We are all Americans, pure and simple : Theodore Roosevelt and the myth of Americanism /
"The turn of the 20th century represented one of the most chaotic periods in the nation's history, as immigrants, Native Americans, and African Americans struggled with their roles as Americans while white America feared their impact on national identity. This book examines Theodore Roosev...
| Основен автор: | Dorsey, Leroy G., 1959- |
|---|---|
| Формат: | Електронна книга |
| Език: | English |
| Публикувано: |
Tuscaloosa :
University of Alabama Press,
[2007]
|
| Предмети: | |
| Онлайн достъп: |
http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&scope=site&db=nlebk&AN=645322 |
| Подобни документи: |
Print version::
We are all Americans, pure and simple |
| Резюме: |
"The turn of the 20th century represented one of the most chaotic periods in the nation's history, as immigrants, Native Americans, and African Americans struggled with their roles as Americans while white America feared their impact on national identity. This book examines Theodore Roosevelt's public rhetoric - speeches, essays, and narrative histories - as he attempted to craft one people out of many. Leroy G. Dorsey observes that Roosevelt's solution to the problem appeared straightforward: everyone could become "Americans, pure and simple" if they embraced his notion of "Americanism." Roosevelt grounded his idea of Americanism in myth, particularly the frontier myth - a heroic combination of individual strength and character. When nonwhites and immigrants demonstrated these traits, he believed, they would become true Americans, earning an exalted status that they had heretofore been denied." "Dorsey's analysis illuminates how Roosevelt's rhetoric achieved a number of delicate, if problematic, balancing acts. Roosevelt gave his audiences the opportunity to accept a national identity that allowed "some" room for immigrants and nonwhites, while reinforcing their status as others, thereby reassuring white Americans of their superior place in the nation. Roosevelt's belief in an ordered and unified nation did not overwhelm his private racist attitudes, Dorsey argues, but certainly competed with them. Despite his private sentiments, he recognized that racist beliefs and rhetoric were divisive and bad for the nation's progress. The resulting message he chose to propagate was thus one of a rhetorical, if not literal, melting pot." "By focusing on Roosevelt's rhetorical constructions of national identity, as opposed to his role as a policy maker, We Are All Americans offers new insights into Roosevelt's use of public discourse to bind the nation together during one of the most polarized periods in its history."--Jacket. |
|---|---|
| Физически характеристики: |
1 online resource (xii, 218 pages) |
| Формат: |
Master and use copy. Digital master created according to Benchmark for Faithful Digital Reproductions of Monographs and Serials, Version 1. Digital Library Federation, December 2002. |
| Библиография: |
Includes bibliographical references (pages 203-215) and index. |
| ISBN: |
9780817387310 0817387315 9780817357627 0817357629 |