Sectionalism - Definition and Overview

Sectionalism is a tendency among sections in bureaucracy to blindly focus on the interest of a section and overlook the benefits of the whole. In national politics, sectionalism is often a precursor to separatism.

Sectionalism is loyalty to the interests of your own region or section of the country, rather than the nation as a whole. Sectionalism became a major problem and the nation's fastest growing influence when Missouri applied for statehood in 1817. Those living in Missouri wanted slavery to be allowed in the state. However, if this happened, there would be twelve states that allowed slaves and only eleven that did not. This would upset the balance in Congress. The Missouri Compromise solved the problem and restored balance in the Senate by adding two new states to the Union, Maine and Missouri. Maine would be a state where slavery was illegal and Missouri would be a state where it was legal. After the Missouri Compromise, there were 12 slave states and 12 free states so the balance in the Senate was restored. In the United States from the early 1800's up to the American Civil War in the 1860's, there was the sectionalist crisis where advocates of sectionalism (mostly in the South) led by former Vice President and South Carolina senator John C. Calhoun believed that state legislatures could deny enforcement of Federal law if they felt it violated the United States Constitution. Many feared that if individual states could "pick and choose" Federal laws that it would be the end of the Union. Sectionalism is not a belief voiced by many in the country today. Likely causes include better travel and communication among the states and the Union's victory over the Confederates in the Civil War

Example Usage of Sectionalism