Nationalism and its key factors Essay

Nationalism is the belief that people should be loyal to their nation rather than their king. The six bonds that create a nation-state are nationality, language, culture, history, religion, and territory. While the United States does not share all of these same features, I still believe it is a nation-state. Nationality is a belief in a common ethnic ancestry. I believe that the United States does not have a common ancestry. Almost everyone is not a true American and has had ancestors immigrate here from another country. We are not all from the same place. Although there are many bi-lingual people in the US, almost everyone speaks a common language, English. It is our national language and it is standardized just about everywhere. Culture is another area where the US fits into Nationalism. Almost everyone follows the American styles of clothing. We also all, for the most part, eat all of the same foods and behave in the same ways. I believe the US also has a common history. Even though almost everyone has an ancestor that immigrated from another country at one time or another, most Americans believe that the history of the United States is their own. There is not one single religion in the United States. One of the United States’ selling points was its freedom of religion. While there are some more popular religions, there is not one that is shared by mostly all Americans. While most of these points can be argued, I believe that the issue on territory cannot. The United States has its own borders and areas that belong to it. This land is known to the world as United States territory and is considered by everyone to be its land. While the United States does not hold all of the bonds to be true, I still believe it to be a Nation-State. It cannot be argued that almost every  citizen of the United States is loyal to the country itself.