During the antebellum period, the United States was torn between embracing nationalism and favoring sectionalism. Although nationalism became a popular movement throughout antebellum America, sectionalism continued to divide the county, especially the North and the South. Both the ideas of nationalism and sectionalism were widely practiced during this period.
Examples of nationalism include the Era of Offenses, the American Clay system, and the creation and enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine. Because the Federalist party had declined and as a result there were fewer instances of clear party feelings United The Era of Good Feelings was experienced by 1817 to 1823; Americans wanted to relax after the turmoil of the War of 1812 and largely ignored party issues. The Good Feelings era was a national trend, found across America. The American system, the economic program designed by Henry Clay, was an example of nationalism. Clay’s Whig party, which was formed out of hatred for President Andrew Jackson, made the American system its main platform. They called for the American system of tariff protection, a national bank jointly owned by the federal government and private donors, and so-called “internal improvements,” which were subsidies for federal transportation projects. Rather than being given homesteads, public lands on the western frontier were sold to raise funds for educational and internal improvements. The economic system promoted economic development, reduced dependence on imports, and generally promoted the unity of the various parts of the nation. President James Monroe’s message to Congress on December 2, 1813, which later became known as the Monroe Doctrine, was yet another example of nationalism in the antebellum period. Initially, the Monroe Doctrine was first drafted to call for an end to European intervention in America, but was later used to justify US imperialism. The Monroe Doctrine was created because of two problems: the spat with Russia around the northern coast of North America and the fear that the states of the United States that had recently gained independence from Spain would try to colonize. The first use of the Monroe Doctrine (which was still unnamed at the time) occurred in 1836 when the United States opposed the alliance with Texas. The Americans agreed under the principles of the Monroe Doctrine to prevent European powers from taking over the Americas. The Monroe Doctrine was an integral part of American policy and has been for many periods in American history. The Monroe Doctrine, the American Clay System, and the Era of Good Feelings.
Although many instances of nationalism were seen during the pre-war period, the North and the South were still very separate. he saw the rise of the porch to the north; increased economic ties to the West due to the Transportation Revolution; and the mass wave of German and Irish immigrants. Northern towns opened more and more factories to satisfy the demands of consumers. All this contributed to the emergence of a unique northern identity in the 1830s. Improved agricultural technology, such as Eli Whitney’s cotton gin, allowed the South to produce raw materials faster and cheaper for the factories of the North. . The increase in raw materials called for the building of more factories, as well as for increasing the population. The growing population resulted in more consumers trusting northern factories for finished goods. The south was still predominantly agricultural and looked to the north to manufacture raw materials. During the Transportation Revolution, roads were expanded, steamboats were developed, and canals and railroads were built. The fruits of the Transformation Revolution made the trade process with the West easier and more affordable. Unfortunately for the South, the mass revolution did not occur in transit, meaning that the South was almost entirely set up by the North to trade with the West. In addition, the South did not receive the large wave of German and Irish immigrants that the North did in the antebellum period. While the South was still primarily inhabited by English, Scots and Africans, the North was becoming much more heterogeneous.
Meanwhile, the South saw the rise of King Cotton; opposed to federal gratuities and tariffs; encouraged westward expansion and removal of Native American. All of this contributed to the emergence of a unique southern identity by the 1830s. James Hargreaves’ invention of the spinning jenny in 1764, Richard Arkwright’s modified paper machine in 1775, and Edmund Cartwright’s invention of the power loom in 1785 in (patented in 1793) had on cotton production in the Meridian during the antebellum period. The cotton catcher quickly separated the cotton fibers from the unwanted seeds for use, a time-consuming task that had always been done by hand, usually by slaves. A composite machine uses a wire screen or small hooks to pull the cotton through the screen while continuously brushing to remove any loose cotton that might already be trapped. By the late 1790s the demand for raw American cotton for the British textile industry had outstripped the supply. Because the snare could so easily remove the seeds from the cotton, more slaves than ever before were needed to pick the cotton to hold with the snare. Through Eli Whitney’s discovery, the amount of cotton that could be processed in fifty days increased, making the crop highly coveted by Southern plantation owners. The cotton trap turned the culture of the South into the South and the Old South (Alabama and Mississippi) became more popular with future settlers. The Old South provided the ideal climate for growing cotton, with wet summers and dry autumns. When cotton clothing hit the fashion scene in 1815, Britain’s textile industry turned to the Old South to satisfy its needs for a large cotton industry, which sold fertile land for thirty to fifty dollars an acre—an astonishing sum for the time.By 1836, cotton was valued at nearly two-thirds of all American exports. further expansion of the “cotton king” was allowed in the western states of Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Tennessee. Southerners were against federal spending, because much of the federal funds were reserved for building railroads and northern canals he benefited. Southerners also opposed tariffs because they hindered the economy of individual states. Unlike the North, the South had an agricultural economy and depended on the North and Europe for their raw materials to manufacture, which made paying tariffs a frequent economic obstacle. The Southerners favored the expansion of the West and the removal of the Americans because they wanted to acquire more land. As has been said before, during this period cotton was very desirable, so fertile a field became most desirable. Georgia, the largest state at the time, was especially eager to see the Native Americans because of a jurisdictional dispute with the Cherokees. Southerners were generally more concerned about states’ rights, farmers’ rights, tariffs, and controlling federal spending than northerners.
Despite growing nationalism, the North and the South developed two distinctly different identities. While the North was rapidly modernizing itself, the South remained largely medieval, when life revolved around the plantation and life revolved around the manor in Middle Ages. Northerners were more rebellious and cosmopolitan, while southerners stuck to tradition. This division is still evident today. The North is mainly comprised of “Blue States” (that is, those on the left side of the political spectrum); they embrace social change and new technology. The south is particularly comprised of “red states” (that is, those on the right side of the political spectrum); traditional and strong morals are embraced. The fact that these differences still exist today makes it more evident that history will repeat itself or perhaps never begin to change.
