Era Of Good Feelings Dbq Analysis

Following the War of 1812, America entered what was considered the “Era of Good Feelings”. During this time, political and foreign issues subdued, westward expansion increased, the economy flourished, and new states were admitted into the Union. A growing sense of nationalism emerged throughout the nation. However, this era was not entirely made of “good feelings”, since sectionalism began growing. Controversy over slavery, divisions in the government, new tariffs, and economic crisis soon followed this time of calm. The “Era of Good Feelings” label was inaccurate, since the period short-lived and was faced with many challenges. Although the “Era of Good Feelings” was an inaccurate title, America did have a sense of nationalism emerge after …show more content…
The Corrupt Bargain in the 1824 election created political divisions. As shown in Document I, Andrew Jackson won the most popular and electoral votes. However, he did not win 131 electoral votes, which is the majority vote needed. The House of Representatives was to choose between the three candidates with the most votes, and through his campaigning, John Quincy Adams won. The Jeffersonians were infuriated, and political tensions grew in America once again(Doc I). In terms of the economy, the Panic of 1819 was an economic crisis that formed from the high demand for American farm goods. Many farmers needed to move west to meet these needs, and prices raised significantly. The national bank tried to fix the problem of easy access to credit for settlers and speculators by tightening credit, calling in loans, and foreclosing mortgages, but this only led to the failure of many state banks. This event was to the dismay of the farmers, and a similar situation occurred with the “Tariff of Abominations”. As evident in Document E, the majority of the population of America lived in the Northern States (Doc E) The Northern states of Massachusetts and Rhode Island demanded for the creation of a new tariff on imported goods. The British were stealing their business by selling textiles on the American market at very low costs. The tariff protected the Northern manufacturers from competition, but raised the price of paying for raw materials. The southerners were infuriated with this bill, since their economy centered around agriculture and still had to pay high prices for the benefit of the Northern industrial society. John Randolph, a Congressman, wrote a letter in 1816 that belittled the government’s actions that benefit only the North. He states that “the