Era of Good Feelings

The Era of Good Feelings by George Dangerfield is an interesting book primarily because it has a view of American history that is almost a polar opposite to my own. Dangerfield writes engagingly about the history of America from the War of 1812 to the election of Jackson in 1828. Dangerfield views the Monroe administration as a complete failure. He thinks the John Quincy Adams adminstration a visionary one that was ahead of its time. Dangerfield thinks such things as the Missouri Compromise led to the Civil War, and were failures overall of government. He blames men like Daniel Webster for being unwilling to take that next step to abolition. He thinks very little of Henry Clay even Clay’s role in the Missouri Compromise. All of this and he does not view the War of 1812 as an impressive victory for America. That is just a sampling of the many things upon which we disagree. I on the other hand often view this time period as the highlight of America. It was the Constitution at its finest hour and the beginning of the Golden Age of the Senate. Dangerfield’s major problem is that he views history from the results rather than the parameters. He thinks the end of slavery was a good thing. On that he and I agree. However, Dangerfield views slavery from a post-civil war mind, and thus, the war is a good thing since it ended slavery. I think that unfair to pre-civil war history. Jackson, Clay, Webster, and others tried to end slavery without war. They felt war was the great evil, and they tried to end slavery in a matter according to the Constitution rather than just brandishing the bayonet.

Despite these things which do come out in his book, the book does a good job of giving a thorough account of the Era of Good Feelings. He does especially good work on things like the Panic of 1819, and the attitude of John Quincy Adams as a whole. The book is fairly long, but if you like history books, this one is pretty good. Feel free to check it out for a little light reading on the weekends.
The Era of Good Feelings by George Dangerfield is an interesting book primarily because it has a view of American history that is almost a polar opposite to my own. Dangerfield writes engagingly about the history of America from the War of 1812 to the election of Jackson in 1828. Dangerfield views the Monroe administration as a complete failure. He thinks the John Quincy Adams adminstration a visionary one that was ahead of its time. Dangerfield thinks such things as the Missouri Compromise led to the Civil War, and were failures overall of government. He blames men like Daniel Webster for being unwilling to take that next step to abolition. He thinks very little of Henry Clay even Clay’s role in the Missouri Compromise. All of this and he does not view the War of 1812 as an impressive victory for America. That is just a sampling of the many things upon which we disagree. I on the other hand often view this time period as the highlight of America. It was the Constitution at its finest hour and the beginning of the Golden Age of the Senate. Dangerfield’s major problem is that he views history from the results rather than the parameters. He thinks the end of slavery was a good thing. On that he and I agree. However, Dangerfield views slavery from a post-civil war mind, and thus, the war is a good thing since it ended slavery. I think that unfair to pre-civil war history. Jackson, Clay, Webster, and others tried to end slavery without war. They felt war was the great evil, and they tried to end slavery in a matter according to the Constitution rather than just brandishing the bayonet.

Despite these things which do come out in his book, the book does a good job of giving a thorough account of the Era of Good Feelings. He does especially good work on things like the Panic of 1819, and the attitude of John Quincy Adams as a whole. The book is fairly long, but if you like history books, this one is pretty good. Feel free to check it out for a little light reading on the weekends.