Introduction

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Introduction
Succeeding Jefferson to the presidency, Madison also tried to deal with French and British predations on American shipping. Although by 1812 Napoleon’s Continental System appeared to be nudging Britain toward repealing the Orders in Council and reopening trade with the United States, Napoleon (in reality, the greater threat to the United States) had successfully played the United States against England such that the Americans felt compelled to declare war on Great Britain. Moreover, war fever in the United States was driven by westward expansion: after the Battle of Tippecanoe in 1811 essentially ended Indian resistance in the Ohio Valley, western Americans wanted to take Canada; Madison saw attacking Canada as a way to force a change in British policy. The War of 1812, opposed by maritime interests and New England Federalists, was not a well-executed undertaking for either side, and ended in 1814 with a status quo ante bellum. In ensuing years the United States and Britain agreed to demilitarize the Great Lakes, settled the northern boundary of the Louisiana Territory as far west as the Rockies, and negotiated joint control of the Oregon Territory, as well as grew closer economically. The United States also concluded the Transcontinental Treaty with Spain, by which it gained Florida (for $5 million) and established boundaries with Mexico. And in 1823 the United States issued the Monroe Doctrine, stating that while it would respect already-existing European colonies in the Western Hemisphere and try to stay out of European affairs, the United States would treat any attempt to extend European control in the hemisphere as a hostile gesture. The Monroe presidency domestically is often called the Era of Good Feelings, but although it did see the end of the old Federalist–Anti-Federalist issues, shadows of sectionalism were arising as powerful leaders from the South, West, and North all gained prominence. The sections clashed on the Second Bank of the United States and monetary issues, protectionism and the tariff, credit and expansion in the West, and slavery. The first of many conflicts on that issue was addressed in the debate over Missouri statehood and was resolved with the Missouri Compromise (1820). And in response to the tariff, John Calhoun issued his "Exposition and Protest," which questioned federal authority and argued for states’ rights to nullify acts of Congress.

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