Both nationalism and sectionalism emerged after the War of 1812. Nationalism grew in the United States because of the victory at New Orleans. Americans were proud to be called Americans. America might have seemed like they were united; however, they were divided also by a growing belief of sectionalism. Sectionalism spread like a disease, affecting the minds of Americans. Nationalism and sectionalism may be beliefs, but they grew to be great importance to Americans in this period of America. Nationalism of course is of greater importance in the economy than sectionalism was. Nationalism is the sense of belief of feeling united as one; like how Americans felt during the 1810s. In document 1 it states “ Our country! In her intercouse with foreign nations may she always be in the right; but our country, right or wrong”. This means that even though …show more content…
Sectionalism is the sense of belief of feeling divided like on a subject or into factions. In document 5 it states “would have produced a new union of thirteen or fourteen states, unpolluted with slavery”. This is an example of nationalism because the author, John Quincy Adams, was against the topic of slavery. He was not thinking for his country. He was thinking about how this would have affected him. In document 6 it showed us what thomas Jefferson thought on the topic of the Missouri compromise. He was just like John Quincy Adams. He was not thinking of his county but of himself. The debate on slavery been a problem since the world switched from slaves to indentured servants. The debate of slavery has separated a lot of people to both sides of the argument. This shows the people of America were not in a sense of feeling united. They was not always united on everything. They were in different groups on some subjects. That is why sectionalism is a problem in America. They need to believe they are united so they can try to better the whole nation instead of