During the Progressive Era, our country was going through many changes and those changes have had numerous effects that are still apparent today. Theodore Roosevelt and Randolph Bourne both had very differing opinions about how citizens should be seen by themselves and their governments. The main difference between Roosevelt’s and Bourne’s theories on citizenship is the amount of domination and empowerment that was posed to the people. Roosevelt had thought that the people of American should only identify as American, even if they were born in another country. Bourne’s opinion was drastically different form Roosevelt’s by believing that the people of America should embrace their own cultures and share it with the rest of the country. Using …show more content…
Although Roosevelt did see a few positive aspects of immigrants, he based this off of their ability to conform to national life. Bourne sees immigrants as an advantage because they give America the power to become cosmopolitan. The United States had “The privilege of a cosmopolitan outlook such as the people of no other nation of to-day in Europe can possibly secure” (Bourne). No other country could achieve this cosmopolitanism at this point in history, because no other country had the vast amounts of immigrants from many regions coming to their countries. Bourne sees that there is international power to be granted to America if immigrants are allowed to keep their own …show more content…
This may have been the illusion during the Progressive Era, but it was not the truth. During the Progressive Era, immigrants were seen as a nuisance if they did not commit to leaving behind their old life and becoming completely American. This idea of cultural domination was posed by many, including Theodore Roosevelt. Opposed to this view was Randolph Bourne, who thought that America needed to be a place for people of different nations to come and live together. People from multiple cultures would create a transnational America, and have many benefits to it. “Transnational communities and selves emerge when people from different cultural groups meet and live in shared spaces” (Fischer, 155-156). The American nation today could easily be seen as a transnational America, thus, this essay shows that Bourne’s idea of empowering all citizens. Especially immigrants,that had led to the America that is known and loved today. Although, empowerment of citizens is important, so is domination, which is why Roosevelt’s ideas of strong patriotism during the Progressive Era are not completely lost
In our world today, how would one describe an American? Throughout the history of the United States, the image of an American is often portrayed as someone with fair skin, and who is of European descent. In reality, this idea is rather false, for America is greatly shaped by different racial groups from all continents—including Asia and Africa. In Ronald Takaki 's book, "A Different Mirror", he talks about how people in America are viewed through the "Master Narrative of American History", the idea that a person is an American, or not, depending on whether he or she satisfies the requirements to be considered as white (4). Takaki argues the Master Narrative left out certain groups including Asian Americans, African-Americans and Native Americans
"America's present need is not heroics but healing, not nostrums but normalcy, not revolution but restoration .not submergence in internationality but sustainment in triumphant nationality."
Gary Gerstle attempts to reinterpret twentieth-century American history in light of the power of race (and to a much lesser extent, or even not at all, class and gender). The American Crucible conceptualizes American liberals as well as whiteness scholars’ synthetic historiographical interpretations on mainstream Americanism like Theodore Roosevelt and Franklin Roosevelt- Theodore Roosevelt especially, due the author’s attention to the meaning of the liberal state and liberalism. However, above all that, Gerstle argues that inherent tensions between two powerful types of nationalism- racial and civic- have decisively shaped American history, policy-making and political debates in the twentieth
Gary Gerstle argues America followed a path both civic and racial nationalism throughout the 20th century in his book American Crucible: Race and Nation in the Twentieth Century, and that America is a melting pot of different cultures due to the accumulation of immigrants in the twentieth century. He uses Theodore Roosevelt as a support base for his arguments. Civic nationalism is the idealized understanding of America as an ethnic and cultural melting pot based on civil rights, and on the values of equality and liberty no matter the race and ethnicity of one another. Civic nationalism claims a nation can still grow stronger and better based solely on civil rights and citizenship.
Body politic are the people of a nation state, or society considered collectively as an organized group of citizens. Roosevelt believes if immigrants do not change their ways to American ways will result in evil and disaster. Immigrants are forced give up their language, culture, holidays, and others that involve their Old World. Within Roosevelt’s text, social mobility mythologies are explained; America as a nation-state devoid of federal American Exceptionalism hierarchies, class conflicts, and socialist labor parties. The United States does not want to have social politics, United States wants everyone to follow the same laws and follow the same nationality. Roosevelt contradicts himself by explaining, “He must learn that we exact full religious toleration and the complete separation of Church and State.
The term Progressivism implies a philosophy that promotes change/reform in the current political, economic, and social aspects of society while conservatism stresses gradual change in society but promotes tradition rather than change. The Progressive movement from 1901 to 1917 worked to improve aspects of society that grew out of problems which occurred during the Industrial Age. The goals of the "Progressives" were to stop monopolies, corruption, inefficiency and social injustices. Both progressive acts and amendments were being passed to deal with social ills, corruption in politics and corporate America. The period from 1901-1917 was more a victory for liberalism, mainly "modern liberalism", than a triumph of conservatism due to the fact that multiple reform movements were occurring in this era changing political, economic, and social aspects in society to protect the rights of the common man.
Stretching from the colonial times to the present times, the people of the United States have consistently believed that their country had a particular purpose in history due to its unique constitution and founding history of the nation. Alexis De Tocqueville, a French historian of the 19th century, wrote in his book Democracy in America that “the position of the Americans is therefore quite exceptional, and it may be believed that no democratic people will ever be placed in a similar one.” He wrote this following his explanation on how America has departed significantly from its European ancestry, diverging into a unique and unprecedented path. It is believed that he had first initiated the term today known as ‘American exceptionalism’, which
The Progressive Movement The progressive movement of the early 20th century has proved to be an intricately confounded conundrum for American historians. Who participated in this movement? What did it accomplish, or fail to accomplish? Was it a movement at all? These are all significant questions that historians have been grappling with for the last 60 years, thus creating a historical dialogue where in their different interpretations interact with each other.
Where did some of modern America's issues originate from? The answer to that is the Progressive Era. The Legislation of that era laid all of the groundwork for today, and much of it is still in public debate today. Roosevelt, Taft, and Wilson, three of the presidents from that era, all played roles in the groundwork. These presidents passed acts, tariffs, and amendments that are still with us, and debated today.
The term “America” does not have one but many definitions that various people have come up with through out the centuries. Some believe America is everything they could hope for and some have believed that it is not what it seems. Frederick Douglas’ What to the Slave is the Fourth of July and Michael Rogin’s text Political Repression in the United States are two pieces of historic evidence that show what each individual imagined America as. Although both pieces have similarities, they have differences as well not only in their ideas but their writing style and content as well.
Industrialization led to the rise of big businesses at the expense of the worker. Factory laborers faced long hours, low wages, and unsanitary conditions. The large corporations protected themselves by allying with political parties. The parties, in turn, were controlled by party leaders, rather than by the members. Many people felt that all power rested with the politicians and businessmen. Reformers known as Progressives attempted to undo the problems caused by industrialization. The Progressive movement sought to end the influence of large corporations, provide more rights and benefits to workers, and end the control possessed by party leaders. At the national level, Progressivism centered on defeating the power of large businesses. The Progressive Era was a period in American history in which improving working conditions, exposing corruption, improving the way of life, expanding democracy, and making reforms were the objectives at hand. With the emergence of the Progressive Era two important figures gradually emerged as well. One of the mentioned figures, President Theodore Roosevelt, succeeded to the Presidency when President McKinley was assassinated in 1901, helped the Progressive movement greatly. Another figure, although a Democrat is Woodrow Wilson who much like Roosevelt still pushed for progressive reforms. Each of the mentioned figures did their share in re-establishing a “fair” government that would work for the people and not for the large corporations and mon...
The turn of the century was marked by a movement known as the Progressive Era, during which many groups sought to reshape the nation's government and society in response to the pressure of urbanization and industrialization. Progressives were mainly members of the Post-Civil War generation that made an attempt to master a world much different then that of their parents.
Following the 1890’s, the world began to undergo the first stages of globalization. Countries and peoples, who, until now, were barely connected, now found themselves neighbors in a planet vastly resembling a global village. Despite the idealized image of camaraderie and brotherhood this may seem to suggest, the reality was only discrimination and distrust. Immigration to new lands became a far more difficult affair, as emigrants from different nations came to be viewed as increasingly foreign. In the white-dominated society of the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the only way to truly count oneself as American was to become “white”. For this reason, the idea of race, a socially constructed issue with no real physical basis, has become one of the most defining factors which shape immigration and assimilation in the United States.
After the civil war, America was rapidly growing socially and economically. Because of the rapid industrial growth, many businesses were abusing their workers and therefor gave them very low wages. Workers and many other people began to unite and fight for their rights and for the well-being in society. This time period, known as the Progressive era, brought very important social changes and reforms. The Progressive era was very successful because the majority of the changes were to improve the lives of all American workers and to make a beneficial change. The Progressive Era had four main goals; Protecting Social Welfare, Promoting Moral Improvement, Creating Economic Reform, and Fostering Efficiency. The changes took a long period of time to implement and it was not easy making people aware that there was need for change.
As one of the presidents during the Progressive Era, Theodore Roosevelt led the United States of America through a series of dramatic changes that interrupted the lives and ideologies that Americans during the time were more than familiarized with. Industrialization, women’s suffrage, the sexual revolution, imperialism, and “muckraking” journalism were just a few of the controversial, yet significant characteristics of this era. However, perhaps one of the largest and most vital influences during this time period came from the outside. Immigration was an issue that Roosevelt himself addressed rather perceptibly in his paper entitled “True Americanism,” which first appeared in a magazine called The Forum in April, 1894. However, it is not the idea of immigration that vexed Roosevelt; rather it was his concern and fear of the possibility that the increase in immigration of foreign people and cultures would culminate the concept of American patriotism, or “Americanism” as a whole. This paper will analyze the different elements of Roosevelt’s “True Americanism” by exploring the historical context of the document, highlighting Americanism as Roosevelt explicates it, observing the rhetoric used throughout the document, and discerning Roosevelt’s intended audience.