U.S. History, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, and Chapter 13.
For this Discussion, answer one of the instructor-provided questions:
1. What aspects characterized the Era of Good Feeling that followed “Mr. Madison’s War?” Explain the popularity of President James Monroe and the decline of the Federalist Party. What were Monroe’s greatest achievements? What trends and events conspired to bring these “good feelings” to an end by the time of the 1824 Election?
2. What exactly was the phenomenon called “Jacksonian Democracy?” What were its greatest advances and its limitations? How did Jacksonian Democracy lead to the creation of a new Two-Party System by 1836? Why has Andrew Jackson’s reputation undergone a dramatic downward shift since his death?
3. What factors account for the proliferation of rural utopian communities in 19th century America? Choose three examples — whether intellectual or religious in nature — and describe the reasons for their success or failure. How were these different utopic movements greeted by the mainstream of American society?
4. In 1844, President-elect James K. Polk promised to reunite Jackson’s Democratic Party. In 1845, he used Texas to justify war with Mexico. Which factions tended to support or oppose this conflict? How did “Manifest Destiny” propel the Mexican-American War? In which ways did America’s victory contribute to the coming of the Civil War?
5. Looking at the period between 1790 and 1860, how does one explain the expanding domestic slave trade in the United States? Describe the economic, political, and environmental factors that took enslaved people from sea to shining sea. Also, discuss the growing opposition toward American slavery and some of the peaceful/violent ways in which resistance was expressed in the decades before the Civil War.
