We Are All Americans, Pure and Simple

by Dorsey, Leroy G.

• ISBN13: 9780817315924
• ISBN10: 0817315926
• Edition: 6th
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2007-11-01
• Publisher: Univ of Alabama Pr

Summary

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 encroachments on national identity. This book examines Theodore Rooseveltrs"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, they would become true Americans, earning an exalted status that they had heretofore been denied. Dorseyrs"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. Rooseveltrs"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 nationrs"s progress. The resulting message he chose to propagate was thus one of a rhetorical, if not literal, melting pot. By focusing on Rooseveltrs"s rhetorical constructions of national identity, as opposed to his personal exploits or his role as a policy maker,We Are All Americansoffers new insights into Rooseveltrs"s use of public discourse to bind the nation together during one of the most polarized periods in its history.

Author Biography

Leroy G. Dorsey is Associate Professor of Communication at Texas A&M University and author of The Presidency and Rhetorical Leadership.

Table of Contents

Preface	p. ix
Acknowledgments	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
Roosevelt's Americanism and the Myth of Origin	p. 14
Forging Americanism on the Frontier: Immigrants and The Winning of the West	p. 46
Red into White: Native Americans and Americanism	p. 69
Shaping the African American Image: Americanism and the "Negro Problem"	p. 93
From Hero to Traitor to Good Citizen: Americanism and the Campaign against the Hyphen	p. 117
Conclusion	p. 139
Notes	p. 149
Bibliographic Essay	p. 183
Bibliography	p. 203
Index	p. 217
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