(1815-25) Period of U.S. national unity and complacency. A Boston newspaper coined the term in 1817 to describe a nation free from the influence of European political and military events. The good feelings were stimulated by two events of 1816, during James Madison's presidency: enactment of the first U.S. protective tariff, and establishment of the second national bank. The presidency of James Monroe (1817-25) was marked by the dominance of the Democratic-Republican Party and the decline of the Federalist Party