The Era of Good Feelings

1. The Era of Good Feelings

2. The Era of Good Feelings • With the end of the War of 1812, the Democratic Republicans took firm control of the government. • The presidential election of 1816 resulted in a landslide victory for Democratic Republican candidate James Monroe of Virginia. • Stung by this defeat, the Federalist Party began to lose power. • Within a few years, the party had disappeared.

3. The Era of Good Feelings • President Monroe wanted to promote national unity. • A newspaper described the new sense of national unity as the “Era of Good Feelings.” • The name stuck and it was used to describe Monroe’s two terms in office.

4. The Monroe Doctrine • By 1810, opposition to Spanish rule ran strong in Spain’s American colonies. • The American and French revolutions had inspired Latin Americans to want to control their own affairs. • Revolutionary movements were growing in almost all of the Spanish colonies. • After Mexico and South and Central America countries achieved their independence their future was uncertain. • Several European powers, including France and Russia, indicated they might help Spain regain its colonies.

5. The Monroe Doctrine • This worried President James Monroe and Secretary of State John Quincy Adams and the British. • Both nations wanted to protect trade with Latin America. • In a message to Congress in December 1823, President Monroe stated what is known as the Monroe Doctrine.

6. The Monroe Doctrine • The United States would not allow European nations to create American colonies or interfere with the free nations of Latin America. • The United States would consider any attempt to do so “dangerous to our peace and safety.” • At the time, the United States was not strong enough to block European action. • Only the British navy could do that. • As U.S. power grew, however, the Monroe Doctrine boosted the influence of the United States in the region.