Nationalism and Sectionalism

Nationalism is when a person favors the nation instead of their region. Presidents usually try to keep the nation in mind instead of favoring their region. By doing this, it makes sure that everyone is included insteaad of excluded. John Quincy Adams established foreign policy guided by nationalism. Sectionalism favors a specific region instead of the nation. In the presidential election of 1796, sectionalism became an issue. Southerners voted for Jefferson while Northerners voted for Adams. Instead of voting for the one who could best benefit the country, they voted for the one who they thought would benefit their region.

Between nationalism and sectionalism, nationalism is the best if you want to unite a country. Keeping the interest of everyone in mind is best. On the other hand it is good to be a sectionalist as well. If the nation is facing a problem that your region is facing, it is ok to fix the problem in your region first before you help the nation. However, some people take sectionalism to another level. For example, the Proctective Tariff set by Andrew Jackson was intented to favor the nation, but instead it only helped the northern economy. The southerners feared that there economy would fall greatly if they did not change the tariff. This is where sectionalism comes in. Southerners were keeping their interest in mind instead of the nations; however, it was wrong to place the tariff because they knew it would harm the south economically. Nationalism is the way to go if you want to unite a nation