From Surf Wiki (app.surf) — the open knowledge base

Americanism (ideology)

Patriotic ideology in the United States

Americanism, also referred to as American patriotism, is a set of national values which aim to create a shared American identity for the United States that can be defined as "an articulation of the nation's rightful place in the world, a set of traditions, a political language, and a cultural style imbued with political meaning". The concept is "famously contested" and there is no consensus on "which is the true or authentic... exposition of Americanism... because each of these texts ... is informed by different interpretations of the nature, purpose, and goals of Americanism."

Americanism is not merely nationalism and can cover two different meanings: the defining characteristics of the United States, or loyalty to the United States and defense of American political ideals. These ideals include but are not limited to independence, equality before the law, freedom of speech, democracy, and progress.

For example, according to the American Legion, Americanism is an ideology, or a belief in devotion, loyalty, or allegiance to the United States, or respect for its flag, its traditions, its customs, its culture, symbols, its institutions, or its form of government.

Theodore Roosevelt wrote that "Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or birthplace."

The ideology has been central to a variety of fascist movements such as the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party. It has also been referred to by the American Communist Party with a slogan “Communism is Twentieth Century Americanism.”

Ideology

According to Wendy L. Wall in her 2008 book Inventing the "American Way": The Politics of Consensus from the New Deal to the Civil Rights Movement, Americanism was presented by a national propaganda campaign to contrast with Communism, and Fascism, during the Cold War, with the benefits of Americanism being promoted through the ideals of freedom and democracy.

Professor of political science at Clemson University C. Bradley Thompson stated that

The meaning of Americanism today, however, is very different. To the extent that the term is even still used, its meaning has been hijacked by both the Left and the Right. The Left most often identifies Americanism with multiculturalism, relativism, environmentalism, regulation, and welfarism — in other words, with progressivism. The Right typically identifies Americanism with Christianity, school prayer, tradition, family values, and community standards—in other words, with social conservatism. None of these values are, however, uniquely American. In fact, in one form or another, they all have a distinctly European provenance that is set in direct opposition to the native meaning of Americanism.

Some organizations have claimed to embrace Americanism and have taken positions that also align with founding documents and the cultural spirit original to America's founding codifying and violent enforcement of white supremacy: For example, the Ku Klux Klan adopted the American Legion's goal of Americanism ensuring (purity of white American) and of American Protestantism.

In a 1916 essay devoted to Americanism, Agnes Repplier emphasized that, "Of all the countries in the world, we and we only have any need to create artificially the patriotism which is the birthright of other nations."

History

The concept of Americanism has been in use since the first European settlers moved to North America inspired by a vision of a shining "City upon a Hill". John Adams wrote that the new settlements in America were "the opening of a grand scene and design in Providence for the illumination of the ignorant, and the emancipation of the slavish part of mankind all over the earth".

During the antebellum period, throughout the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, Americanism acquired a restrictive political meaning due to nativist moral panics after increased Irish and German immigration led to the growth of American Catholicism.

Journalist Matthew Continetti describes U.S. presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge as "spokesmen for Americanism" based on their policies. The John Birch Society and its founder, Robert Welch, promoted Americanism as "the philosophical antithesis of communism." Conversely, during the Great Depression and afterwards, the Communist Party campaigned that "Communism is the Americanism of the 20th Century."

The years from the end of the Civil War to the end of World War II brought new meaning to the term "Americanism" to millions of immigrants coming from Europe and Asia. Those were times of great economic growth and industrialization, and thus brought forth the American scene consisting of "industrial democracy" and the thinking that the people are the government in America. Since then, the success of the American nation has brought tremendous power to the notion of Americanism.

Ideas

Government

Rather than collectivism, Americanism stresses unity based on the shared individualist liberal principles outlined in the Constitution of the United States by the Founding Fathers. Such ideology includes republicanism, freedom, liberty, individualism, constitutionalism, human rights, and the rule of law.

Culture

Main article: Americana (culture)

Proponents of Americanism espouse an identity based on aspects of traditional culture of the United States. Common cultural artifacts include the flag of the United States, apple pie, baseball, rock and roll, blue jeans, Coca-Cola, and small towns. Americanism tends to support monoculturalism and cultural assimilation, believing them to be integral to a unified American cultural identity.

Symbols

Main article: National symbols of the United States

Americanism attempts to collect a set of common icons to symbolize the American identity. Well known national symbols of the United States include the U.S. flag, the Great Seal, the bald eagle, The Star-Spangled Banner, In God We Trust, and the Pledge of Allegiance.

References

Kazin, Michael and Joseph A. McCartin, eds. [http://uncpress.unc.edu/books/T-7633.html ''Americanism: New Perspectives on the History of an Ideal''] {{Webarchive. link. (2016-03-17 . Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2006.)
Ricento, Thomas. (2003-09-01). "The Discursive Construction of Americanism". Discourse & Society.
[http://www.pewglobal.org/2014/07/14/chapter-1-the-american-brand/ Global Attitudes & Trends: Chapter 1: The American Brand], ''Pew Research Center'', July 14, 2014.
[https://www.legion.org/sons/161913/sal-americanism-report SAL Americanism report], ''American Legion'', 2012.
Theodore Roosevelt. [http://teachingamericanhistory.org/library/document/true-americanism-the-forum-magazine/ True Americanism], ''The Forum Magazine'', April 1894.
(February 21, 1939). "22,000 Nazis Hold Rally In Garden; Police Check Foes; Scenes As German-American Bund Held Its 'Washington Birthday' Rally Last Night". [[The New York Times]].
"Communism is Twentieth Century Americanism," or the Odyssey of Earl Browder {{!}} University of New England in Maine".
C. Bradley Thompson. [https://www.cato-unbound.org/2011/03/23/c-bradley-thompson/defining-americanism Defining Americanism], ''The Conversation'', March 23, 2011.
Evans, Hiram Wesley. (March–May 1926). "Klan's Fight for Americanism". North American Review.
Agnes Repplier. [https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1916/03/americanism/305935/ "Americanism"], ''The Atlantic'', March 1916.
[https://books.google.com/books?id=K5s8AAAAIAAJ&dq=%22I%20always%20consider%20the%20settlement%20of%20America%20with%20reverence%20and%20wonder%2C%20as%20the%20opening%20of%20a%20grand%20scene%20and%20design%20in%20providence%2C%20for%20the%20illumination%20of%20the%20ignorant%20and%20the%20emancipation%20of%20the%20slavish%20part%20of%20mankind%20all%20over%20the%20earth.%22&pg=PA66 The Works of John Adams, Second President of the United States ...], Volume 1.
Elteren, Mel van. [https://books.google.com/books?id=hwUyBgAAQBAJ&dq=Orestes%20Brownson%20about%20Americanization%20process&pg=PA52 ''Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of Domestic and Global Influence'']. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2006, p. 51.
Continetti, Matthew. (2022). "The Right: The Hundred-Year War for American Conservatism". Basic Books.
(2018). "God, Country, and Christian Conservatives: The National Association of Manufacturers, the John Birch Society, and the Rise of the Christian Right". [[University of Waterloo]].
Haynes, John Earl. (1996). "Red Scare or Red Menace?: American Communism and Anticommunism in the Cold War Era". Ivan R. Dee.
{{cite constitution. (1787)
Seymour Martin Lipset, ''The first new nation'' (1963).
Sides, Hampton. (2007). "Americana: Dispatches from the New Frontier". Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.
Sears, Stephen. (1975). "Hometown U.S.A.". American Heritage.
{{cite Merriam-Webster. Americana
Tilove, Jonathan. (8 July 2007). "A diversity divide: Beneath the surface, Americans are deeply ambivalent about diversity". Statesman.com.
4 U.S.C. § 1
4 U.S.C. § 41
Bruce E. Beans, ''Eagle's Plume: The Struggle to Preserve the Life and Haunts of America's Bald Eagle'' ([[University of Nebraska Press]] 1997), p. 59.
36 U.S.C. § 301(a)
36 U.S.C. § 302

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

american-patriotism american-nationalism american-political-philosophy

Want to explore this topic further?

Ask Mako anything about Americanism (ideology) — get instant answers, deeper analysis, and related topics.

Research with Mako

Free with your Surf account

Content sourced from Wikipedia, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.

This content may have been generated or modified by AI. CloudSurf Software LLC is not responsible for the accuracy, completeness, or reliability of AI-generated content. Always verify important information from primary sources.

Report