The "era of good feeling," the millennium described by Washington in
his farewell address, was at last realised. Monroe's second election
had come within one electoral vote of being unanimous.
Such unanimity could not continue. Those who believe that parties are
absolutely necessary; that men must have some means of alignment; that
individual following will immediately take the place of dormant national
issues, will find an excellent argument in this "era of good feeling,"
as well as in the ward "boss" of municipal politics. Strict construction
was practically dead, destroyed by its impracticability. But
individualism was still alive. In due time, when the commercial power
of the Gulf States, or "lower South," should become dominant, it would
reappear in the guise of "State rights," a doctrine dimly foreshadowed
by the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions, but not brought to a fruition
by those border States.
On the other hand, it was equally true that Clay and the advocates of
his system could never return to the close confines of a limited or
individualistic government. A protective tariff and internal
improvements supplemented each other.
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