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The Feelings Era in US history was a period of reduced political division and increased nationalism, beginning in 1815 and ending around 1825. It followed a time of bitter partisan politics between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties. The War of 1812 and the defeat of the Federalist Party helped usher in the era of good feelings, which was marked by a sense of optimism and national pride. The era experienced setbacks with the financial panic of 1819 and the contentious presidential election of 1824, which effectively ended the period of political restraint.
The Feelings Era was a period in United States (US) history characterized by widespread nationalism and a reduced level of bitter and partisan politics. Most historians argue that the period began in 1815, when the War of 1812 ended. The period ended around 1825, when political wrangling began to escalate again over slavery, territory, and presidential contenders for the 1828 election.
Before the era of good feelings, the United States was politically divided due to fierce squabbles between the Federalist and Democratic-Republican parties. The Federalist Party grew up around the ideals of Alexander Hamilton, who advocated the implementation of a national bank and a system to regulate the finances and debt of nations. The party enjoyed nearly a decade of power in the 1790s, but was ousted from the majority in the 1800s by the Democratic-Republican Party, which favored smaller government with less regulation.
In the early 1800s, the Federalist Party and the Democratic-Republican Party became even more opposed to each other. Supporters of the Democratic-Republican Party were generally suspicious of Hamilton’s views, which they considered too favorable to big government. Tensions escalated to such an extent that the sides began to apply humiliating pressure on the opponents in a terrible mud attack. The second US president and Federalist Party member John Adams was derided as a secret royalist, while Thomas Jefferson, the third president and a Democratic-Republican, was accused of being an atheist and a French sympathizer during the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars.
The War of 1812 further aggravated the political fighting. James Madison, the fourth president of the United States and a Democrat-Republican, faced severe criticism from Federalists for the war. This stance would prove fatal for the Federalist Party: when the War of 1812 ended in what most Americans believed to be a victory over the British, the Federalist Party’s anti-war stance seemed out of place and irrelevant to many. As a result, during the 1816 presidential election, the Federalist Party suffered a crushing defeat and faced the threat of political extinction. These events detracted from the ugly rhetoric that had previously engulfed the United States and helped usher in the era of good feelings.
With new President James Monroe in office, the War of 1812 a thing of the past, and the Federalist Party reduced to a whine, the United States began to feel a sense of optimism and national pride. Political struggle and nail biting about the war did not dominate the headlines. The new mood prompted journalist Benjamin Russell to describe the time period as “the era of good feelings” in the Columbian Centinel, a Boston newspaper. Russell wrote those words in response to a visit to Boston by Monroe in 1817, during which both sides expressed a sense of unity under the president.
This era continued to grow, with nationalist sentiment aided by the United States’ acquisition of Florida in 1819 under the terms of the Adams-Onís Treaty. The Monroe Doctrine, issued in 1823, further helped strengthen America’s sense of national pride. The doctrine issued a proclamation to Europe to stop the colonization of new lands in the Americas and warned against interfering with states. If Europe had not heeded these warnings, the doctrine stated that US intervention would have been necessary. The doctrine promised, however, that the United States would not interfere with existing European colonies.
The era experienced some setbacks with the financial panic of 1819. This, however, did not mar national optimism, which rebounded in part with the Missouri Compromise of 1820. The compromise temporarily settled feuds between pro- and anti-slavery factions in the United States
The contested and contentious presidential election of 1824 did much to erode the optimism and political restraint that had marked the era of good feelings. Andrew Jackson won the popular vote, but none of the four presidential contenders had received a majority vote within the Electoral College. The decision was passed to the House of Representatives, where Speaker Henry Clay selected John Quincy Adams as the new Speaker. Adams then selected Clay as his secretary of state.
Jackson believed Clay had promised Adams the presidency in exchange for being secretary of state. The election became known as “the corrupt settlement” and was considered a stolen presidency by Jackson, who swore to win the election in 1828 and succeeded. When the 1828 election came, political fervor and controversy effectively ended the era of good feelings.
