Editing James Madison (section)

===Postwar period and decline of the Federalist opposition===
{{Main article|Era of Good Feelings}}
The postwar period of Madison's second term saw the transition into the "[[Era of Good Feelings]]" between mid-1815 and 1817, with the Federalists experiencing a further decline in influence.{{sfn|Burstein|Isenberg|2010|pages=547–548}} During the war, delegates from the New England states held the [[Hartford Convention]], where they asked for several amendments to the Constitution.{{sfn|Wills|2002|pages=145–150}} Though the Hartford Convention did not explicitly call for the secession of New England,{{sfn|Feldman|2017|pages=599–600}} the Convention became an adverse political millstone around the Federalist Party as general American sentiment had moved towards a celebrated unity among the states in what they saw as a successful "second war of independence" from Britain.{{sfn|Rutland|1990|pages=211–212}}

Madison hastened the decline of the Federalists by adopting several programs he had previously opposed.{{sfn|Burstein|Isenberg|2010|pages=559–560}} Recognizing the difficulties of financing the war and the necessity of an institution to regulate American currency, Madison proposed the re-establishment of a national bank. He also called for a tariff designed to [[Protectionism|protect]] American goods from foreign competition, and a constitutional amendment authorizing the federal government to fund the construction of local [[internal improvements]] such as roads and canals. Madison's initiatives to now act on behalf of a national bank appeared to reverse his earlier opposition to Hamilton and were opposed by strict constructionists such as John Randolph, who stated that Madison's proposals now "out-Hamiltons Alexander Hamilton".{{sfn|Rutland|1990|pages=195–198}} Responding to Madison's proposals, the [[14th United States Congress|14th Congress]] compiled one of the most productive legislative records up to that point in history.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pages=82–84}} Congress granted the [[Second Bank of the United States]] a twenty-year charter{{sfn|Hammond|1947|p=1, 11-12}}{{sfn|Kaplan|1999|p=55}} and passed the [[Tariff of 1816]], which set high import duties for all goods that were produced outside the United States.{{sfn|Howe|2007|pages=82–84}} Madison approved federal spending on the [[Cumberland Road]], which provided a link to the country's western lands.{{sfn|Rutland|1990|pages=198–199}} Congress did not pass a constitutional amendment authorizing national expenditures for local purposes (as Madison proposed).{{sfn|Cost|2021|page=356}}  As a reprimand to Congress, on his last act before leaving office, Madison vetoed the internal improvements [[Bonus Bill of 1817]], arguing that it was not within the [[enumerated powers]] of the Constitution.{{sfn|Rutland|1990|pages=204–207}}<ref>Ketcham, Ralpph.  ''James Madison: A Biography,'' pp. 608-9, American Political Biography Press, Newtown, Connecticut, 1971.  {{ISBN|0-945707-33-9}}.</ref><ref>Sorenson, Leonard R.  ''Madison on the "General Welfare" of America: His Consistent Constitutional Vision,'' pp. xii, 84-5, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Lanham, Maryland, 1995.  {{ISBN|0-8476-8065-7}}.</ref>{{sfn|Cost|2021|pages=360-361}}