0.]

276. The Era as a Whole.--The years 1815-24 have been called the
Era of Good Feeling, because there was no hard political fighting in all
that time--at least not until the last year or two. In 1816 Monroe was
elected President without much opposition. In 1820 he was reelected
President without any opposition whatever. Instead of fighting over
politics, the people were busily employed in bringing vast regions of
the West under cultivation and in founding great manufacturing
industries in the East. They were also making roads and canals to
connect the Western farms with the Eastern cities and factories. The
later part of the era was a time of unbounded prosperity. Every now and
then some hard question would come up for discussion. Its settlement
would be put off, or the matter would be compromised. In these years the
Federalist party disappeared, and the Republican party split into
factions. By 1824 the differences in the Republican party had become so
great that there was a sudden ending to the Era of Good Feeling.

[Sidenote: Hard times, 1816-18.]

[Sidenote: Emigration to the West, 1816-18. _McMaster_, 241, 266-273.]

[Sidenote: Four states admitted, 1816-1819]

[Sidenote: Maine and Missouri apply for admission.]

277. Western Emigration.--During the first few years of this period
the people of the older states on the seacoast felt very poor. The
shipowners could no longer make great profits. For there was now peace
in Europe, and European vessels competed with American vessels. Great
quantities of British goods were sent to the United States and were sold
at very low prices. The demand for American goods fell off. Mill owners
closed their mills. Working men and women could find no work to do. The
result was a great rush of emigrants from the older states on the
seaboard to the new settlements in the West. In the West the emigrants
could buy land from the government at a very low rate, and by working
hard could support themselves and their families. This westward movement
was at its height in 1817. In the years 1816--19, four states were
admitted to the Union. These were Indiana (1816), Mississippi (1817),
Illinois (1818), and Alabama (1819). Some of the emigrants even crossed
the Mississippi River and settled in Missouri and in Arkansas. In 1819
they asked to be admitted to the Union as the state of Missouri, or
given a territorial government under the name of Arkansas. The people of
Maine also asked Congre