Topic: The Era of Good Feelings
Main Ideas/
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Essential Question
How do you know life is good in a country?
Why called “Good Feelings”?
•  U.S. fought a war with Great Britain in
1812 (and did not lose)
•  James Monroe ran unopposed for 2nd
term as President in 1820
•  Monroe Doctrine (1823)
•  In 1820s, America builds infrastructure
•  Laws were created to protect businesses
and contracts
Internal Improvements
•  Improvements inside a country
•  Done to infrastructure; roads, bridges, and
canals (man made rivers).
•  To move west across North America, citizens
needed improved infrastructure
The Improvers
•  Henry Clay – Congressman from the
West. Better roads would connect
Western farmers to the Atlantic Ocean
•  Daniel Webster – Congressman from New
England. Supported tariffs to pay for
infrastructure
•  John Calhoun – Congressman from the
South. Wanted a strong nation, but
wanted states to decide which roads or
bridges to build
Clay’s American System
•  Clay’s plan for infrastructure would be paid
for with tariffs (taxes on foreign goods).
•  New England factories liked; forced
Americans to buy American made goods