Sectional Conflicts During Era of Good Feelings
The "Era of Good Feelings" turned out to be a misnomer for the succeeding time period after the War of 1812, seeing as frequent conflicts between the different areas of the country emerged and had to be dealt with in hopes of restoring and preserving national unity. The people in the west were the hardest with the Panic of 1819 and struggled with gaining a political voice along with wealth similar to their neighbors in the North and South. The North (including New England) tended to isolate itself from the country, especially because it was the last Federalist bastion during the war and it also opposed the South's strong belief in slavery within the United States. These sectional differences created tensions as opposed to "good feelings", but the American's knew that they couldn't let these dissimilarities ruin all they had worked for to fashion the independent country of America, and therefore tried to make fair compromises. The west was a newly opened territory within America with vast, unexplored lands, but on account of the over-speculation of these western lands, conflicts emerged with the primary being the national Panic of 1819. The Bank of the United States had western branches, which had become involved in "outdoor gamb
Between the years of 1814-1815 the Northern states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, and partially New Hampshire and Vermont set up the Hartford Convention. Still, the west was significantly weaker than any other section of the United States in population and influence. The South, however, saw this as a threat because the North was becoming more wealthy and populated, therefore coming closer to gaining control over the House and stopped this amendment in the Senate. The North, recently losing its distinguishing Federalist Party as a casualty of the War of 1812, was furious that the war had ever been allowed and wanted to make sure that in future conflicts (for instance the upcoming slavery issues) their voice stood out. If these sections hadn't learned to deal with their differences in such practical and reasonable manners, our country may not be where it is today- with unity among the sections because of compromising and understanding of our differences. When the state of Missouri, being the first one shaped from the Louisiana Purchase, was entering the union, it wanted to be a slave state, which would throw off the previous balance of slave states verses free states in the House and Senate. This unfortunately, was a failed attempt for the North, seeing as they never even made it to President Monroe to even discuss these ideas. Still, they were able to stand tall and get themselves through this financial glitch with the Western boom. The North and South were able to ease their differing opinions on slavery, which ultimately was the beginning step towards our policy of no slavery in this country today. When Maine wanted to enter the union as a free state, Congress proposed the "Missouri Compromise" which would grant both Missouri and Maine its wishes and also established the Mason-Dixon Line at 36 30' in which all states above the line (except Missouri) must be free states, and all the states below the line must be slave states. Therefore, the Bank of the United States had no other choice but to close down the western banks, which were headed towards financial disaster, and also had to shut out mortgages on hundreds of farms. The Southern states are notably remembered for their strong support of slavery throughout this time period, despite their northern neighbors' disapproval. One attempt to soothe this dispute was made in the House, by Representative Tallmadge who proposed an amendment that said there would be no more importation of slaves and all the children of slaves would be emancipated- ultimately leading to a complete end of slavery. The west became very upset and now perceived the Bank of the United States as a financial devil. Although the nation wasn't able to reach its goal of national unity 100% and be at a time of complete peace and happiness as the "Era of Good Feelings" may imply, it did become stronger and more mature by trying to come up with compromises and solutions to sectional problems peacefully.
Common topics in this essay:
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Acceptance Essays
