A great part of the expansion of the Union by the admission of new States, described in the preceding chapter, took place in the presidency of James Monroe, who was chosen to be the fifth President in 1816. Monroe was a person of even temper, with very little party feeling, and with the greatest desire to be just and to act wisely. He was very popular, and his administration was called "the era of good-feeling." The Federal party being now almost extinct, Monroe was re-elected in 1820 without any opposing candidate.

Next to the Missouri Compromise, of which we have spoken in the preceding chapter, the most remarkable event of Monroe's administration was the purchase of the Peninsula of Florida from Spain. This was completed in 1821, and General Andrew Jackson, who had seized part of Florida during the War of 1812, and again in the Seminole War of 1818, having both times to relinquish it again, was now sent to receive the new province from the Spanish governor.

In 1823 the countries in America to the south of us, which had been colonies of Spain, were striving to establish themselves as independent republics, and it was feared that an alliance of European nations would help Spain to subdue them. President Monroe, therefore, sent a message to Congress, in which he announced what has always since been known as "The Monroe Doctrine." This doctrine was, that the United States would object to any attempt on the part of European powers to "extend their system" of interference to "another part of this hemisphere." This was a declaration of independence for the whole of America. The United States still maintains the principle as stated by Monroe.

Monroe, who went out of office in 1825, was the last President connected with the Revolution.

For want of any issue between them, both the old parties had gone to pieces, and new ones were not yet formed. There were four candidates for the presidency in 1824: Crawford, Jackson, Adams, and Clay. No one of these got a majority of the electoral votes, and the duty of electing a president devolved on the House of Representatives.

John Quincy Adams, of Massachusetts, was chosen as the sixth President. The administration of Adams was a stormy and unpopular one. He was extremely honest and faithful, but, like his father, John Adams, he had no gift for winning friends. He could not bend to the people; his cold manners and his disregard for the opinions of others made him enemies, who succeeded in preventing his reelection.

In 1828 General Andrew Jackson, of Tennessee, was chosen as the seventh President, taking office in March, 1829. He was reelected in 1832, and held office in ail for eight years. Jackson was a person sincerely patriotic and honest, but self-willed and of a violent temper.

He was the first President who turned out of government office the officials who were opposed to him, appointing his own friends in their places. He vetoed a great many acts of Congress. He succeeded in breaking down the United States Bank, which, up to that time, had kept the public moneys. He vetoed almost all the measures proposed for the promotion of roads and other "internal improvements" by the general government. Jackson set his face against the doctrine advanced by John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, in his time, that a State could "nullify" a law of the United States. The business of the United States with other nations was conducted during Jackson's administration with great spirit and ability, and the country was respected abroad.

As the moderate and peaceful administration of Monroe caused the dissolution of the old Federal and Republican parties, so the administration of a person of strong party feeling and of stormy temper like Jackson made new party divisions. Jackson loved his friends and hated all opponents. The country came to be divided into Jackson people and anti-Jackson people. The Jackson people claimed to succeed to the old Democratic - Republican party, and, retaining one of the names by which it was known, they were called "Democrats." Those who were opposed to Jackson were called "Whigs," a name formerly applied in England to the party opposed to the arbitrary power of the king. The principal feature of American politics for about twenty years was the rivalry of the Whig and Democratic parties.

The main differences between the Whig party and the Democratic were: 1. That the Whigs advocated the re-establishment of the United States Bank; the Democrats opposed it. 2. The Whigs were in favor of the building of roads and canals at the expense of the United States. The Democrats did not believe that the government of the Union should undertake "internal improvements," as roads and canals were then called. 3. The Whigs generally wished to increase the power of the United States government; the Democrats were more in favor of what were called States' rights. The Democrats thought that, whatever power the Constitution did not expressly give to the general government, could only be exercised by the States.

The great leaders of the Whig party were Henry Clay, of Kentucky and Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts. These were two of the greatest orators the country has ever known. Another orator of the first rank, John C. Calhoun, of South Carolina, was on the Democratic side. He believed in the power of a State to "nullify" a law of the nation. But the Democratic party generally agreed with President Andrew Jackson, that the laws of the United States were supreme until the courts decided them unconstitutional.

In 1836 Martin Van Buren, of New York, was nominated by the Democrats and elected the eighth President. He followed the policy of Jackson, but in a gentler way. He did not veto any bills passed by Congress.