Question

Para desarrollar el trabajo mencionado abajo, ¿Sobre que puntos me debo centrar y con qué estaría relacionado?
A partir de la lectura del material teórico sobre los orígenes de la nación y el nacionalismo (Hastings; The Construction of Nationhood: Ethnicity, Religion and Nationalism: 1 la nación y el nacionalismo I II II), según la postura perennealista, elaborar un ensayo en el que se desarrolle dicho modelo para el caso de la nación argentina. Para ello se deberá tener en especial consideración el período temporal comprendido desde los inicios del siglo XIX al inicio del XX.

Answer 1

bstract

This PHD dissertation studies the evolution of the concept of nationhood in the

United States from the Declaration of Independence till the Civil War. The American

historiography, despite the fact it recognizes the weakness of the federal government

before the War of the States, has assumed the United States were a nation since the

Declaration of Independence.

This essay proposes an alternative view, which denies the existence of an

American nation, understood as a modern political entity which deserves supreme

allegiance from every citizen belonging to it, before 1865. Instead, the United States

witnesses the development of two different nations, North and South, which will

eventually become enemies, inside a weak federal state. This was possible because the

several states maintained their sovereignty.

The main evidences supporting this argument were: the word nation is not present

in the Constitution; they did not chose a distinguish name for the Union of the States,

the Americans merely used the name of the continent to identify themselves; the

reluctance of the states to give their approval to the Constitution; the understanding

that the States remained sovereigns; the rejection of federal measures that were

against the interest of a particular state; the bitter animosities between New England

and Virginia, which were inherited from the colonial period and will be increased

because of the fight for the control of the West; and the lack of nationalism in the

North during 1812 and 1846 wars.

This work surveys relevant milestones in the process of nation building: the

Declaration of Independence, the Articles of Confederation, the creation of the

national domain, the writing and ratification of the Constitution, the rise of first

national party system, the 11th amendment, the 1800 election, the Hartford

Convention, and the set of Compromises that appease the sectional animosities: 1790,

which sets the place of the national capital; 1820, which divides the Louisiana

purchase between North and South; 1833, which avoids a conflict between South

Carolina and the Jackson Administration on account of the tariff and 1850, which

establish the principle of popular sovereignty in the territories annexed from Mexico.

From my point of view, the longevity of the Constitution is the history of a failure

traditionally shown as a success. The institutional framework designed by the

Founding Fathers was not capable of containing sectional conflict and its ambiguity

contributed to increase them. Lack of recognition of the sectional reality in the

Constitution prevents the addition of counterbalance mechanisms to protect the vital

interest of these sections. Without these guarantees, weaker sections were reluctant to

allow a broad interpretation of the Constitution, because they perceived the general

government as a threat to their essential rights and interest.

When a section feels its powers were decreasing, conflict unavoidably arise. In

1815, New England called the Hartford Convention because its ruling class sensed

their union with the southern states was a burden which requires additional

amendments to the Constitution to prevent further grievances. In 1860, the Deep

South states seceded when they realized the North can win a presidential election

completely ignoring the electorate of the southern states. Since the North proposed a