The nineteenth century was a significant time in history, during which the Portuguese, Spanish, First and Second French, Holy Roman, and Chinese Empires collapsed (Knowles, 2006). This event contributed in a significant manner to the growing impact of the United States, British Empire, German Empire, and the Russian Empire, which spurred military conflicts and advances in exploration and science. The significant developments in a variety of areas like mathematics, chemistry, metallurgy, biology, physics and electricity took place during the nineteenth century (Ferris, 2010). It is evident that the nineteenth century was an era, when countries across the world experienced both military conflicts and development. This discussion will consider the domestic unification and national sectionalism in the United States as well as their domestic and international implications.
Domestic unification in the United States is evident during the nineteenth century, when Americans combined their efforts to bring about industrialization (Ferris, 2010). The United States outrun France and Great Britain in manufacturing during the nineteenth century. Stationary steam engines, powered sophisticated machinery led to the establishment of factories in the cities of the United States (Ferris, 2010). White Americans, especially women, became exceptional readers and contributed significantly to the field of writing and publishing magazine articles and books. However, the rapid change of the American economy from agriculture to industrialization and the growth of the commercial sector, with economic and social dislocations, stimulated the development of powerful ideologies, in which people considered public and private spheres as antithetical. Therefore, domestic unification started to weaken in a significant manner later during the nineteenth century (Knowles, 2006).
Loyalties, sectionalism, and regionalism in Congress became stronger in the nineteenth century than before. Sectionalism refers to the identification of geographical sections of the United States as well as the social, political, cultural, and economic interest of each section (Knowles, 2006). When the North America grew industrially, it started to impose taxes on the foreign commodities that the United States imported, which was a way of protecting its products. The South continued to do well in the agricultural sector, and it opposed the taxes that would lead to high prices of the agricultural inputs it needed. Southerners supported slavery, while the Northerners put an effort such as an anti-slavery movement to end slavery. The Congress acted as the battlefield for sectional alliances and rivalries. However, both the democratic and Whig parties were the national organizations, which elected members of Congress from different regions to defend common sectional interest upon crossing party lines (Knowles, 2006). The congressional leaders came up with compromises with an aim of defusing sectional tensions. Nevertheless, the compromises failed to deactivate sectional tensions, when the differences between the sections became increasingly pronounced (Knowles, 2006).
Both the domestic unification and national sectionalism in the United States and other parts of the world had a pronounced domestic and international influence. For instance, domestic unification in the United States contributed to the emergence of industries, which improved the economy of the countries and living standards of Americans. The international influence of domestic unification is evident as many other countries also benefited from the industrialization due to the importation of technology (Ferris, 2010). National sectionalism led to the American Civil War, which fought slavery in the United States during the nineteenth century. Despite its domestic orientation, the American Civil War is a significant international event. The American Civil War affected the international trade in a negative way because of the shocks of transport costs, which hindered international transportation (Knowles, 2006).
In conclusion, the development of the United States became more pronounced due to industrialization in the nineteenth century because of domestic unification. A number of countries across the world benefitted from this industrialization (Ferris, 2010). However, industrialization led to national sectionalism and resulted in the American Civil War. The American civil war abolished slavery in the United States. This war impacted on the international trade because it hindered transportation out and into the United States.
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