In my APUSH classes today we wrapped up the War of 1812 and began a lesson on the surge of nationalism that arose in the young United States in the wake of the war. To help differentiate nationalism from patriotism, I shared the quotes below from Roger Cohen’s excellent, thought-provoking book An Affirming Flame and encouraged students to discuss them.

My students got Cohen’s points immediately, and I think it is safe to say they agree with Albert Einstein that nationalism is an ‘infantile disease’ that leads to war and is primitive and unbecoming of grown ups in this day and age. Many of us can see that now. However, nations as political constructs are not all that old and despite the fact that in the early 1800s the Napoleonic Wars were raging in Europe, the horrors of the two world wars lay ahead of everyone. The nationalism that arose in America during and after the Era of Good Feelings had many contributing factors (such as the Battle of New Orleans, Clay’s American System, Chief Justice John Marshall’s SCOTUS rulings, and developments in the arts) and in hindsight it is understandable why it arose. However, surely it is time to put the ridiculous ideology to bed and replace it with an openhearted patriotism and general goodwill towards others.