desired to do, as a Slave State, but to the west of her
territory the line 36 deg. 30' longitude, very little above her southern
border, was to be the dividing line of the sections. This gave the South
an immediate advantage, but at a heavy ultimate price, for it left her
little room for expansion. But one more Slave State could be carved out
of the undeveloped Western Territory--that of Arkansas. Beyond that lay
the lands reserved by treaty to the Indian tribes, which extended to the
frontier of the Western dominions of Mexico. Clay, who, though by no
means disposed to be a martyr on the question, sincerely desired to
bring about the gradual extinction of Slavery, may well have
deliberately planned this part of his compromise to accomplish that end.
At the same time, Maine--a territory hitherto attached to
Connecticut--was admitted as a Free State to balance Missouri.

Such was the great Missouri Compromise which kept the peace between the
sections for a generation, and which gradually acquired an almost
religious sanction in the minds of Americans devoted to the Union. It
struck the note of the new era, which is called in American history "the
era of good feeling." Sectional differences had been settled, political
factions were in dissolution. Monroe's second election was, for the
first time since Washington's retirement, without opposition. There were
no longer any organized parties, such as Hamilton and Jefferson and even
Clay had led. There were, of course, still rivalries and differences,
but they were personal or concerned with particular questions. Over the
land there was a new atmosphere of peace.

Abroad, America had never been stronger. To this period belongs the
acquisition of Florida from Spain, an acquisition carried through by
purchase, but by a bargain rather leonine in character. It cannot,
however, be said that the United States had no reasonable grievance in
the matter. Spain had not been able--or said that she had not been
able--to prevent the British from taking forcible possession of one of
her principal ports during a war in which she was supposed to be
neutral. She declared herself equally unable to prevent the Creek and
Seminole Indians from taking refuge in her territory and thence raiding
the American lands over the border. Monroe had a good case when he
pressed on her the point that she must either maintain order in her
dominions or allow others to do so. Jackson, who was in command against