https://iowaculture.gov/sites/default/files/history-education-pss-war-americanism-transcription.pdf
This speech by Franklin Delano Roosevelt on August 9 of 1920, presented in Hyde Park, New York, and detailed the end of World War I and America’s fallen soldiers. Roosevelt was the former assistant secretary of the US Navy, so this speech hit very close to him for him, where he has been in battle and understands the gravity of the lives that have been lost. Where his speech points to the fact that the United States was only in the war as a defensive measure. That Americans would understand putting so many resources, including money, arms, and our own people’s lives, to help our fellow European nations in need. Where this he was intending to inspire the nation and rally for this strong patriotic cause (Expressing Americanism Gourley).
During this time period there was an egregious amount of change, where America was in a transition it has never seen before. One of the major internal wars that the U.S. has been through was the Civil War, in which the nation was divided between the North and the South. This was the only war fought within the US. The amount of economic and social disparities at this time added to the heavy hatred towards one another, and this notion continued long after the war. Although the Civil War ended in the mid to late 1800s, 1865 to be exact, its sentiments still lingered on into the 1900s. This war showed a new America of sorts, one that is a collective and is not divided over “small” issues, where war is something that brings people together. Roosevelt adds to this notion in his speech, in which he discusses the divide between Republicans and Democrats. That these people are usually divided due to their views on certain political matters but were not seen as their party during war. Where they were only looked upon as an American helping the war cause in anyway, they could. This amount of patriotism and Americanism coming to light during his speech, was showing the nation that America is more united than they think, especially during this period of social, economic and political change. This boom changed the structure of America, where people started living in cities more than on farms, and the nation’s wealth more than doubled during this decade as well. Roosevelt made many comments on the economy and how it is directly affected by politics, especially with the division between Democrats and Republicans (New York Times Leonhardt). He strongly believed that the division between these political parties directly hurts the country and all of its citizens.
Many improvements, including the ratification of the nineteenth amendment, which gave women the right to vote, had passed, and that was all due to the war. Where, while the men were away fighting, the women stepped in to work in the factories and fields to tend to the work that needed to be done. This provided women with the revolution that they needed to become more independent and have a say with what goes on in their country. America continued to grow and prosper after the war, and the rampant patriotism continued to show across the nation. The political scene during the 1920s, mostly enveloped the weaking of the democratic party, where Warren G Harding, the republican candidate, beat James M Cox, the democratic candidate. Although there was an immense amount of change, there was no doubt in Roosevelt’s mind that America had come together like never before, where a nation was once so divided that there was a civil war. Just because the war was over, did not mean America was not divided. Years later America entered the civil rights movement in which there was a campaign to abolish racial segregation, yet another way America was lacking in patriotism. Roosevelt actually said, “Americanism is not, and never was, a matter of race or ancestry” (Roosevelt). To flash forward a few years and the country is united, fighting a common enemy, and those who are typically at each other’s necks, especially in the political scene, are saving each other’s lives on the battlefield.
“Americanism Is Not, and Never Was, a Matter of Race or Ancestry.” CONTENTdm. Accessed December 5, 2022. https://content.libraries.wsu.edu/digital/collection/propaganda/id/221/.
Gourley, Catherine. 2022. “EXPRESSING AMERICANISM: PATRIOTIC WRITING Then & Now.” Writing 24 (6): 4. Accessed November 8. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=lfh&AN=6515701&site=eds-live.
Payne, Stanley G. 2021. “Arguing Americanism: Franco Lobbyists, Roosevelt’s Foreign Policy, and the Spanish Civil War by Michael E. Chapman (Review).” Journal of Cold War Studies 23 (4): 255–57. https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&AuthType=sso&db=edspmu&AN=edspmu.S1531329821400134&site=eds-live.