James Monroe

(April 28, 1758-July 4, 1831)

By: Colleen Lynd & Katie Serron

The “Era of Good Feelings”

• Democratic-Republicans ruled nearly unopposed• No political battles• Sense of nationalism begins to outweigh pride in

each individual state– People began to see themselves as “Americans” as

opposed to “Virginians” or “New Yorkers”

• Transitional period in which democracy and capitalism continued to form

Key Events

• Purchase of Florida (1819)

• Missouri Compromise(1820)

• Monroe Doctrine (1823)

• Tariff of 1824

Foreign Policy

• A generally peaceful time in history

• Monroe Doctrine

• Purchase of Florida

Political Cartoon of the Political Cartoon of the Monroe DoctorineMonroe Doctorine

Purchase of Florida (1819)

• U.S. troops march into Spanish Florida looking for runaway slaves

• Native Americans attack Georgian border in retaliation

• U.S. tells Spain if it cannot effectively look over Florida, then it should be ceded to the U.S.

• Spain cedes Florida – Significant because extends land that was acquired

during the Louisiana Purchase

Reasons for Monroe Doctrine

• Russia explores and fur-traps south of Alaska

• Russia builds Fort Ross close to Spanish San Francisco

• Monroe is Fearful of Russia and Spain forming an alliance to reclaim

land in the Western Hemishere

The Monroe Doctrine

• December 2,1823• The United States would not interfere in European wars

or internal affairs, and expected Europe to stay out of American affairs.

Effects of the Monroe Doctrine

• United States began to emerge as a world power and was taken more seriously by European nations

• Set a principle for foreign policy in the United States

• Newly independent Latin American nations were able to focus on building up their countries without having to worry about wars with European powers

Domestic Policy• Missouri Compromise• Tariffs • Roads and Canals• Westward expansion

– Native Americans relocated further west to the Great Plains area

• Improved flow of commerce

The Erie Canal was The Erie Canal was completed during completed during Monroe’s PresidencyMonroe’s Presidency

Reasons for the Missouri Compromise

• Slavery was increasingly becoming a controversial topic in the USA

• Most Northern states opposed slavery while Southern states still supported it– South’s economy depended on slave labor (cotton,

rice, indigo, tobacco)

• Territories created by the Land Ordinance of 1785 were ready to join the Union (because they met conditions set by the Northwest Ordinance of 1787)

The Missouri Compromise (1820)

• Both Missouri and Maine were ready to be admitted into the Union as states

• Problem: Who decides if these states are admitted as free states or slave states?

• Maine wanted to be a free state• Missouri wanted to be a slave state

– Northerners protested that if Missouri became a slave state it would set the precedent of territories becoming slave states

The Missouri Compromise (1820)

• Maine admitted as a free state• Missouri admitted as a slave state• Temporarily addressed slavery, but the long

term problem of slavery was not alleviated by the Missouri Compromise

Map of Slavery by State after the Missouri Compromise

Tariff of 1824

• Also known as the “Sectional Tariff”

• Controversial

– Northern and Western states supported the tariff

– Southern states were opposed

• Rates on imports increased by up to 30%

Controversy Surrounding the Tariff of 1824

North

• Supported tariff

• The manufacturing industry in

the North and West would

benefit from the tariff because

domestic products would be in

demand (foreign imports would

be too expensive)

• Economy didn’t depend as

much on foreign imports as the

South did

South• Opposed the tariff• Trade relationships would

become imbalanced– The South imported many

products from Britain, and in turn, Britain imported Southern cotton and other staple crops (which was the main source of economic prosperity in the South)

– If the South imported less from Britain, as the tariff would ensure, the British would import less from the South, ruining the Southern economy