Era of Good Feelings

The news has a repetitive theme these days about folks dreading this election season. Even political junkies who thrive on every twist and turn of elections confess to dreading how divisive and vitriolic it will almost certainly be. People are rightfully worried about a return of the violence that occurred in 2020.

I’ve attempted to reassure some folks that we’ve gone through rough political waters before and survived but that doesn’t help much.

There was a time in our history, known as the “Era of Good Feelings” when divisiveness wasn’t an issue. We’d won the War of 1812, the nation was prosperous and at peace. The debate about slavery was on the back burner. The slave trade had actually been outlawed in 1807 and the abolitionists assumed that was just the first step toward abolishing slavery altogether. The West held the promise of limitless expansion, everything seemed positive.

Folks back then had no idea of the unbelievable carnage of the Civil War and most had few qualms about the brutality toward native Americans.

The president was James Monroe. Monroe had been a soldier under Washington in the Continental Army. He studied law under Thomas Jefferson. He was a delegate to the Continental Congress that ratified the Constitution. He had been ambassador to France, and governor of Virginia.

Monroe, in 1820, was the candidate of the Democratic-Republican Party. Yes, even the separate parties were a thing of the future. The election was held from November 1st to December 6th and he was the only one on the ballot. Because he was the only candidate he won all 22 states that existed at the time. The only candidate who had run unopposed had been Washington in 1789 and 1793.

The nation was unified under this capable leader. It was, indeed, an Era of Good Feelings.

Monroe would have been the second candidate to receive all the electoral college votes except for a delegate named William Plumer who, out of misguided loyalty to Washington, refused to vote according to the outcome of the election so there wouldn’t be another unanimous election.

It would be nice if we had such a situation again but, unfortunately, today we have folks who make money by preaching divisiveness, urging us to despise the “other side”.

Regardless of the verbal bomb throwers there really is no “other side”. We’re all in this together. As citizens who wish our country well, we’re all patriots. We truly do not wish evil to anyone. We are stronger and better when our democracy flourishes and everyone gets a say and everyone gets a reasonable chance at prosperity.

None of us can single handedly change the divisiveness we’re experiencing. What we can do is not participate in it. We can turn off the demagogues who preach division. We can refuse to support candidates who espouse, as one Representative did, such things as a split between red and blue states.

We are one nation comprised of diverse peoples. We all need to remember that.