Sectionalism Versus Nationalism and the Era of Good Feelings

After the war of 1812, there was a strong sense of nationalism since the young United States had won a war against the powerful British Army. However, the loss of thousands of southern slaves and the British embargo led both the north and the south to lament over the cost of the war. The time period from 1815 – 1825 that some historians call the era of good feelings was not as positive a time period as the title implies; factions ran rampant on the verge of causing an implosion for our country’s political system. The United States began to dissatisfy some of its citizens and so the concerns of sectionalism, or the split of the country began to arise. There was a continuous riff between the south and the north over a few issues,†¦show more content†¦Another display of this was when the southern states wanted to add Missouri as a slave state, according to document F, the north only would agree if the north was able to add Maine as a free state, continuing to impl y that the north and south would always disagree and be on other sides of an issue. Unfortunately this came about since the fall of the Whig political party, the Democratic-Republicans had all the power so the states decided on presidents based on state interests rather than party interests. According to document I, this worked in the beginning as Monroe was almost universally accepted, but the next election led to major division of desired presidents and so limited the appeal and power of such president. In conclusion, sectionalist ideas began to spread around the country and potentially could have run the country into the ground. The country did hold manage to hold together due to the nationalism that came about as a result of the war with Britain. According to document C, there was a feeling of immense patriotism and nationalism on the Independence Day celebration as it reminded people of the two wars they had won against Britain. In 1820, according to document I, the majority of the states (all except Arkansas) voted for James Monroe clearly putting him in a position of respect from a large portion of the country. The natives that were killed also may have led to some nationalism as the southerners were less afraid ofShow MoreRelatedGreat Inventors Changed our World3233 Words   |  13 Pagesopen until 1825. This was the first transportation system between New York and the Great Lakes; it transported goods and people more quickly along the canal. This canal stimulated to create more canals that connect to the Erie Canal to the other lakes. Now the canals are primarily used for pleasure such as boating, trails, bike paths as well as recreational marinas. The canals were a good source of transportation but it then became a thing of the past and began to falter when the new invention of