NATIONALISM

After the War of 1812, Nationalism was on the rise. Due to the US victory of the Battle of New Orleans, which caused the British to surrender, the death of the Federalist party which had helped to unify the nation, the United States was strengthening and growing rapidly, and there was also less dependence on the British. A major decision was to create a unified financial system, and Henry Clay named it the American System, which caused a greater distance between the British and Americans financially. After the first Bank of the United States expired, Calhoun made a bill to support the Second Bank of the United States. The bill passed and the bank was a place for the national government to deposit money. It also gave a national currency and regulated credit. The money in the bank was backed by gold and silver so that way there was worth to it. The Tariff of 1816 was made because after the Embargo Act, the US ended their dependency on Europe. However, after the war, Britain tried to sell the US cheap goods. After this the US made its first protective tariff on imported goods to persuade Americans not to buy European goods. The North agreed since they benefited from it, but the South disagreed with the tariff. It was 20-25% the value of goods which made the British goods expensive, but unfortunately it was not high enough to work. Because of the War of 1812, America realized they needed a better source of transportation, which led to internal improvements. A bill was created to fund networks of roads and canals, but Madison vetoed it because he believed it to be unconstitutional. In 1806, a Nation Road was approved and construction began in 1811. Most of the roads that were built connected cities, and when the Lancaster Turnpike was made they started charging to pay building costs which became popular. Another issue began when merchants needed a cheaper way to move heavy good, and this led to the development of canals. To reduce shipping costs, goods were pulled by horses. During James Monroe's presidency, the time of his terms was called the "Era of Good Feelings" because the death of the Federalist stopped some of the division of the government and the Democratic-Republicans started to take some of the Federalists ideas due to Jefferson. Also, he chose cabinet members from all over the country. Even though all this good was happening, sectionalism was growing because of the issues of slavery and the American System. Lastly, after the War of 1812, Europe had crop failure and turned to the US for help. Crops were in high demand and this increased the value of land and cotton. To support this demand farmers borrowed on credit to get the tools, and the Second BUS encouraged easy credit and issued paper money. When the Europeans began to become stable, Americans had excess goods which caused the economy to decline. The nation went into a panic and blamed the Second BUS because they restricted easy credit, called in loans, and demanded payment in gold and silver. This crisis was named the Panic of 1819.

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