“Strains on National Unity”

1. “Strains on National Unity” Chapter 12 section 4

2. Era of Good Feelings After the War of 1812, Americans turned away from the Federalist party for failing to support the War of 1812. Wherever President James Monroe(5th POTUS) went, he was greeted by thousands of people. So many New Englanders turned out to greet Monroe that a Boston newspaper reported the beginning of “an Era of Good Feelings”. These good feelings were to assure Monroe of an easy re-election in 1820.By then new problems were arising to threaten national unity.

3. The Panic of 1819 The national unity was strained in 1819 by a financial panic. When crop prices overseas plunged, American farmers could not pay their debts. People lost their farms, homes, and businesses. Cotton which soared up to 33 cents per lb. fell to 14 cents per lb. The bank of the United States made a bad situation worse by taking over the property of borrowers who could not pay their debts.

4. Expansion of Slavery The Northwest Ordinance of 1787 had set up the steps for forming new states. It had also banned slavery in the Northwest Territory. Thus, the new states of Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois were “free states”-states where slavery was not permitted. New states south of the Northwest Territory-Kentucky, Tennessee, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama allowed slavery. In 1819 Missouri requested to join the Union as a slave state.

5. Missouri Compromise 1820 A greater threat to unity was Missouri’s request to join the Union as a slave state. The issue divided northern and southern states. Henry Clay feared that sectionalism would tear the nation apart. Sectionalism-devotion to interests of one’s own section over those of the nation as a whole. Clay convinced Congress to pass the Missouri Compromise in 1820. It let Missouri join the Union as a slave state and Maine as a free state. It also banned slavery in the Louisiana Purchase north of latitude 36 degrees 30’.South of that line slavery was permitted.

6. Missouri Compromise 1820