This is an I-Heart podcast.

Guaranteed Human.

This is Lee Habib, and this is Our American Stories,

the show where America is the star and the American people. Up next,

another installment of our series about us, the story of America series, with Professor Bill

McLeigh, author of the terrific book, Land of Hope. He's also a professor at Hillsdale College.

And by the way, you can go to our website and find all of the stories of

the story of us. We cover and will cover the entire history of the United States with the best

in the business right now. Again, that's Professor Bill McLeigh. You can go to our Americanstories.com

to find the story of us series.

America was changing by the time Thomas Jefferson left office in 1812.

It was becoming a more modern nation,

but many of the problems that had plagued Jefferson refused to go away.

Let's get into the story. Take it away, Bill.

Jefferson's two terms as president ended in 1809,

but America's problems with the British did not end as James Madison took office.

He found himself no match for the forces gathering on all sides to overwhelm him.

He couldn't marshal a policy resolution with forces outside the country,

but it was also struggling with growing divisions inside the country.

So it may have been an era of good feelings, as historians sometimes say, but it was mixed feelings at best.

Frontier settlers were ambitious and restless.

They wanted to expand.

...