The events and political issues surrounding the post-war period of 1815-1824 were greatly influenced by Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun. These men were spokesman for their designated area of the country and their positions and policies reflected the philosophies of their geographical areas.  After the War of 1812, the “Second War of Independence”, left the nation with a sense of recognition that they were a force rather than a revolting set of colonies. Unfortunately the home front saw a series of hard times and economic hardships throughout the nation. Financial paralysis set in, but the West was the hardest hit due to the overspeculation of the frontier lands. The lack of population and influence made the situation in the west worsen. The remainder of the country was uneasy due to the Missouri Compromise. Forcing the issue of slavery into the political arena, the North and South began to battle over the “peculiar institution”. Raising tensions all over the country left the nation in a vulnerable political state in dire need of reform and leadership.

            Henry Clay, the representative of the West’s interests, became a spokesman for the area through his political ideas and reforms. The nationalistic Clay proposed a grandiose and profitable plan for the home market. Riding the waves brought upon by the war-hawks, Clay’s “American System” had main components. It needed a strong banking system that would provide a strong and abundant credit line. Also, it proposed a protective tariff that would aid the eastern manufacturers to flourish. Finally, the first two components of the plan would be the financial foundation for the creation of a network of railroads and canals throughout the Ohio Valley. This would allow foodstuffs and raw materials to flow east and manufactured goods would flow back to the west. This plan, which seemed to cure the economic ills of the nation and at the same time knit the country together, seemed to be ideal for the country’s situation. Unfortunately, the funds for the railroads never amounted and Republican Congress failed to see the insight of Clay’s reform.  

            In the North and South, the growing problem of the issue of slavery was taking over the political arena of the nation. The chief justice of the Supreme Court of the day, John Marshall, initiated some of the most nationalistic decisions the country has ever seen. His decisions, including Marbury v. Madison, gave the nation stances on judicial review, the defense of federal power at the expense of the states, and protection of property rights and overspeculation. One of the men instrumental in these decisions was never a justice at all. Daniel Webster was known as the expounding father of the Constitution for his devotion to the Union. In the Senate, Webster would arouse the debate of states’ rights and nullification in Congress. Webster’s opponent in the South was John C. Calhoun, a man who could be described as a Webster for the South. His beliefs for slavery and the expansion of states’ rights over the federal government was a benchmark for the South. Each area’s devotion to supplanting their own interests revealed the tensions and hardships that would plague the country for the next half century until they were resolved through the events of the Civil War.

part 2
            The Jeffersonian Republicans of the Era of Good Feelings adopted the principles of their one time rivals, the Hamiltonian Federalists. Believing in ‘loose construction’ favored a stronger federal power, but they failed to adopt the entire aspect of this political belief. The adoption of nearly all of the ideals of the Hamiltonian didn’t include supporting the direct federal funding of intrastate internal improvements. The overflow of these Republicans in Congress would play a contributive role in the chaos of the political arena throughout the nation. There were several factors which converted the once states’ rights Republicans to the Federalists political point of view. Now that the Republicans were in a dominating position in Congress, they realized that they needed to utilize their position of power to implement the best legislation that would shape the manner with which the country was led rather than continue to fight it. Basically, they figured they had infiltrated the hierarchy of command, so why destroy it when they had the power to shape it using the ideas of central government to promote the strength of the states.

            America was in a state of expansion and holding on following the events of the War of 1812. The growing West, led by Clay’s American System, was in economic turmoil. Their failure to have a powerful voice in the West combined with a lack of connection to the industrial east left them without power. In an effort to foster the business aspect of the country, the Republicans adopted the Federalist ideas of a protective tariff and control of the central government taking over. This allowed Republicans in Congress to help business domestically and control the number of imports coming from foreign nations. Also, the implementation of a federal bank would give the nation an economic staple that would replace the uneasiness and instability of having state banks all over the place. Adopting the first two components of Clay’ American System gave them a Federalist point of view, but they failed to adopt the principle of promoting intrastate, federally funded aid for transportation. This, along with the veto of Madison, inhibited the American System and the Republican’s new political agenda from dominating the country.

            Another contributing factor to the new Federalistic point of view was the consistency of Marshall’s decisions to promote the federal government at the expense of the states. With the aid of Daniel Webster, the decisions to solidify the central government in such issues as judicial review and other vital issues, the Supreme Court was supplanting the role of the government as the boss. Republican’s decisions to modify their political perspective were aided by the contributing tension brought about by the sectional differences of the North and South. The issue of slavery was now becoming a predominant political issue that was changing the mannerisms and nature of the country. The decisions to modify, not change, toward the Federalistic point of view was recognition of the reality that the nation was now recognized throughout the world as a country. They needed to start acting like one, and the only way they could preserve their political security was to adopt the ways of a powerful nation with a strong political structure of leadership.

Between 1815 and 1824 the United States of America were in a state of recovery from the War of 1812 with the British.  Henry Clay was a part of these recovery stages.  Daniel Webster was a member of the senate who was very active in the Supreme Court.  John C. Calhoun was the secretary of war.  He was also a very nationalistic person.  Only one of these three people could be considered to be a spokesperson for a certain area.  That person is Henry Clay, who would be a spokesperson for the west. 

Henry Clay played many important roles in the years following the War of 1812.  In 1814 he and John Quincy Adams went to Ghent, a city in Belgium to work out a peace treaty with the British.  Henry Clay also was a big part of the Missouri Compromise in 1820.  Clay also created a system called the American system.  The American System consisted of a strong banking system and a protective tariff.  The money coming from these two components of the American system would allow the third part of the system to work.  This third party would be a network of roads and canals, which would allow easy transportation of goods from the South and West to the North and East.  The West greatly supported this system; they had very few roads and the roads they did have were not in a good condition.  Henry Clay could be considered a spokesman for the west only because his American System was greatly favored in the Western United States.

            In 1819 Daniel Webster participated in the case of Dartmouth College v. Woodward.  In this case, New Hampshire wanted to change a charter that was granted by King George III in 1769.  Webster, an alumnus of Dartmouth, was asked to participate.    In this case he was considered to be “Godlike Daniel.”  Daniel Webster was able to persuade Chief Justice John Marshall to rule that the charter should remain since it was a contract.  Daniel Webster was a part of the Senate, but he did occasionally come to the Supreme Court in order to illustrate his Federalistic and nationalistic philosophy.  It is not valid to call Daniel Webster a spokesperson of the North, at least not yet.  It would be more accurate to call him a spokesperson of Federalism and nationalism.  Perhaps later in the history of the United States who could be a better candidate for this position.

            John C. Calhoun could be considered to be the spokesperson for the South later in history, but probably not during the years of 1815-1824.  He had a strong belief that all people should have the right to have their own opinions on subjects.  He was a federalist war hawk who agreed with the War of 1812.  Calhoun was a very nationalistic person.  However, later he was also one of the people who caused the South to decide to secede from the United States.  In 1916, John C. Calhoun served as the secretary of war for President James Madison.

            Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun all played roles in the years between 1815 and 1824.  However Henry Clay probably had the most important or the biggest role between these years because of his part in the treaty of Ghent that ended the War of 1812.  Daniel Webster and John C. Calhoun will probably have greater roles later on in the history of America.      

Part 2 

            Jeffersonian Republicans were great believers in the “strict construction,” or the exact translation of the Constitution.  However leaders of this party were sometimes forced to adopt some of the principles of “loose construction,” which was used by the competitors, the Hamilton Federalists.  They were forced to do this because of events that could only be solved peacefully a loose translation of the constitution was used. 

In 1803, when the American envoys had agreed to purchase Louisiana from Napoleon, Jefferson had to use the theory of “loose construction.”  Nowhere in the constitution did it state that the president was allowed to negotiate treaties that would give huge amounts of land to the United States of America.  Jefferson was then forced to present the treaties to the Senate and to confess that the treaty was unconstitutional.  Jefferson had to do this for a few reasons.  For one it would end the expansion of France into North America.  This treaty also allowed a somewhat complicated problem to be solved without forming alliances with the enemy Britain and without needing to fight.  Jefferson also gained respect from many Federalists, especially from the West.

Jeffersonian Republicans sometimes used a “loose construction” of the constitution in order to allow tribulations to be resolved without war.  It was also used in order to gain more popularity from people from the Federalist Party.  

The Jeffersonian Republican party did not favor a strong federalist government; they instead really wanted to have stronger states’ rights.  One example of this was what happened with Henry Clay and his “American System.”  This system gave a great amount of power to the federal government.  Congress used this idea by voting to give money to each state to help build roads and canals for better transportation.  President Madison, a Jeffersonian Republican, vetoed this measure, causing the states to have to pay for their own roads.  Madison did this because he believed this act would give the government too much power over the states.  This idea of states rights is one of the Jeffersonian Republican party’s aspects that they continued to honor.

States’ rights were sacred to Jeffersonian Republicans.  Jefferson was the beginner of this desire for the states to be able to control their own affairs, without the federal government taking over.  Many other Jeffersonian Republicans also honored the rights of each state.  One example of this was when President Madison vetoed the Congress’s vote to give money to the states.  Since the states did not have help from the government.  This would allow the state to decide what they wanted to do. 

The Jeffersonian Republicans did use some aspects of the Hamiltonian Federalists ideas about the translation of the Constitution.  They were willing to use a “loose construction” rather than a “strict construction” in order to allow problems to be solved without conflict.  However, Jeffersonian Republicans would not allow the federal government to take over the rights of a state.  A state’s rights were precious to this party, and would not be taken away.