learned that his negotiators in Europe had reached the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war without major concessions by either side. Though it had no effect on the treaty, General Andrew Jackson's victory in the January 1815 Battle of New Orleans ended the war on a triumphant note. Napoleon's defeat at the June 1815 Battle of Waterloo brought a final end to the Napoleonic Wars and attacks on American shipping. With Americans celebrating a successful "second war of independence" from Britain, the Federalist Party slid towards national irrelevance. The subsequent period of virtually one-party rule by the Democratic-Republican Party is known as the "Era of Good Feelings." In his first term, Madison and his allies had largely hewed to Jefferson's domestic agenda of low taxes and a reduction of the national debt, and Congress allowed the national bank's charter to expire during Madison's first term. The challenges of the War of 1812 led many Democratic-Republicans to reconsider the role of the federal government. When the 14th Congress convened in December 1815, Madison proposed the re-establishment of the national bank, increased spending on the army and the navy, and a tariff designed to protect American goods from foreign competition. Madison's proposals were strongly criticized by strict constructionists like John Randolph, who argued that Madison's program "out-Hamiltons Alexander Hamilton." Responding to Madison's proposals, the 14th Congress compiled one of the most productive legislative records up to that point in history, enacting the Tariff of 1816 and establishing the Second Bank of the United States. At the party's 1816 congressional nominating caucus, Secretary of State James Monroe defeated Secretary of War William H. Crawford in a 65-to-54 vote. The Federalists offered little opposition in the 1816 presidential election and Monroe won in a landslide election. Monroe and Era of Good Feelings, 1817–1825 Monroe believed that the existence of political parties was harmful to the United States, and he sought to usher in the end of the Federalist Party by avoiding divisive policies and welcoming ex-Federalists into the fold. Monroe favored infrastructure projects to promote economic development and, despite some constitutional concerns, signed bills providing federal funding for the National Road and other projects. Partly due to the mismanagement of national bank president William Jones, the country experienced a prolonged economic recession known as the Panic of 1819. The panic engendered a widespread resentment of the national bank and a distrust of paper money