After the War of 1812 (1812-1815), there was a significant rise in nationalism. This led to the Era of Good Feeling. After the war was over, there were huge economic consequences. After the war was over, both U.S. exports and imports surged. American goods found Europe were in great demand.
“European demands for American goods, especially staples such cotton, tobacco, or flour increased.” It was necessary to expand the land available to satisfy them. It was clear that there was insufficient territory, which meant that expansion was needed. It was a time when paper money became less common. It was easy to get credit by borrowing bank notes. To help people collect their credit and buy more land to farm, banks would pay out in gold or silver. People wanted land and so banks started paying them. Banks had to stop paying them when they took all of the gold and silver from banks. A combination of the halting payments and “Swelling European crop yields” that “reduced American farm product demand” caused the Panic and depression to begin. Many American banks were unable to pay their specie obligations and many other businesses succumbed. Public lands sales fell by a lot. Unemployment rose, and in certain regions food and other essentials were hard to find.” The economy was suffering, but there was also political turmoil in the United States. The Missouri Territory was being considered for inclusion in the United States’ southern region. The Missouri Territory became a US slave state. But the southern states did not object to it. “Eventually, Speaker Henry Clay of the House engineered the Missouri Compromise. The Missouri Compromise allowed Missouri to become a slave-state while admitting Maine as a free and independent state.
Also, the agreement stipulated that the remaining Louisiana Territory above 36deg30″ parallel–the Southern boundary of Missouri- shous be free of slavery.” The Missouri Crisis marked the beginning “sectionalization” of national politics based on slavery. The Era of Good Feeling began with a booming economy and farming, but soon fell into depression as demand decreased and banks collapsed. This led to the US political system experiencing a crisis, which caused the Era’s fall.
