James Monroe's Coined: The Era Of Good Feelings

Monroe’s presidency was emblematic of national harmony. Coined “the Era of Good Feelings” by the Columbian Centinel, the surge of national pride from the War of 1812 and the death of the Federalist party created a sense of unity in America. The government, for one of the first times in its young history, devoted itself to the nation rather than to divided regions. During this period, nationalism manifested in several forms, including economic, judicial, and diplomatic nationalism. Each facet of nationalism served to unify the country as a whole and mold it into a modern society. Economic nationalism began to develop in America during Monroe’s presidency, in what became known as “the American System”. One component of this was protective

His first major nationalistic victories was the Rush-Bagot agreement, which demilitarized the Canadian border. This was followed in suit by the Anglo-American Accords, which renewed the American right to fish off of Canada and, more importantly, established the joint occupation of the Oregon territory between England and the United States. John Quincy Adams continued to pursue the expansion of the country, negotiating in the Transcontinental Treaty of 1819 (Goldfield et al. 255-256). This shrewd negotiation and unprecedented expansion caused the country to emerge as a global influence. James Monroe himself also furthered diplomatic nationalism during his term. In the famous Monroe Doctrine, he established that “‘The American continents … are henceforth not to be considered as subjects for future colonization by any European powers’”, and furthermore asserted that the United States should have a separate sphere of influence from Europe (“Monroe Doctrine, 1823”). With this statement, Monroe officially asserted America was to be independent of European affairs, firmly cementing the idea that the United States was a nation, and not a