American "State Nationalism"
Excerpt from "The end of the American Empire: A historical perspective" (2004, Rosefield Books, Oxford)
As Europe and Americas neighbors were rocked by nationalistic revolutions for self-determination and an end to monarchy, many in the United States saw this as the fulfillment of the American ideals across the world, but also spurred an increased sense of state nationalism. At this time many still more identified with their states than with the actual united states, but the great european revolution and its cultural impact cemented that identity, particularly in areas with large immigrant populations not loyal to the Anglo-Saxon core and formerly independent regions, of particular note being Texas and Florida.
The former had existed as an internationally recognized sovereign Republic for a number of years while the latter had merely hosted a 28-day independence movement outside its concurrent territory before American annexation. Even so, a number of areas in the souther United States now began flying "The Bonnie Blue" along with the Stars and Stripes as a display of regional pride and identity which wouldn't go away even after the civil war.
These forces became increasingly powerful in local elections, with regionalist parties like "Party of the Vermonters" and "The Carolina Party" gaining seats in local assemblies and even in rare cases posts in the senate, but were still outmaneuvered by the Whig and Democratic parties on the federal level. However, a predicament arose as regional nationalism spread across the United States; the narrative of a united people freeing themselves from the chains of autocracy resonated more with one particular group than any other: the large enslaved population of African-Americans, particularly in the south.
This only inflamed the paranoia of many white slaveowners to the extent that many created informal militas to be summoned in case of a slave uprising or "other tyrannies infringing on the rights of southern men", all of wich would erupt into the first American Civil War just a few years later and shape the history of the North American continent up until today.