Why Was the Era of Good Feelings a Misnomer?

A prodigious surge in national vanity characterized the period from 1812 to 1824 known as the "Era of Good Feelings" but would not have been termed so but for the admiration and popularity of James Monroe himself. Even supposing the nation was politically cohesive behind the Democratic-Republican Party and nationalism was being cemented, problems were rising. Sectionalism began to develop into a potent force due to slavery and economic dejection that followed the panic of 1819. However foreign affairs contradict this otherwise.

Sectionalism amid the states developed when Missouri was admitted into our country as a state. An amendment known as the Tallmadge Amendment was to be passed in response to whether or not this new state would be considered a free state or a slaveholding state. This bill indicated that no slaves could be brought into the state of Missouri and slaves born there would be freed at the age of 25.The polemic concerning the statehood for Missouri which had engrossed many southerners, who expected to use slaves to grow cotton and hemp, distressed Northerners. The Northerners indicted the South of conspiring to extend slavery, while the South believed the North was conspiring to destroy the sectional balance and abolish slavery. To solve this mounting controversy Henry Clay proposed the Missouri Compromise in 1820 which stated that Missouri was to become a slaveholding state and to keep the balance; Maine was admitted as a free state, and the remaining land of the Louisiana territory was to prohibit slavery. Americans' indignant feelings over the Missouri controversy increased growing sectionalism in our country and thus, the "Era of Good Feelings" was a misnomer.

The Panic of 1819 was a pronounced wound in the "Era of Good Feelings". This economic depression was highly caused by the Second Bank of the United States. They failed to control inflation that came as an outcome of the war of 1812. This ensued in no longer allowing the payment of paper money, which placed everyone in immense debt and caused the value of money to collapse (partly due to the fact that they now had to pay in hard money and also because many of the country's banks were highly affected and forced to foreclose on western farms). During this time many Americans were imprisoned as a result of not being able to pay off the debt, there was substantial unemployment, and bankruptcies. The West who was in turn, most affected began to articulate their resilient opposing opinions about the Second Bank of the United States. This economic depression forced electorates to alter their political approaches in pursuit for a more responsive government. Accordingly, the panic that spurred between the people during the Panic of 1812 validates a contradiction of the "Era of Good Feelings".

The War of 1812 stirred a new nationalistic spirit in foreign affairs, epitomizing the positive effects of the "Era