Americanism (ideology)

Americanism, also referred to as American patriotism, is a set of nationalist values which aim to create a collective 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".^[1] According to the American Legion, a U.S. veterans' organization, Americanism is an ideology, or a belief in devotion, loyalty, or allegiance to the United States of America, or respect for its flag, its traditions, its customs, its culture, its symbols, its institutions, or its form of government.^[2] In the words of Theodore Roosevelt, "Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or birthplace."^[3]

This article is about political liberalism and individualism in the United States. For Catholic condemnation, see Americanism (heresy).

Americanism has 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, republicanism, and progress.^[1]^[4]

History[edit]

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".^[8]

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.^[9]

Journalist Matthew Continetti describes U.S. presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge as "spokesmen for Americanism" based on their policies.^[10] The John Birch Society and its founder, Robert Welch, promoted Americanism as "the philosophical antithesis of communism."^[11] Conversely, during the Great Depression and afterwards, the Communist Party campaigned that "Communism is the Americanism of the 20th Century."^[12]

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.^[1]

Ideas[edit]

Government[edit]

Americanism stresses a collective political identity based on the principles outlined in the Constitution of the United States by the Founding Fathers. Such ideologies include republicanism, freedom, liberty, individualism, constitutionalism, human rights, and the rule of law.^[13]^[14]

American civil religion

American Creed

American exceptionalism

American nationalism

Anti-Americanism

Propaganda in the United States

June Granatir Alexander (2008). . Temple University Press. ISBN 978-1-59213-780-0.

Ethnic Pride, American Patriotism: Slovaks And Other New Imiigrants

American Journal of Sociology, 20, no. 5 (March 1915): 613-628. JSTOR 2762907.

"What is Americanism?"

John E. Bodnar (1996). . Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-691-04396-5.

Bonds of Affection: Americans Define Their Patriotism

. (1929.) Thomas Jefferson, the Apostle of Americanism. Little, Brown And Company.

Chinard, Gilbert

Dorsey, Leroy G. (2007.) We Are All Americans, Pure and Simple: Theodore Roosevelt and the Myth of Americanism. University of Alabama Press.

Gelernter, David. (2007.) Americanism: The Fourth Great Western Religion. New York: Doubleday.

Hill, Merton E., ed. (1926). . Allyn and Bacon.

American Patriotism: American Ideals in the Words of America's Great Men

Kazin, Michael; McCartin, Joseph A. (2006.) Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. ISBN 978-0-8078-3010-9

Americanism: new perspectives on the history of an ideal

Jeremy Latchaw (2009). . Xulon Press. ISBN 978-1-60791-485-3.

American Patriotism Through the Eyes of an Eagle

George McKenna (2008). . Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-13767-5.

The Puritan Origins of American Patriotism

Rand, Ayn (1946). . The Vigil. ASIN B0007H447Q.

"Textbook of Americanism"

Woden Teachout (2009). . Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-7867-4476-3.

Capture the Flag: A Political History of American Patriotism

Yerkes, Andrew C. (2005). . Routledge. ISBN 0-415-97538-7, ISBN 978-0-415-97538-4.