Sectionalism And Nationalism

The United States faced many challenges in becoming an independent and new country and along the way those challenges included fighting other countries. As soon as we became our own country we faced another challenged with the British in the war of 1812. Contrary to how we functioned over the years and even in modern times this was a time where as a country, America banded together fighting for this new freedom and demanding it stay that way. And It was done with passion and love for our country. This is what nationalism is. It’s deep and loyal devotion to a country. The notion that is very similar to this is called sectionalism and also involves passion. But why nationalism is passion and devotion to a country, sectionalism is passion and …show more content…
Luckily, the war of 1812 was a catalyst into bring the country together in unity and being on the same page. A strong form of Nationalism came to pass as people of the U.S. started seeing themselves as one country rather than a bunch of states. During all of this James Madison also successfully created the American System. The American System consisted of the National Bank, protective tariffs, and of course internal improvements. The war of 1812 also brought the United States together because of our common enemy and past experience related to this enemy. History itself was made during this war because Francis Scott Key watched as our soldiers defended Baltimore from the British while writing the Star Spangled Banner. This iconic song was and is still used as a sign and a testament of the those soldiers heart and courage as they defended their country and how that even when they were losing or were seriously injured their heart was strong, the flag was still there. This was the first of many victories and was capable of bringing up many heroes throughout the year. To name a few, Andrew Jackson after the battle of New Orleans, William Henry Harrison became a hero after the battle of Thames, and Oliver Hazard Perry who lead the battle of Lake Erie. Coming back around to the American System, Henry Clay made a great effort to try and bring unity to the North as well as the South and West in 1815 and to see them go forward with greatness. The American System consisted of the National Bank, protective tariffs, and of course internal improvements. The tariffs were used to put taxes on British goods so people would be pressured into buying the cheaper and even “home made” product. This gave a boost in our economy as it caused a mass jump in manufacturing so companies made a lot of profit. Hence, this paved the way for our national bank to be able to borrow