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Era Of Good Feelings Dbq Analysis

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DBQ: “Era of Good Feelings”: Nationalism or Sectionalism The United States after the War of 1812, is often described as very strong, as they had just recovered from conflicts with Britain and, as always, are hopeful for new beginnings. Historians often claim that this stage after the war is called the “Era of Good Feelings”- meaning that during this period the United States only grew stronger. However, the “Era of Good Feelings” does not live up to its name; due to the constant complications in economical (tariffs), political (corrupt bargain), and societal (slavery controversy) issues—nationalism wavers and sectionalism seems to be a reoccurring theme.

Sectionalism ran rampant in the United States after the War of 1812, especially in …show more content…

A major political event that was highly unfair and unorganized was the “Corrupt Bargain” of 1824. The election was between four candidates, Jackson winning more popular and electoral votes than the rest, but not the majority (Doc I). Therefore, the decision was put into the hands of the House of Representatives. Henry Clay swayed the Representatives into supporting John Q. Adams. He later won and chose Clay as the Secretary of State. The Corrupt Bargain was an election that was obviously unbalanced and biased, further adding on to the reason that the “Era of Good Feelings” did not deserve its name. Another political controversy, began with a social issue. Slavery became a massive issue within American society, people argued over whether or not people of color should be enslaved. Thomas Jefferson and Congress called for the “Missouri Compromise”, a geographical line where slavery would be illegal in all Louisiana territory, but Missouri. This political incongruity, which took start from a societal issue, set the U.S. divided in their opinions, and resulted in an unstable bargain (Document F). From this, many were unhappy and confused, the compromise was not only unfair, but it was sloppily …show more content…

Slavery still existed, and uprisings continued to occur. Much was done at an attempt to stop slavery, yet nothing was accomplished or changed; people of color were continuously hung & jailed (Document G). Other social disagreements included the relations of the North and South. Each part of the U.S stood opposed on many topics, due to the populations being placed so far apart from each other (Document E). For example, the south believed that the many tariffs were written in favor to those in the north. There were various differences in opinions in the societies of certain areas of the U.S. Also during this time, a land boom became prominent in the South and West as people continued to explore lands; expansion also led to unbalanced

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