The “Corrupt Bargain” Presidential Election of 1824 By Patrick S. Baker The 1824 United States Presidential election was arguably the most contentious and divisive in history, at least until the presidential elections of 2000 and 2020. This anger over the election was singularly ironic as all the candidates claimed membership in a single political party, the Democratic-Republicans, the only national party at the time. Background The Era of Good Feelings (1815–1825), which started with the end of the War of 1812 and concluded with the election of John Quincy Adams as president, was a period in the political history of the United States that was marked by a new sense of a true nationality and of general-purpose and unity among Americans. This is era was associated with the presidency of James Monroe. This time was also when the Federalist Party declined and disappeared, leaving Monroe’s Democratic-Republicans as the only surviving national political party. Nevertheless, many old Federalists, like John Quincy Adams, merely shed the Federalist party label—without abandoning the old faction’s ideas—and joined the Democratic-Republicans. Subsequently, some of the critical Federalist’s policies, such as the Tariff of 1816 and the incorporation of the Second Bank of the United States, were adopted by Democratic-Republican administrations. |
