Postwar Nationalism.

In January 1815 Americans had reason to feel a new sense of nationalism and patriotism. They had held off Great Britain's military forces in the War of 1812, and if they had failed to resolve the issues that caused the war, they had at least lost no territory. Nationalism grew as word spread that a ragtag American army under Gen. Andrew Jackson had defeated a large British force at the Battle of New Orleans (which took place after the peace treaty ending the war had been signed in Europe). Postwar nationalism found its political expression in the decisions of the Supreme Court, led by Chief Justice John Marshall, that interpreted the Constitution to strengthen the federal government, and in the diplomacy of Secretary of State John Quincy Adams, under whose direction the United States formally annexed Florida from Spain and reached a series of important agreements with Great...