Era Of Good Feelings Essay

Era of good feelings The "Era of Good Feelings" was a time of increased nationalism and prosperity for the nation; however, debates over several important issues created a crack in the outward appearance of harmony during President Monroe's terms. Since the country had gone into nationalism, it was hard for the people to see the many problems that were coming. Some of these problems included heated debates over internal improvements, the growing sectional discord, foreign policy issues and the National Bank. One of the conflicts seen during this time was the argument over internal improvements. Many bills were proposed by Congress during this time, but not as many were passed. These bills, which would have provided for the building of roads and such, were denied by many who were supporters of states' rights. "I am constrained by the insuperable difficulty I feel in reconciling the bill with the Constitution of the United States to return it with that objection." (D2) Many bills were either vetoed or did not pass Congress due to the fear of potential bad activity of the government. The states felt that if there were any improvements that were to be made, then they should be the ones to propose and probably make these improvements. This was not the case, however. Internal improvements were too large to be left to the states alone. It was thought that these improvements would promote growth in much of the country, but states' righters still felt it was an overreaching of the power of the federal government. Monroe, who was president during much of the "Era of Good Feelings", felt that Congress did not "possess the power under the Constitution to pass such a law." (D7) Although some may have argued that these were implied powers granted to Congress, others felt that the branches only had powers which were enumerated specifically in the Constitution. Another argument of the time was the sectional tensions between the North, South, and