in New England, the increasingly unpopular war with Britain gave new life to the moribund Federalist Party...Federalists won 43 out of 45 New England congressional districts in 1814 after having gained control of all the states gov'ts in that region the year before...there was a brief flurry of secessionist sentiment that resulted in the convening of the Hartford Convention in December of 1814 (Massachusetts, Connecticut, & Rhode Island were repesented)...the post-convention report consisted of proposals to amend the US constitution: that direct taxes and representation be proportioned to the free population; that a 2/3rds vote of both houses of Congress be required for admission of new states, restrictions on commerce & declaring war; that the 3/5ths rule be abolished; that embargoes be limited to 60 days; that naturalized citizens be prohibited from holding federal office, that presidents be limited to one term; and that there be no successive presidents from the same state (i.e., Jefferson, Madison, and then, Monroe)...
in effect, the report aired Federalist grievances against the so-called 'Virginia Dynasty'...other areas of the country saw the Federalists pressing sectional claims amd the party never recovered from this perception... in 1816, the national economy turned down and in 1819, there was a major crash...in 1820 southern slave states appeared ready to fight northern states over the question of expanding their chattel system westward even as Monroe was running unopposed for reelection to the presidency...so underneath the 'Era of Good Feelings' were simmering issues that would dominate the political nation's agenda for the next 40 years... Michael Hoover