Attack Ads in Era of Good Feelings
Part 5 of a series. See complete list of series here.
This spring, a small cadre of Williams College students is participating in an experimental history course on the American Presidents. Instead of producing papers, as is the norm in most history classes, the students will create video campaign ads for the presidential elections from Washington to Lincoln.
There’s a catch, though. The students can only use images, quotes, documents, and music from the era. They cannot use anything that came afterward. An image of the White House burning in 1812 would not work for the election of 1808. They cannot use images of Leutze’s famous Washington Crossing the Delaware, a product more reflective of the 1840s than the 1770s. Their assignment is to capture the spirit of the age – not the spirit of our historical memory.
RealClearHistory has agreed to partner with our class. Every week or so, RealClearHistory will display the best videos the students produce.
We began with John Adams’ 1796 election and we will continue to Abraham Lincoln’s in 1860, stopping at all the major, transformative elections along the way. This week, we examine James Monroe’s presidency. James Monroe inherited one of the most unusual political situations in American history. The opposition party, the Federalists, had largely discredited themselves near the end of the War of 1812. In 1814, a group of New England Federalists opposed to the war convened at Hartford, Conn., to discuss possible secession. In the wake of American victory, the Federalist Party looked treasonous to many Americans and dangerously unserious to many more. After gaining some seats in the 1812 election, the Federalist Party suffered a loss so deep in 1816 that the party, essentially ceased to exist. Reflecting the lop-sided state of politics, our videos this week focus exclusively on Monroe with one supporting his case and another attacking him.
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After James Monroe’s inauguration in 1816, he sought to mend the wounds of war by traveling through New England. Great fanfare greeted Monroe throughout his journey. A Boston newspaper editor reacted to jubilation by declaring that the nation was experiencing an “era of good feelings.” The phrase stuck, although historians have pointed out that the talk of good feelings and nonpartisanship masked deep divisions within American society. Indeed, it was the Missouri Compromise of 1820, which perpetuated slavery south of the 36th parallel and was considered a seminal achievement of the era, that led Thomas Jefferson to write, "I considered it at once as the knell of the Union." Historians have the benefit of hindsight, though, and Jefferson was, well, Jefferson, an unmatched genius whose vision on many things was far ahead of his contemporaries. For most contemporary observers, however, Monroe’s presidency and the unity of government marked a great success.
On the international front, the United States solidified its standing as the dominant power on the continent and as a force on the world stage. John Quincy Adams, Monroe’s Secretary of State, conducted a series of negotiations with European nations that expanded American boundaries. He negotiated the Adams-Onis Treaty with Spain, which granted Florida to the United States. At about the same time, he established good relations with the British and won concessions in the Oregon territory. Adams also authored the assertive Monroe Doctrine, which would have a lasting influence on American diplomacy. On the home front, the nation experienced an economic boom as it recovered from the War of 1812.
Things came crashing down in 1819. First, an economic crisis struck, and then, in 1820, the admission of Missouri to statehood created a political crisis. The Panic of 1819 began with a banking crisis that soon affected the entire economy. After the War of 1812, many local banks in western areas sprung up to offer loans to would-be settlers. Peace also brought a spike in commodity prices, especially in cotton as British manufacturers began to import American supplies again. The easy lending and potential for quick profits led to a land rush. To respond, many smaller banks extended their credit even further.
(Pro- and anti-Monroe campaign ads videos on Page 2)
