Characteristics of Nationalism and Sectionalism in the Era of 1816-1828?

As the nation expanded into the west at an increasing pace, arguments over slavery in the west became more and more heated. The disagreement between the north and the south eventually led to the civil war. The expansion to the west also encouraged the disunity of sectionalism and the unity of nationalism.

When the United States went to war in 1812, Americans were stopped from importing factory goods from Great Britain (their wartime enemy). Without competition from foreign nations, northern industries made a handsome profit. During peacetime, the congress tried to maintain the good times for the new northern industries by raising tariffs (taxes) rates from 1816-1828. But the effect of this tariffs wasn’t so good for south, the tariff made manufactured goods more expensive, the tariff also reduced the market for British-made cotton cloth, which meant that the south would sell less raw cotton to their major costumer, Great Britain. When even higher tariffs were passed the south revolted. Violent conflict was avoided, but further increased the sectionalism of the nation.

The vice-president during Andrew Jackson’s presidency, John C. Calhoun, supported the ideas of nullification, or the right of a state to nullify or ignore national laws. Up to the end of the civil war the one of greatest constitutional debates concerned the issue of nullification. On 1798 a federalist majority passed the Alien and Sedition acts, states legislatures in Virginia and Kentucky passed resolutions that protested these measures and claimed the right to nullify them as unconstitutional. After the debate subsided, the nation entered a period of expansion and consolidation; this increased the sense of nationalism in people at this time.

In conclusion, the United States went through many changes during the expansion to the west, but ultimately there was an increased in nationalism and sectionalism due to many factors and circumstances.