Why did partisan conflict increase during the administrations of Monroe and Adams?
“We Owe Allegiance to No Crown”
John A. Woodside, a Philadelphia sign painter, made his living creating advertisements for hotels, taverns, and city fire engines. He specialized in patriotic paintings and banners carried in parades. At some point in his long career from 1815 to 1850, he created this scene of a youthful sailor receiving alaurel wreath, the ancient Greek symbol of victory, by a breezy Miss Liberty (identified by the liberty cap on a stick). Picture Research Consultants & Archives.
VISUAL ACTIVITY
READING THE IMAGE: What might the chain at the sailor’s feet indicate? What do you think the slogan on the banner means? What do you see in the picture that would help date it? (Hint: Examine the flag. And for the truly curious, consider the history of styles for men’s facial hair.)
CONNECTIONS: How and why does the painting reference the War of 1812? Regardless of the painting’s date, what message do you think Woodside is trying to convey here?
VIRGINIANS CONTINUED THEIR
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hold on the presidency with the election of James Monroe in 1816 and again in 1820, when Monroe garnered all but one electoral vote. The collapse of the Federalist Party ushered in an apparent period of one-party rule, but politics remained highly partisan. At the state level, increasing political engagement sparked a drive for universal white male suffrage. At the national level, ill feelings were stirred by a sectional crisis in 1820 over the admission of Missouri to the Union, and foreign policy questions involving European claims to Latin America animated sharp disagreements as well. Four candidates vied for the presidency in 1824 in an election decided by the House of Representatives. One-party rule was far from harmonious.