to invest in these

Some felt it gave the federal government too much power

They argued the states should be responsible for regulating industry and building projects

While parts of Clay's plan did go into effect, it was never fully implemented for a few reasons:

Henry Clay (remember him?) proposed a solution: His American System Plan

The U.S military could NOT support the bold claims made by the Monroe Doctrine... but Britain (who supported it) could with their impressive navy.

Monroe decided he would rather do his own thing and issued a statement to Congress called the Monroe Doctrine. In it, Monroe declared that:

the US would not get involved in any European conflicts or actions involving existing colonies
the US would get involved if any European nations tried to reclaim colonies that were independent (like Mexico).

The Spanish colonies declared independence in Central America

Prussia, France, Russia, and Austria formed an alliance to help Spain try to reclaim its colonies (unsuccessfully)

Russia claimed territory on the Pacific coast of North America
Britain was nervous about their trade in the West and wanted the United States to ally with them.

The Monroe Doctrine

During Monroe's presidency, European powers were making moves that made the U.S. nervous:

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