Varieties of American Nationalism

Chapter 8

The Role of Nationalism in the Growing United States

Up until the War of 1812, what role had nationalism played in its development?

What role had sectionalism played?

In the years after the war, do you predict greater national or sectional impulses? Why?

How do you think nationalism will affect the American Indian nations in the West?

Why is it so important to understand the role of nationalism during the early period of U.S. history?

Debate

The Era of Good Feelings was a misnomer.

The Missouri Compromise was an ideal way to settle the dispute over the expansion of slavery in the West.

John Quincy Adams was a more effective president than his father, John Adams.

American expansion did more harm than good.

The Republicans out-federalized the Federalists in the early years of the 19th century.

Thomas Jefferson & Samuel McKay

McKay was a farmer and political leader in Massachusetts

Read the letter from Jefferson to McKay with the following in mind: In 1789, Jefferson had declared, “If I could not go

to heaven but with a party, I would not go there at all.”

How had Jefferson’s position changed by 1822? What political, social, and economic

circumstances in the early 19th century might have influenced this change?

Fur Trading and Trapping in the West

Groups: Fur traders Members of western Indian nations Mexicans

Research: How the fur trading and trapping business affected your group How your groups responded to trappers and traders Your group’s feelings about each of the other groups

You must have at least 1 primary source document to support your viewpoint

Discussion: Each group share your findings with the class Pros/Cons of the fur trade How the fur trade influenced white, Indian, and Mexican

inhabitants in the fur trading and trapping regions

Was the Monroe Doctrine a good move on the part of the United States? In 1823, the British Foreign Minister, recognizing the threat

that further Spanish intervention in Latin America posed to the British Empire as well as to the U.S., proposed that the United States and Britain jointly announce their opposition to further European intervention in the Americas.

Monroe’s Secretary of State, John Quincy Adams, convinced President Monroe to make a unilateral declaration of American policy, which later became known as the Monroe Doctrine.

For most of the 19th century, the U.S. lacked the military strength to enforce its threats

Regardless of this fact, the Monroe Doctrine was a proud symbol of early American foreign policy and American hegemony in the Western Hemisphere

The Monroe Doctrine

Read and annotate the Monroe Doctrine with the following questions in mind: Was the Monroe Doctrine necessary to maintain the

preeminence of the United States in the Western Hemisphere? How did the Monroe Doctrine reinforce nationalism in the early

19th century? What is a unilateral decision? How has foreign policy in the 21st century been characterized

by unilateral decisions made by the U.S.?

Come to a consensus on the questions with your group

Elect a member of your group to discuss your answers with the class

Wrap Up

What role did the federal government play in stimulating the growth of: Banking? Shipping? Farming? Industry? Transportation?

Who were the opponents of federal involvement? Why were they opposed?

If you had lived in America in that time (1812 – 1828), would you have taken the Federalist or Republican position? Why?

How does the federal government currently help banking, shipping, farming, industry, and transportation?

How has such assistance changed over the years?