Building National Unity

 1816 Republican candidate James Monroe won the Presidency  Monroe made a goodwill tour of the country  Crowds everywhere welcomed him

 One newspaper said the country was entering an “Era of good feelings”  Disputes between Republicans and Federalist had begun to fade  When Monroe ran for reelection in 1820 no one opposed him  The Federalist Party had disappeared

 Disputes between different sections of the nation sharpened  3 young men, each representing a different section of the country, played key roles in Congress for more then 30 years

 1. John C. Calhoun from South Carolina  Spoke for the South 2. Daniel Webster from Masachusetts Spoke for the North  Served first in the House and later as Senator from Massachusetts 3. Henry Clay from Kentucky Spoke for the West

 The charter for the first Bank of the United States had run out in 1811  Without a bank to lend money and regulate the country’s money supply the economy weakened  Republicans now saw the need for a national bank and supported a law to charter the second bank of the United States

 Another Problem  Foreign competition especially from Britain

 In 1815 British goods poured into the United States  British could make and sell goods more cheaply then Americans who had to pay for building their new factories  Dumping: the process of selling goods in another country at very low prices  British hoped to put American rivals out of business

 Dumping caused dozens of New England businesses to fail  Congress passed the tariff act of 1816  It greatly increased tariffs on imported goods  Made imports more expensive than American goods

 The South had few factories to benefit from the tariffs  The South had long been buying British goods  The new tariff forced them to buy costly American goods  Saw it as a law that made northern manufactures rich at the expense of the South

 Americans identified themselves as northerners, southerners, and westerners  Henry Clay wanted to promote economic growth for all sections

 American System: called for high tariffs on imports (would help northern factories)  North would buy farm products from the west and the south  Reduced American dependednce on foreign goods

 Clay also wanted to call for internal improvements  Building of roads, bridges, and canals  Easier to ship goods to city market Clay’s American system never went into effect