Theodore Roosevelt and the Divided Character of American Nationalism
Author(s): Gary Gerstle
Source: The Journal of American History, Vol. 86, No. 3, The Nation and Beyond:
Transnational Perspectives on United States History: A Special Issue (Dec., 1999), pp. 1280-1307
Published by: Organization of American Historians
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TheodoreRooseveltand theDivided
Characterof AmericanNationalism
GaryGerstle
ofAmerican
nationalism
Anyexamination
must,soonerorlater,
contendwithitsconcharacter.
On theone hand,itoffers
a civiccreedpromising
allAmericans
tradictory
of color,religion,or sex. That creedhas
the same individualrightsirrespective
Americanpoliticsand society,imparting
social cohesionto a
influenced
strongly
sprawling,
heterogeneous
populationand inspiring
countless
democratic
movements.
On theotherhand,Americannationalism
has longharboredracialideologiesthat
definetheUnitedStatesand itsmissionin ethnoracial
waysand havesoughtto prove
Americanracialsuperiority
economicmightand military
through
conquest.As Rogers Smith,MatthewJacobson,and othershaveshown,racializedconstructions
of
Americannationalism
werepresentfromtheearlydaysof theRepublic:in theConwhichlegalizedslavery,
stitution
and in a 1790 lawdeclaring
thatnaturalization
itself,
wouldbe limitedto thoseindividuals
who werefreeand white.And suchconstructionspersisted
wellintothetwentieth
century.'
Thisessayexplores
thecontradictory
character
ofAmericannationalism.
It doesso
not by identifying
groups,such as the NationalAssociation
fortheAdvancement
of
ColoredPeople(NAACP) and theKu KluxKlan (KKK), espousingone principleor the
how bothprinciples
oftencoexistedin themindsof single
other,butbyexamining
individuals.No individualbetterillustratesthis phenomenonthan Theodore
of Maryland,CollegePark.Thanksare owed to Dave Thelen for
GaryGerstleteacheshistoryat the University
invitingme to participatein thisspecialissueand forhis encouragement
and incisivefeedback.I also wishto
thanktheotherauthorsin thisissueand ElizabethLunbeck,Nell Painter,
and membersofthePrincetonUniversityFacultySeminaron Race, Politics,and Culturefortheircommentson earlierversionsof thisessay.My gratitudegoestoTom Bender,Marcelvan derLinden,and TonyBadgerforhostingthethreestimulating
workshops
at
whichtheplansforthisissueand thisessaytookshape.SusanArmenyhas beena superbeditor,and RobertRubin
and C. LoriPerezassistedin vitalwayswiththecopyediting
and photographs.
ReadersmaycontactGerstleat [email protected].
I For an eloquentdefinition
of the Americanciviccreed,see GunnarMyrdal,An AmericanDilemma:The
NegroProblemand ModernDemocracy
(1944; 2 vols.,New York,1972), I, 3-25. On racializednotionsof American nationality,
see RogersM. Smith,CivicIdeals:Conflicting
Visionsof Citizenship
in U.S. History(New Haven,
1997); MatthewFryeJacobson,Whiteness
of a Different
Color:EuropeanImmigrants
and theAlchemy
of Race
(Cambridge,Mass., 1998); MichaelRogin,Blackface,
WhiteNoise:Jewish
Immigrants
in theHollywood
MeltingPot
(Berkeley,
1996); David R. Roediger,The WagesofWhiteness:
Raceand theMakingoftheAmericanWorking
Class
(London, 1991); RonaldTakaki,Iron Cages:Race and Culturein Nineteenth-Century
America(Berkeley,
1971);
and ReginaldHorsman,Raceand ManifestDestiny:The OriginsofAmerican
RacialAnglo-Saxonism
(Cambridge,
Mass., 1981). Smithand JohnHigham analyzehow thesecontrary
impulsesinfluenced
Americanpoliticsand
publicpolicy.Smith,CivicIdeals;JohnHigham,Strangers
in theLand: Patterns
ofAmerican
Nativism(1955; New
Brunswick,
1992).
1280
TheJournalofAmerican
History
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December1999
Nationalism
Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
1281
dude rancher,
civilservicecommissioner,
Roosevelt,historian,
policecommissioner,
Fewfigures
governor,
soldier,
president,
explorer.
ofanyagehavematchedhisdevotion
on theformand contentofAmericannationto theAmericannationorhisinfluence
of thetaskRooseveltwas carrying
alism.Regardless
out,theofficehe had assumed,
or theadventure
he had undertaken,
he was alwayslookingforwaysto strengthen
thenationalist
ardorof theAmericanpeople.
theAmericannationand intensify
Roosevelt's
nationalism
itselfas a combative
andunapologetic
racialideolexpressed
and thevanquishing
of savageand barbaricpeoples.
ogythatthrivedon aggression
ofthatideology,
itwasvitalthat"Americans"
theirracial
Fromtheperspective
cultivate
in theirmidst.Yet,Roosevelt
theracialinferiors
and expelor subordinate
superiority
a powerful
civictradition
thatcelebrated
also locatedwithinAmericannationalism
all
of
as
a
that
welcomed
theUnitedStates
place
people,irrespective theirnationalto
ity,race,and religiouspractice,as longas theywerewillingto devotethemselves
the nationand obeyits laws. Moreover,Rooseveltlovedthe idea of Americaas a
meltingpot-a "crucible"-in which a hybridrace of manystrainswould be
forged.
Mixingof thissort,Rooseveltbelieved,had createdandwouldsustainAmerHis affection
forthemeltingpot expressed,
ican racialsuperiority.
too,thepersonal
socialboundariesand meetingdiversegroupsof people.
delighthe tookin crossing
hiscommitments
Mostof thetime,Roosevelt
foundwaysto reconcile
to theracial
He disciplined
ofAmerican
nationalism.
hiscelebration
ofhybridand civictraditions
thatcertainkindsof boundarycrossingwould damagethe racially
ityby insisting
of theAmericannation,and he expendedmucheffort
to explain
superiorcharacter
in America'sgreatmeltingpot. But
could not participate
whyblacks,in particular,
In particular,
werenotalwayssuccessful.
hiscomRoosevelt's
efforts
at reconciliation
mitmentto the civictraditionsometimesfilledhim withanxietyand uncertainty
racialorderand causedhimto violatethatorderin sensational
and
aboutAmerica's
in otherwords,sometimes
politically
damagingways.The civicand racialtraditions,
thathe couldnoteasilyencasethemboth
in suchdifferent
directions
pulledRoosevelt
he waslaboringso hardto create.BuildingtheAmerican
withinthenationalidentity
turnsout to havebeenexceptionally
diffinationfromsuchcontradictory
materials
cultpoliticaland personalwork.
to reconcilehis civicand racialbeliefsor to conRooseveltneverstoppedtrying
structhisnation,as hisextensive
writings
amplyattest.Nor did he everquestionthe
of hisnation-building
efforts
allow
needto builda nation.Butthesheerarduousness
to yokedivergent
humanaspirations
to a nationus to glimpsetheproblemoftrying
alistideal. Rooseveltcelebratedracialconquestbut also admiredcertainformsof
racialmixing;he prizedsocialorderas a paramountpoliticalgood but also thirsted
foradventure
and thechaosthatso oftenaccompaand thethrillof theunexpected
of hisstrivings,
in otherwords,mayhaverendered
one
niedit.The verycomplexity
andaspiration.
The caseofRoosevelt
nationtoolimiting
a spaceforpersonal
exploration
thenationlurkednotonlyin
suggests,
then,thatthedesireto escapeor to transcend
suchas theItaliansojourners
aboutwhomDonna
themindsofinternational
migrants,
themselves.
Gabacciawrites,butin themindsof leadingnationalists
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1282
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
1999
December
Roosevelt'sRacialized Nation
ideologiesgroundedin racestrengthened
In thelatenineteenth
nationalist
century,
includingthoseof theUnitedStates.
theirhold on thepeoplesof manycountries,
globalcapitalist
expansion.Societiesin disparate
Theseweretheyearsof a remarkable
eachother,theirpeopleslookgeographic
and culturalregionswereinterpenetrating
among
markets,
and, at leastthemissionaries
ingvariously
forwork,rawmaterials,
The resulting
jostlingof peoples,oftenunderadverse
them,soulsripeforsalvation.
economicconditions-poverty-level
wages amongworkers,
productioncoststhat
the eclipseof smallbusinessby corporationsexceededrevenuesamongfarmers,
on social
to blamemisfortune
fearsof socialdisintegration
and a tendency
generated
contamination.
societybegancallingforracialpurity
Groupswithineveryindustrial
theproblemsthatcapitaltheirnationsand of overcoming
as a wayof strengthening
as
had thrustupon them.International
competitionintensified,
ist development
and racialsuperiority.
nationssoughtto provetheireconomic,military,
of racialideologiesin the
In theUnitedStatesone can detectthegrowing
prestige
ofSpanishcoloniesin theCaribbean
overSpainin 1898 and in theacquisition
victory
remarkable
nationalunity,
Sea and thePacificOcean.The wargenerated
becomingan
divisions-betweenNorthand South,
intractable
occasionwhen deep,seemingly
and immigrant-wereat leastmomentarily
overcome.
capitaland labor,native-born
of America'sracialnationalist
tradiBut thisunitydependedon thereinvigoration
territories
ofthePhilippines
tion.In thenewAmerican
andPuertoRico,theindigenous
and thusincapableof handlingtheresponsipeoplesweredeclaredraciallyinferior
At home, the formalsubjugationof the South's
bilitiesof Americancitizenship.
to believe
African
Americanpopulationthrough
JimCrowallowedwhitesoutherners
associatednational
beenredeemed.Whitewesterners
that"their"nationhad finally
withtheircampaignsto "cleanse"theircitiesand statesof ChineseandJapgreatness
of theAmerican"race"underlaythese
A beliefin the superiority
anese influence.
and "scienefforts
at racialexclusionand subordination.
Drawingon internationalist
themselves
theproductof themodernage of capital,white
tific"racialistdiscourses,
Americansfoundthe essenceof theirrace in its "Anglo-Saxon,"
"English-speaking,"or simply"white"character.2
In the 1880s,TheodoreRoosevelthad turnedhis intellectual
talentsto identifyingthehistorical
originsof theAmericanraceand to tracinghowit madeitselfthe
racetheworldhad everknown.That was thepurposeof
greatest
English-speaking
hisepicwork,TheWinning
oftheWest(1889-1896), mostof whichfocusedon the
of theAmericanWestbypeopleof Europeanorigin.3
conquestand settlement
2Higham,Strangers
in theLand, 131-57; Cecilia ElizabethO'Leary,To Die For: The ParadoxofAmerican
Patriotism
(Princeton,1999), 129-49; AlexanderSaxton,TheRiseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic:ClassPoliticsand
America(New York,1990), 293-383; AndrewGyory,ClosingtheGate:Race,
Mass Culturein Nineteenth-Century
and theChineseExclusion
Act(Chapel Hill, 1998).
Politics,
3 TheodoreRoosevelt,
The Winningof theWest:An Accountof theExploration
and Settlement
of Our Country
tothePacific,in TheWorks
ed. HermannHagedorn(20 vols.,New York,
fromtheAlleghanies
of Theodore
Roosevelt,
1926), VIII, IX. In additionto Roosevelt'sown writings,the followingaccountdrawson Thomas G. Dyer,
Roosevelt
and theIdea of Race (Baton Rouge, 1980); GeorgeSinkler,TheRacialAttitudes
Theodore
ofAmerican
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Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism
1283
If forKarlMarxhistory
was thehistory
of classconflict,
forRoosevelthistory
was
thehistory
of raceconflict,
of theworld'svariousracesstruggling
forsupremacy
and
in Roosevelt's
of racialconflict,
power.The history
eyes,pointedin thedirection
of
civilization
and progress:
moreoftenthannot,thehigher,
civilizedracestriumphed
overthelower,savageor barbaricones.But thistendency
was notan ironlaw; there
had been shattering
reversals-theDark Ages beingthe mostnotable-when the
forcesof barbarism
had overwhelmed
thecitadelsof civilization.
No race,no matter
howcivilizeditspeopleor howsuperiortheirmentalability,
could afford
to become
complacentaboutitsdestiny.
Racialtriumphcame onlyto thosepeopleswillingto
of manly,warlike,evensavage
fightforit. Successin battlerequiredthecultivation
and fitness,
ruthqualities:physical
toughness
fearlessness,
bravery,
single-mindedness,
lessness.Thus, Rooseveltfoundtheformative
experience
of theAmericanraceneitherin thegodlyPuritanswho settledNew England,norin thevirtuousfarmers
of
themid-Atlantic
stateswho diligently
workedtheland,norevenamongtheBoston,
New York,and Philadelphiamerchants
who made greatfortunes
by acquiringand
abundantresources.
tradingthecontinent's
Rather,he foundit in thebackwoodsmenwho bravely
venturedforthintothewilderness
to battletheIndiansand clear
theland.The backwoodsmen,
in Roosevelt's
eyes,liketheGermanswhohad invaded
Britainand fashioneda super-Teutonic
racethere,werewarriors
aboveall,and their
taskwas not placidhusbandry
but relentless
waragainstthesavageIndians
primary
whoclaimedthelandsas theirown.Roosevelt
hadno useforFrederick
Jackson
Turner's
view of the frontier
as a sparselyinhabitedplace awaitingcultivation
by diligent
bandsof husbandmen."A raceof peaceful,unwarlikefarmers,"
Rooseveltargued,
"wouldhavebeenhelplessbeforesuchfoesas theredIndians,and no auxiliary
milithemor enabledthemto movewestward.... The
taryforcescould haveprotected
Westwouldneverhavebeensettledsaveforthefiercecourageand theeagerdesireto
of thestalwart
bravedangerso characteristic
backwoodsmen."4
cunRooseveltloathedthesavageredman butadmiredhim,too,forhisbravery,
The backwoodsman
achievedhisgreatness
as a result
ning,and,mostof all,ferocity.
the
of thebattleshe foughtto subduetheremarkable
Indianfoe.Rooseveltregarded
of
the
of
the
as
"the
feat
in
the
hisWest
conquest theIndiansand
winning
greatepic
westward
marchwas"a recordofmenwhogreatly
dared
toryofourrace."The relentless
widerand moredangerousthanthoseof the
and greatly
did,a recordof wanderings
Vikings;a recordof endlessfeatsof arms,of victoryaftervictoryin the ceaseless
strife
theIndian
wagedagainstwildmanand wildnature."'The warto exterminate
createdthe"Americans."
Presidents:
FromAbrahamLincolnto Theodore
Roosevelt
(GardenCity,1971), 308-73; RichardSlotkin,Gunfighter
in Twentieth-Century
Nation:TheMythoftheFrontier
America(New York,1992), 29-122; Gail Bederman,ManA CulturalHistoryof Genderand Race in the UnitedStates,1880-1917 (Chicago,1995),
linessand Civilization:
170-215; and Saxton,Riseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic,
349-83.
in Works
4 Roosevelt,
Winning
of theWest,
ofTheodore
Roosevelt,
ed. Hagedorn,VIII, 100-1 01. See Frederick
in AmericanHistory,
ed. Harold P. Simonson(New York,1980),
JacksonTurner,TheSignificance
oftheFrontier
29-58; and RichardWhite,"Frederick
JacksonTurnerand BuffaloBill,"in TheFrontier
in AmericanHistory,
ed.
JamesR. Grossman(Berkeley,
1994), 6-65.
Theodore Roosevelt,"Manhoodand Statehood,"1901 address,ibid.,XIII, 455.
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1284
ofAmerican
History
TheJournal
December
1999
process,one
Thatwar,Rooseveltbelieved,had setin motiona criticalassimilatory
a singleAmerican
thatfashioned
peopleoutofmanyEuropeanraces.The backwoodsof twoBritishraceswereprimarily
thedescendants
men,accordingto Roosevelt,
numbersof
theScotch-Irish
and theEnglish-but includedin theirrankssignificant
Germans,Huguenots,"Hollanders,"and Swedes.Althoughthosedistinct"racial"
whentheyarrivedin thewilderness,
groupswerestillconsciousof theirdifferences
settlers.
"Asinglegenof thefirst
theybecameobliviousto themwithinthelifetimes
Rooseveltwrote,
eration,passedunderthehardconditionsof lifein thewilderness,"
intoone people."And so, "longbeforethefirst
"wasenoughto weld [them]together
whatevertheirblood, had
ContinentalCongressassembled,the backwoodsmen,
"Theirironsurroundone in speech,thought,and character."
becomeAmericans,
ings,"Rooseveltcontinued,"madea mouldwhichturnedout all alikein thesame
in a positivewayto the
of manytimes,Rooseveltreferred
shape."Here,forthefirst
melting-pot
originsof theAmericanpeople.6
But Rooseveltincludedin hisAmericanbrewonlyracesemanatingfromEurope.
What to do, then,withnon-Europeanracesresidingon Americansoil?Roosevelt
did notworrymuchabouttheproperplace of Indiansin thenation,forthesavage
warswiththeAmericans
had culminated
in theirexpulsionorextermination.
Buthe
was troubledbytheplace and roleof blacks.Rooseveltregarded
theimportation
of
as a racialand nationalcatastrophe.
Africanslavesto theNorthAmericancontinent
The Europeanraceswho conqueredAmerica,Rooseveltintoned,"totheirownlasta crimewhoseshort-sighted
follywas worsethanitsguilt,for
ingharm,committed
nowformimmensepopuslaves,whosedescendants
theybroughthordesofAfrican
lationsin certainportionsof thisland."Those "hordes"couldnevertrulybe assimithemfromthewhiteraceswas
latedintoAmericansociety:thedistanceseparating
simplytoo great.Nor couldtheyprovidetheproudsavagefoeagainstwhomAmeriwerealreadya bowed
canwarriors
definedtheirraceand peoplehood,fortheAfricans
forcedto obeytheirmasters'everycomand conqueredpeoplewhentheyarrived,
be killednordrivenaway."He had
mand.Regrettably,
theblackmancould "neither
to be founda place in the nation.But where?Givingblacksan equal placewould
whilehemmingthemintoa subordinate
statusvitiviolatetheracialorderof things,
to democracy
and equal opportunity.7
atedtheAmericancommitment
but on the
Rooseveltblamedthisdilemma,not on his heroicbackwoodsmen,
of the seventeenth
Ctrans-oceanic
aristocracy"
and eighteenth
centuriesthathad
slavetrade.The racialcrimecomallegedlycreatedand sustainedtheinternational
one nationaldisaster-the Civil
mittedby thosearistocrats
had alreadytriggered
War-that almostdestroyedthe mightynationthatthe backwoodsmenhad so
and courageouslybuilt. And even emancipation-an act that
painstakingly
6
RooseveltmighthaveclaimedthattheAmericanculturewas essentially
EnglishorAnglo-Saxon;at times,he
came close to labelingthe backwoodsmen's
cultureScotch-Irish.
But he pulled back frombothclaims,perhaps
becauseeitherwould have impliedthathis own heritage-mixed,but primarily
Dutch-lay outsidethe core
Americanculture.Roosevelt,WinningoftheWest,
ibid.,VIII, 89.
7Ibid., 8; TheodoreRooseveltto AlbionWinegarTourgee,Nov. 8, 1901, in TheLetters
of Theodore
Roosevelt,
ed. EltingE. Morison(8 vols.,Cambridge,Mass., 1951), III, 190-91.
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Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism
1285
Rooseveltheartily
supported-providedno simplecureto theraceproblembecause
a formof governNegroes,Rooseveltbelieved,would not takewellto democracy,
mentthatdependedon a self-control
and masterythatonlythe whiteraceshad
attained.As president,
Rooseveltstruggled
to devisewhatwere,in his eyes,decent
to theraceproblem.Buthe alwaysregarded
remedies
theNegroas an indelibleblack
markon thewhitenationthathad so gloriously
emergedin themid-eighteenth
cenof America's
racialimperfection,
tury,a constantreminder
of an opportunity
compromisedby the nefariousdealingsof corrupt,antidemocratic,
and immoral
Therewould neverbe, Rooseveltonce concededin privatecorresponaristocrats.
dence,a truesolutionto "theterrible
problemoffered
bythepresenceof thenegro
on thiscontinent."8
The 1890s: Crisis,War,and NationalistRenewal
TheWinning
oftheWestbrimswithconfident
superiority.
But,evenas he was writhadsetin motion
ingthistreatise,
Roosevelt
wasbesetbyworry
thatpastachievements
processes
thatcouldyetruintheAmerican
race.Bytheearly1890s,thewildfrontier
of
theeighteenth
century
had vanishedand theIndianshad beenrouted.The conquest
of theWestand theinvention
of democracy
had triggered
technological
and cultural
revolutions
thatwererapidlymakingAmericainto an urban,industrialized
society.
Whilethebackwoodsmen
hadsetthechangesin motion,theirverysuccesshad forced
themto themargins
ofAmericansociety.
Roosevelt
worriedthatAmerica,as a result,
wouldloseitsracialedge."Apeaceful
andcommercial
civilization
is alwaysin dangerof
thelossof thevirilefighting
culsuffering
qualitieswithoutwhichno nation,however
however
however
caneveramountto anything."9
andprosperous,
tured,
refined,
thrifty
Roosevelt
in an overly
elite
refined
Everywhere,
spottedsignsofracialdegeneration:
life"fortheeffete
mannersand habitsof Eurothathad abandoned"thestrenuous
in a falling
birthrateamongthissameelite,an unmistakable
peanaristocrats;
signto
Rooseveltthatthevigorof thismighty
racewas slipping;in theimpoverished
urban
involvement
masseswhoseloyalty
to thenationwas questionable
and whosegrowing
in lawlessstrikesRooseveltregarded
in a societyso preoccuas signsof barbarism;
piedwithmaterial
gainand "ignobleease"thatit no longerknewhowto pursuethe
thatthebackwoodsheroiclife.In short,theuniqueand racially
civilization
superior
menhadassiduously
wasin dangerofgoingthewayofRome:opulence,comcreated
'O
placency,
effeminacy,
military
collapse.
effects
Rooseveltconceivedof hispersonallifeas a crusadeagainsttheenervating
He was determined
to
of excessivecivilization.
to excelat huntingand ranching,
of Theodore
Roosevelt,
ed. Hagedorn,
ITheodore Roosevelt,"NationalLifeand Character,"1894, in Works
XIII, 212-13; Rooseveltto Tourgee,Nov. 8, 1901, in Letters
of Theodore
Roosevelt,
ed. Morison,III, 190-91.
Roosevelt'sclassanalysisof the slavetradewas sharedby manywhitelaboringmen and sanctioneda racialized
classconsciousness.
See Saxton,Riseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic.
9TheodoreRoosevelt,"The ManlyVirtuesand PracticalPolitics,"1894, in Works
of Theodore
Roosevelt,
ed.
Hagedorn,XIII, 32.
1894, ibid., 19. See also TheodoreRoosevelt,"The Strenuous
IOTheodoreRoosevelt,"TrueAmericanism,"
Life,"1899, ibid.,319, andpassim.
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1286
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
December
1999
backwoodsmen
sucha vigorousrace.
developthequalitiesthatmadetheScotch-Irish
His twowivesand sixchildren
wereampledemonstration
of hisownvirility
and,he
hoped,an examplethatothermembersof his racewould emulate.He preached
thatof thebeggarcontentto liveoffcharity
or
againstthecomplacent
life,whether
for
of therailroadtycoonobsessedwithcountinghis money.He calledincessantly
Abraham
as achievedbyGeorgeWashington,
thepursuitof a "higherlife"of glory,
inwar,
himself
Lincoln,and UlyssesS. Grant.Each of thoseheroeshad distinguished
and Roosevelt
believedthattrueeminencewouldeludehimuntilhe,too,had proved
hisworthon thebattlefield."
fora strenuous
lifeto bringhimpersonalgreatness,
Justas he expectedhisprogram
nationalism
would
so Rooseveltbelievedthatan emphasison muscularand racialized
America.Bytheearly1890s he had casthislotwithAdm.Alfred
Thayer
reinvigorate
whoarguedthattheUnitedStatesshouldviewithBritMahanand otherimperialists
military
might,and world
ain, France,Germany,
Russia,and Japanforterritory,
believedthatAmericahadto prove
to thecore,theimperialists
power.SocialDarwinist
ofthe"lesser"
itselfthemilitary
equalofthestrongest
Europeannationandthemaster
and LatinAmerica.Hankering
fora fight,
theystroveto turn
peoplesofAsia,Africa,
in theCaribbeanand thePacificintoarmedconfrontations.
emergent
powerstruggles
racesabroadcouldreplacethefight
withthesavageIndiansat
Fightswithbarbarian
homeand thuskeepAmericans
raciallyfit.As Rooseveltdeclaredin 1897, "No triumphof peace is quiteso greatas thesupremetriumphof war."The imperialists'
came in 1898, whentheexplosionof thebattleship
Maine in Havana
opportunity
harborsetSpainand theUnitedStateson thepathto war.12
Atthefirst
Roosevelt
as assistant
ofthenavytoaccept
secretary
opportunity,
resigned
a regiment
thelieutenant
thatwouldsoon
Cavalry,
colonelcyof theFirstVolunteer
as theRoughRiders.Morethan20,000 menappliedforthe1,000
be immortalized
availableplaces,and Rooseveltfilleda majority
of placeswithcowboys,
and
hunters,
fromtheWestand Southwest-menwho boretheclosestresemblance
prospectors
to his fabledbackwoodsmen.
"Theywerea splendidsetof men,"Rooseveltwould
withresolute,
laterwrite,"talland sinewy,
weather-beaten
faces,and eyesthatlooked
in thefacewithoutflinching."
"In alltheworld,"he added,"there
could
a manstraight
be no bettermaterialforsoldiersthanthatafforded
by thesegrimhuntersof the
thesewildroughridersof theplains."Havingcomefromlandsthathad
mountains,
been"mostrecently
won over[fromthesavageIndians]to whitecivilization,"
these
menwereamongthefewremaining
who stillpossessedtheferocity,
Americans
the
13
backwoodsmen.
independence,
and thewar-making
skillsof theKentucky
Justas the predominately
had benefited
fromthe
Scotch-Irish
backwoodsmen
admixture
of minority
fromFrance,Germany,
so thequality
streams
and elsewhere,
oftheRoughRiderswasenhanced
ofcomplementary
American
strains.
bytheinclusion
Mostimportant
werethefifty
whohad comefromHarmen,mostof themathletes,
" TheodoreRoosevelt,"American
Ideals,"1895, ibid.,3-4; "Grant,"1900 speech,ibid.,430-41.
'2WalterLaFeber,TheNewEmpire:An Interpretation
ofAmerican
Expansion,1860-1898 (Ithaca,1963), 80101; WilliamH. Harbaugh,TheLifeand Timesof Theodore
Roosevelt
(New York,1975), 99.
13 TheodoreRoosevelt,
TheRoughRiders(New York,1902), 22-23.
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:12:10 AM
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Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism
1287
vard,Princeton,
andYaleuniversities
andwhopossessed
a worldliness
anda capacity
for
leadership
thatmanyof therowdysouthwesterners
lacked.Rooseveltchosean equal
numberof Indians(segregated
in theirowncompany),a fewof purebloodbutmost
a powerfully
disciplined
mixture
of redand white.He selecteda smattering
of Irishmenand Hispanics,at leastoneJew,one Italian,fourNewYorkCitypolicemen,and
a group"inwhoseveins... bloodstirred
withthesameimpulsewhichoncesentthe
Vikingsoverseas."Like thefrontier,
theregiment
createdtheconditionsfora carefullyregulatedprocessof racialmixing,one meantto generatethe finestpossible
Americanfighting
force.Threecups of southwesterners,
a leaveningtablespoonof
IvyLeaguers,a tablespoonof Indians,and a sprinkling
of Jews,Irish,Italians,and
Scandinavians
all-American
yielded,in Roosevelt's
eyes,a sterling,
regiment.14
The inclusion
ofevenlimitednumbers
ofIndians,Jews,
and Italiansmadetheregithanthebandsofbackwoodsmen
whohadconquered
mentmorediverse
theWesthad
been-a sign,perhaps,thatRooseveltwas becomingmoreliberalin his racialatti15 Yet,Roosevelt
tudesthanhe had beenwhenhe wroteWinning
was not
oftheWest.
preparedto welcomeeveryracialtypeintotheRoughRidercrucible:he had neither
onceagain
soughtnoracceptedanyblackorAsianAmerican
volunteers,
demonstrating
hisconviction
thattheinclusionof the"mostinferior"
racialingredients
wouldpollutetheAmerican
brew.The melting
potcontinuedto dependforitssuccessas much
on exclusionas on inclusion.16
The RoughRidersquicklyachieveda camaraderie
that,in Roosevelt's
eyes,justifiedhisefforts
to regulate
The IvyLeaguersbrought
theracialmixing.
civility
to a regimentfullof rowdyspirits,
whiletheroughness
andphysicality
ofthesouthwesterners
to abandontheiraversionto hardand "disagreeable"
compelledtheeliteeasterners
labor.The regimentsomewhatuneasilyabsorbedthe fewIrishmen,Italians,and
Jews,
givingthembelittling
(although
nicknames
suchas SheenySolomon
affectionate)
The socialequalitythatRooseveltencouragedalso shapedrelations
and Pork-chop.
officers
men.Roosevelt
between
andenlisted
craveda closerelationship
withhistroops.
He gotto knoweachof histhousandmenbyname,greetedthemwithwavesrather
thanformalsalutes,boughtthembeeraftera longmarch,tookhissergeants
to dinnerat a restaurant
forthearmy's
officers'
reserved
rations
topbrass,andcommandeered
forhisenlistedmen.Oftenreprimanded
forsuchtransgressive
fratbyhissuperiors
theauthorities
Rooseveltwas quickto offer
thenecessary
ernizing,
apologies.But,in
he lovedflouting
therulesof military
conduct.Herewas a wayforhimto retruth,
createa frontier
wheresocialdistinctions
and rankcountedforlittle.A
environment,
manwasjudgedforhisabilityas a man,and thatwas all.17
Rooseveltwantedhisregiment
to shine.Usingall of theirorganizational
abilities
14Ibid., 17-22, 28-32, 50, 52, esp. 17; Rooseveltto HenryFairfield
Osborn,Dec. 21, 1908, in Letters
ofTheodoreRoosevelt,
ed. Morison,VI, 1434-36; EdmundMorris,TheRiseof Theodore
Roosevelt
(New York,1979),
618; Slotkin,Gunfighter
Nation,103.
15 Here my interpretation
divergesfromthatof Slotkin,who sees in the Rough Ridersa replicationof the
racialmixthatconqueredthefrontier.
Slotkin,Gunfighter
Nation,104.
16 The one blackin theregiment
was Roosevelt'sbodyservant,
Marshall.Roosevelt,RoughRiders,67.
'7Ibid., 18, 51, 52, 116-17; Morris,Riseof Theodore
Roosevelt,
620-21, 639-40, 647; Harbaugh,Lifeand
TimesofTheodore
Roosevelt,
106.
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1288
The Journal
History
ofAmerican
December1999
theRough
Thisphotowastakenona hilloverlooking
Santiago,
Cuba,inJuly1898after
he
Roosevelt
iswhere
andSanJuanhills.Theodore
hadtakenKettle
Riders
ofitallbutalsooneoftheguys.
wantstobe,atthecenter
Library
ofCongress.
Courtesy
Col. LeonardWood, made
Rooseveltand his superior,
and Washington
influence,
at Daiquirlin
troopsto disembark
surethattheRoughRiderswereamongthefirst
withSpanish
towardthe expectedengagement
June1898 and to beginmarching
hillseastofSantiago.
The Spanish,as itturnedout,were
fortified
troopsin theheavily
in no moodfora longwarand gaveup afteronlythreeweeksand fourrathersmall
battles.But the Rough Ridersplayedimportantrolesin threeof the four-Las
heroes.Roosevelt,
KettleHill,andSanJuanHill-and camehomemilitary
Gua'simas,
hiswayto Cuba,hadliterally
willedhisregiment
to thebattlefield
and to
bymuscling
18
glory.
It had takenconsiderable
and highly
propagandato turnthelight-complexioned
culturedSpanishenemyintothedarkand savagefoe,buttheAmericantabloids,led
8Morris, Riseof Theodore
Roosevelt,
623; Roosevelt,RoughRiders,46-78. See David F. Trask,The Warwith
Spainin 1898 (NewYork,1981); and PhilipS. Foner,TheSpanish-Cuban-American
Warand theBirthofAmerican
Imperialism,
1895-1902 (2 vols.,New York,1972).
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Roosevelt
Theodore
andAmerican
Nationalism
1289
by the Hearstand Pulitzerpapers,provedequal to the task.These newspapers
fed
Americanciviliansand troopsa steadydietof sensational
storiesaboutatrocities
that
the Spanishhad committedagainstthe freedom-loving
Cubans,and theyfocused
on thesinister
Catholicismof theSpanishas a wayof explaining
to theirProtestant
nationthe autocraticand ruthlesscharacter
of Spanishrule.Visually,the Spanish
wereoftendepictedin thesimianformthatAmericans
usedto portray
theracesthey
mostdespised.'9
The RoughRiders'first
withSpanishtroopsseemedto confirm
encounter
thelatter'ssavageracialnature.The Americans
had expectedto meettheSpanishin a civion an openfieldofbattle;butinsteadtheywereambushedinheavily
lizedengagement
terrain
atLas Gua'simas.
The battlerevealed
thattheSpanisharmyhadadopted
forested
an intelligent
theguerrilla
tacticsfavoredby theirCuban adversaries,
adaptationof
tacticsto theCubanterrain
andfoethattheAmericans
wouldcometo respect.
military
lorethatat Las
But initiallyit seemedto Rooseveltand otherssteepedin frontier
a savageenemy.Roosevelt's
of thebattle
Guasimastheyhad encountered
recounting
he hadalready
resembled
thenarratives
written
abouteighteenth-century
Indianattacks
in theKentucky
tellbackwoods.Victorycameto theRoughRiders,in Roosevelt's
thesamepluck,resourcefulness,
ing,becausetheydemonstrated
and courageas the
Kentucky
backwoodsmen.
Andjustas thetoughconditions
of theAmericanwildernesshad weldedthefrontiersmen,
"whatever
theirblood,"intoone superiorpeople,
so too theroughencounter
at Las Guaisimas
had forged
themotleyRoughRidersinto
a truly
Americanshape.20
Las Gua'simas
wasonlya preludeto thefurious
battlesat Kettleand SanJuanhills,
thehighandheavily
The Rough
fortified
ridgesthatguardedtheapproachto Santiago.
of regulartroops,
Ridershad beenassigneda supportrolebehindseveralregiments
butas thecasualties
betweenthegenerals
in therear
mountedand as communications
his
and frontline
Roosevelt
Riders
into
thethick
moved Rough
troopsbrokedown,
of the action.Rooseveltdemonstrated
He
heroismand recklessness.
extraordinary
inspireda wild chargeup KettleHill thatoverranSpanishdefenses.He thenorgaofseveral
thathadmadeitto thetopintoa reserve
nizedthefragments
regiments
force
thatprovidedcriticalsupportto theregulars
who wereassaultingtheadjacentSan
JuanHill. Rooseveltspentmuchof thebattleon horseback,
ridingamonghistroops;
them
the
His
urging
up
hill,disregarding
dangerand death.
daringand impulsivenessresembledthoseof Gen. GeorgeArmstrong
Custer;but Kettleand San Juan
hillswereto be thesitesof no laststands.Sheetsof bulletsraineddownupon the
Americantroops;shellsexplodedeverywhere.
All around,Rooseveltsaw menbeing
killedand woundedor collapsingfromexhaustion.By the timethe fighting
had
thebattlelaykilledorwounded.
ended,90 of the450 RoughRiderswhohad entered
One bulletgrazedRoosevelt's
Manymorewouldlatersuccumbto sickness.
wrist,but
19GeraldLinderman,TheMirrorof War:AmericanSociety
and theSpanish-American
War(AnnArbor,1974),
114-73.
20Roosevelt,
RoughRiders,
79- 118, esp. 110, 1 5.
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1290
ofAmerican
TheJournal
History
December
1999
nonewoundedhim;virtually
aloneamongtheofficers
and men,he escapedsickness.
In thisclimacticbattlethatRoosevelthad longwishedfor,he seemedas immortal
as
a Greekgod,especially
to theawestruck
journalists
whowerereporting
thisfightto
the millionsof avid newspaperreadersback home. "Mountedhighon horseback,
at a gallopand quitealone,"wroteRichardHardingDavis,
and charging
therifle-pits
the famedNew YorkHeraldand Scribners
Roosevelt"madeyou feelthat
reporter,
youwouldliketo cheer."'21
In the Cuban campaign,Rooseveltbroughtto lifethe mythicpast thathe had
In theclimacticKettle
inventedfortheAmericanpeoplein TheWinning
oftheWest.
thetriumph
ofAmericaoversavagery
Hill-SanJuanHill battlethatsymbolized
and
theforging
of themanystreamsof humanity
intoone Americanpeople,Roosevelt
oftheblack
role.Buttherewasa problem.
Justas thearrival
himself
playedthestarring
thegreatwhitenationtakmanon theNorthAmericancontinent
had compromised
ing shapethere,so, too, thepresenceof blackUnitedStatestroopson KettleHill
withthenation'striumph-or at leastwithRoosevelt's
and San JuanHill interfered
of thattriumph.
enjoyment
Roosevelthad beenableto keepblacksoutof theRoughRiders,buthe couldnot
of the
keep themout of Cuba. Four regularregiments-a substantial
percentage
UnitedStatesArmy-wereall-black(althoughcommandedbywhiteofficers),
and
theywereamongthe mostexperienced
and reliableAmericantroops.The Negro
NinthandTenthcavalryregiments
and playedan even
foughtwellat Las Guaisimas
morevitalrolein thetakingof Kettleand San Juanhills.The TenthCavalryhad
beenthefrontline
troopson KettleHill and therelostmoreof theirofficers
(eleven
of twenty-two)
thananyotherregiment.
When Rooseveltcalledfora chargeup the
severalplatoonsoftheNinthCavalryreached
hill,theyeagerly
joinedin; meanwhile,
thesummitof KettleHill froma different
direction
at thesamemomentas Roosevelt.
fromthe TwentyBlack troopsfromboth regiments
and, even moreimportant,
hard
Hill
well.22
for
San
as
FourthInfantry
Division,fought
Juan
When Rooseveltreachedthetop of San JuanHill, he foundhimselftheeffective
oftheRoughRiders,theNinthandTenthNegrocavalries,
commander
andthreeother
The chaosof battlehad mischievously
cavalryregiments.
produceda trueAmerican
of theRoughRidersfurther
diversified
meltingpot-the heterogeneity
bythepresence of bothwhiteand blackregulars-and the pot had workedits magic,as all
thesediversetroopshad foughtas a single,cohesiveunit.Whiteregulars,
theheavily
southwestern
RoughRiders,thejournalists,
and evenRoosevelthimselfall heaped
praiseon theblacksoldiers,
who returned
to theUnitedStatesas heroes.The Tenth
21RichardHardingDavis, Notesofa WarCorrespondent
(New York,1910), 96; Roosevelt,RoughRiders,11964; Morris,Riseof Theodore
Roosevelt,
650-56.
22
WilliamH. Leckie, The BuffaloSoldiers:A Narrativeof theNegroCavalryin theWest(Norman,1967);
AlbertL. ScipioII, LastoftheBlackRegulars:
A History
oftheTwenty-Fourth
Infantry
Regiment,
1869-1951 (Silver
Spring,1983); AnthonyLukas,Big Trouble:
A Murderin a Small Western
TownSetsOffa Strugglefor
theSoul of
America(New York,1997), 118-32; Roosevelt,RoughRiders,132-64; TheophilusG. Steward,TheColoredRegularsin theUnitedStatesArmy(1904; New York,1969); MarvinEdwardFletcher,
"The NegroSoldierand the
UnitedStatesArmy,1891-1917" (Ph.D. diss.,University
of Wisconsin,1968), ch. 8.
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TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
Nationalism
1291
.........;.......... .
In
;.
this
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painting,
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: William
,
commanded
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Spanish
portrays
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i..;
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down,,0
Wahngo'
i-;i~',i2 Pensylani Avnu and
receivedi0i;
James!,rmebre
a hewrko
Yanee,"h sad,"bthelfond them to be caexcellt bree ofYankes.
"
a
s
PresideWiliam
ofaellttheRough
William
WhcenRoortaseveth
Rootastevheltoidm
herism
sallame.V/hcens
President
McJlysslt.
hispantig
Mcininley'
e s
ti
regimens Othere
beteenyouandtheotericavalry
in Octo ersh,
"uhthei
calleadly
em'moe
Riders
heto sptedte
black
csualdiers:
Spnayrup
Riders
n Octo
he Soe
frmthes
erceltased
Spnirdmmstcle,
Spais fores
msr
Yankees"'
he sid,"utw
fomm
beenkes
ndd blaicktsoldiers:
the
Banecelletrop
breedo
"theywr
whnIbeta
tof
then
inarge
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tand
asseblad
thatspeatheentielpnts
that speathe entimntsromoffiersd
and
mhen
inr
sebaewhnfsyta
tho
tienuice
betweeatiipte
threexisylvana
yoann h othrcaalry regasimngtons
This content downloaded from 64.9.56.53 on Mon, 19 Jan 2015 10:12:10 AM
All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
recived
trus
1292
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
December
1999
neverbe broken."The RoughRiders,reported
a blacksoldierof theTenthCavalry,
roaredtheirapproval.23
Roosevelt
ofblackandwhitetroopsto
mighthaveseizedon evidenceofintermixing
thatcouldfashiona singlenationout of all
celebrate
themelting
pot as a mechanism
thedifferent
racial,ethnic,and regional
groupswho residedin theUnitedStates.But
Roosevelthad neverbeen entirely
comfortable
withthe presenceof blacksfighting
battleon KettleandSanJuanhills.In fact,he hadbeen
alongside
whitesintheclimactic
alarmedby themixing,by "thedifferent
regiments
beingcompletely
intermingledwhiteregulars,
and RoughRiders."He believedthatcompleteand
coloredregulars,
unregulated
mixing-as had goneon in Mexicoand otherLatincountries-produced
of blackand whitetroopsin theheatof
mediocreraces.The indiscriminate
mingling
to explodethemyththatregulated
threatened
assimilation
battle,moreover,
produced
raciallysuperior
of assimilation
Americans
and to disruptthe reenactment
carefully
orchestrated
by RoosevelthimselfThe blacktroopshad to be put in theirplace-a
24
placeseparate
from,
andsubordinate
to,thatofwhiteAmericans.
Roosevelt
tookon thistaskwhenhe beganpublishing
hishistory
of theRoughRidersin Scribners
theseizureofSanJuanHill,Roosevelt
Magazinein 1899.In recounting
narrative
to criticize
theshortcomings
interrupted
histriumphalist
oftheNegrotroops.
'Whilethesetroopswereexcellentfighters,
theywere"peculiarly
dependentupon
theirwhiteofficers";
lefton theirown-as manyhad beenbythetimetheyarrived
on thesummitof San Juan,giventhehighcasualtyrateamongtheofficers
of the
Ninthand Tenth-they faltered,
even ran. Rooseveltrecalledhavingto drawhis
revolver
on blacktroopswhoseemedto be leavingtheirpositions
withoutpermission.
to shootthemdid theyreturn
Onlyafter
he had threatened
to theforward
lines.25
theincident
PresleyHolliday,a blacksoldierof theTenthCavalry,remembered
He described
a chaoticsituation
as nightwasfalling
on SanJuanHill amid
differently.
manycallsforsoldiersto carrythewoundedto therearand to procurerationsand
toolsforthetroopsat thesummit.BothRoughRidersand blacksoldiers
trenching
of manysoldiersleavingthe
respondedto thosecalls,whichcreatedtheimpression
battlescene.That is whatRooseveltapparently
saw whenhe drewhis revolver
and
to Holliday,Lt. RobertF. Flemingof the
aimeditat theblacktroops.But,according
Tenth(a whiteofficer)
Rooseveltthattheblacksoldiershad been
quicklyreassured
of theTenthCavalry
following
orders;thenextday,Rooseveltevenvisitedmembers
and apologizedto them.26
23JohnHope Franklinand AlfredA. Moss Jr.,FromSlaveryto Freedom:
A HistoryofNegroAmericans
(New
York,1988), 271; Roosevelt,RoughRiders,145-52; WillardB. GatewoodJr.,"SmokedYankees"
and theStruggle
for Empire:Letters
fromNegroSoldiers,1898-1902 (Urbana, 1971), 76-77; Lukas, Big Trouble,137; Frank
Friedel,TheSplendidLittleWar(Boston,1958), 173; HerschelV. Cashinet al., UnderFirewiththeTenthCavalry
(1899; New York,1970); EdwardA. Johnson,HistoryofNegroSoldiersin theSpanish-American
War,and Other
ItemsofInterest
(1899; New York,1970), 39-8 1; Steward,ColoredRegulars
in theUnitedStatesArmy,191-220,
236-55.
24Roosevelt,RoughRiders,145. Emphasisadded.AmyKaplan,"Blackand Blue on San JuanHill," in TheCulturesof UnitedStatesImperialism,
ed. AmyKaplanand Donald E. Pease (Durham,1993), 219-36.
25Roosevelt,
RoughRiders,149, 150-152.
26Presley
Hollidayto editor,New YorkAge,May 11, 1899, in Gatewood,"Smoked
Yankees"
and theStruggle
for
Empire,92-97.
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TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
Nationalism
1293
The soldierspicturedabovebelongedto one ofthefourAfrican
AmericanUnitedStates
theTwenty-fourth
and
Armyregiments-theNinthandTenthcavalries,
infantries-that
rolesin the
Twenty-fifth
playedindispensable
at Kettleand San Juanhills.
victories
Nationa/Archives.
Couirtesy
It is, of course,difficult
to knowexactlywhatwenton at dusk,whenall thesolwereexhausted
fromthefightand mayhavehad
diers,includingRoosevelthimself,
It is possiblethatsomeblacktroopsmayhave
difficulty
clearly.
seeingand thinking
of therearwhenthe
beentoo quickto leavethestillinsecuresummitforthesafety
arose.
of
admitted
that
some
the
Tenth
Holliday
opportunity
Cavalry'snewer
and at
recruits
becamenervousat beingseparatedfromthebulkof theirregiment
Butevenifnervousness
them
towhitesoldiers.
prompted
beinginsuchcloseproximity
toleavethesummit,
itwasnotadequatereasonforRoosevelt
to lookforopportunities
in
to challengetheworthof theblackfighting
man.Therehad beenmanyinstances
to be themore
Cuba of whitesoldierly
cowardiceand of blacksprovingthemselves
stalwart
hadbeencalled
andreliable
Infantry
troops;indeed,thecoloredTwenty-Fourth
New
upon to chargeSan JuanHill-and did-only afterthewhiteSeventy-First
Yorkhad panickedand refused
to attack.Rooseveltignoredthisand otherincidents
of whitecowardiceand blackvalor,determined
as he was to chargethatonlyblack
to becometheirownmen,to
and hardyindividualism
troopslackedtheself-reliance
momenton San JuanHill,
becometrueAmericans.In thatchaoticand confusing
Rooseveltwas certainthathe had uncoveredincontrovertible
evidenceof theblack
'Whereasthe Rough Riders,in
soldiers'"peculiardependence"on whiteofficers.
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1294
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
December
1999
in every
Roosevelt's
backwoodsmen
eyes,hadshownthemselves
equalto theKentucky
once againwhatRoosevelthad
respect,theblackcavalrytroopshad demonstrated
believed:thatblackswerenot trulyfitforcombat,thattheylackedthe
viscerally
as equalsin thegreatnationthatDaniel Booneand his
qualitiesneededto participate
27
in theeighteenth
fellowfrontiersmen
had willedintoexistence
century.
These weredevastating
chargesin 1899, especiallywhenleveledby a personof
Roosevelt'sstature.Emboldenedby the 1896 SupremeCourtdecisionin Plessyv.
theSouthwas disfranchising
blacksand excludingthemfrominstitutions
Ferguson,
thathad beendesignated
white-schools,restaurants,
stores,
parks,and manyplaces
In theNorth,whiteswerepushingblacksout of theskilledtrades
of employment.
a smallbutvibrantblackmiddleclass.The
and servicejobs thathad longsupported
in thiscontext,
forit gaveblacks
Wartookon specialsignificance
Spanish-American
to theUnitedStatesand to demandan
an opportunity
to demonstrate
theirloyalty
treatment.
African
Americans
record
endto discriminatory
hopedthattheirimpressive
ranksto them,
to open officer
of servicewould compeltheUnitedStatesmilitary
and thatthe achievement
of thatstatuscould thenbecomea powerful
symbolin
theirquestforequality,
How coulda nationpermit
officers
integration,
andbelonging.
of its own armyto be deniedthe rightto vote,to sit on juries,or to use public
accommodations?
Most whites,Rooseveltamongthem,evidently
agreedthatthe
nationcouldnottolerate
sucha blatantcontradiction.
Theysoughtto resolveit,however,notby tearingdownracialbarriers,
butbyreinforcing
and justifying
theones
theresponsibilalreadyin place.Justas mostblackscouldnotsuccessfully
discharge
itiesof citizenship,
so, too,Rooseveltand othersargued,theycouldnotbe entrusted
withleadingtroopsintobattle.The blackdemandforofficer
In
statuswas rebuffed.
thisclimateof racialseparation
itdid nottakelongforwhitesto
and discrimination,
abilitiesof blacksoldiers,evenwhentheywerecommanded
challengethefighting
bywhiteofficers.
ByWorldWarI, fewblacksweregivencombatroles.The nation
The sachadstripped
all blacksoftherightto fight
anddie fortheircountry.
virtually
rifices
and heroismof theNinthandTenthcavalries
had becomebuta dimmemory
to whites.Whitesoutherners,
werereintegrating
themselves
intothemilmeanwhile,
As a resultof theSpanish-American
to re-create
theUnitedStates
itary.
War,efforts
as a whitenationhad bornefruit.28
The centrality
of raceto thedefinition
of Roosevelt's
Americawas apparent,
too,
in thetreatment
of theCubansand Filipinos,ostensible
Americanalliesin thefight
Warproveda more
againsttheSpaniards.
Findinga savagefoein theSpanish-American
27Ibid.,95-96, 97, 72-73, 76-81; Lukas;Big Trouble,
134-35.
28Plessy
v.Ferguson,
163 U.S. 537 (1896); JohnW. Cell, TheHighestStageof WhiteSupremacy:
TheOriginsof
Segregation
in SouthAfricaand theAmericanSouth(New York,1982); KennethL. Kusmer,A GhettoTakesShape:
BlackCleveland,1870-1930 (Urbana,1976), 53-90; Gatewood,"SmokedYankees"
and theStruggle
forEmpire,
79-81, 87. On thehopes investedbyAfricanAmericansin military
service,see WillardB. GatewoodJr.,Black
Americans
and theWhiteMans Burden(Urbana, 1975); BernardC. Nalty,Strength
for theFight:A Historyof
BlackAmericans
in theMilitary(New York,1986), 78 -124; AnnJ. Lane, TheBrownsville
NationalCrisis
Affair:
and BlackReaction(PortWashington,
1971). On theSpanish-American
Waras a spurto North-Southunity,see
O'Leary,ToDie For,129-49; and TheodoreRoosevelt,"The ReunitedPeople,"1902 speech,in Works
of Theodore
ed. Hagedorn,XVI, 27-32.
Roosevelt,
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andAmerican
Nationalism
Theodore
Roosevelt
1295
taskthanRooseveltandothershad anticipated.
Despitetheir"savage"behavdifficult
theSpanishsoldierssoon revealedthattheywerefarwhiterand
iorat Las Gua'simas,
UnitedStatestroopswere
Meanwhile,
hadexpected.
morecivilized
thantheAmericans
wereoftenpoorlydressed,
withCubantroops.The latter
unnerved
bytheirencounters
Americansoldierswereparticularly
and lackingdiscipline.
provisioned,
inadequately
corpses-of friendand foealikeupsetbytheCuban troops'practiceof stripping
penchant
other
usable
items
and bytheirannoying
and
any
of clothing,
food,guns,
darkin
forbegging.
And theywerestunnedthatCuban troopswereoverwhelmingly
for
The UnitedStatestroopsknewlittleof theCubans'longstruggle
complexion.
theyhad had to endure,and ofwhytheyhad chosen
of thehardships
independence,
influenced
byHearstand Pulitzer
tacticsagainsttheSpanish.The Americans,
guerrilla
thatCubanswerea peoplemuchlikethemselves-freedom
hadimagined
newspapers,
loving,civilized,and white.Hence,theywereshockedto discoverthattheCubans
The blackCubans,not
and undignified.
traits
theycoulddefineas primitive
exhibited
theSpanish,weretheisland'struesavages!29
neverbecamea savagefoeagainstwhomthe
however,
The Cubans themselves,
a warofextermination-that
honorwentto theFilfeltcompelledto fight
Americans
ipinos.The Cubansinsteadbecamea childlikeallyin needofAmericanmentoring,
to
theUnitedStatesjustified
itsrefusal
On thesegrounds,
and protection.
assistance,
sought.Instead,it
theyso desperately
granttheCubansthepoliticalindependence
madetheislandintoa virtualcolony,takingon the"whiteman'sburden"of upliftWarreinforced
and moresavagerace.In suchwaystheSpanish-American
inga darker
as
white
Americans'
senseof themselves a
and superiorpeople.30
Roosevelt'sCivic Nationalism
as simplyan Americanexpression
nationalism
It is tempting
to interpret
Roosevelt's
Suchnationalism
nationalism.
of whatEuropeanscholarslabelethnic,or romantic,
locatestheessenceof thenationin theVolk,definedas a peoplewho sharethesame
did
language,and land.The Volk,in theeyesof ethnicnationalists,
blood,history,
a
outside
of
as
an
history,
entity
standing
notchangemuchovertime;itwasthought
forceof moraland biologicalpuritythatcoulderadicatetheallegedevilsof moderand racialmixing.31
materialism,
promiscuity,
nity:corruption,
to suchethnoracialist
and groupsin theUnitedStatessubscribed
Manyindividuals
most
successful
best
known
and
example.But
notions,theKu KluxKlan beingthe
29 Roosevelt,
646; Kaplan,"Blackand Blue on San Juan
Roosevelt,
RoughRiders,81; Morris,Riseof Theodore
MirrorofWar,114-47.
Hill,"223-26; Linderman,
30
1899-1903
Assimilation'TheAmericanConquestof thePhilippines,
StuartCreightonMiller,"Benevolent
and EmpireBuilding(MinofIndian-Hating
(New Haven, 1982); RichardDrinnon,FacingWest:TheMetaphysics
and Colonial Politicsin the Occupied Philipneapolis,1980), esp. 307-51; Paul Kramer,"U.S. Anthropology
1998); Slotkin,Gunfighter
Nation, 106-22; Foner,
pines, 1898-1916" (Ph.D. diss., PrincetonUniversity,
1898-1902 (The
War;JamesH. Hitchman,LeonardWoodand Cuban Independence,
Spanish-Cuban-American
1986).
1902-1934 (Pittsburgh,
Hague, 1971); LouisA. Perez,Cuba underthePlattAmendment,
31 On thehistory
and Nationhoodin France
in Europe,see RogersBrubaker,
of ethnicnationalism
Citizenship
Journeys
in theNew NationBloodand Belonging:
(Cambridge,Mass., 1992); and MichaelIgnatieff,
and Germany
alism(New York,1993).
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1296
ofAmerican
TheJournal
History
December
1999
Roosevelt
wasnotamongthem.The notionthattheEuropeanpeoplesrepresented
pure
thatwarand conbiologicalentities
madeno senseto him,forhe keenlyunderstood
farmorehybridized
thanmostcaredtoadmit.Roosevelt
questhadmadetheEuropeans
celebrated
hybridity:
theworld'sgreatest
peoples,afterall-the English,theAmerifrommelting
cans,theAustralians-hademerged
pots.Evenpriorto theRevolution,
Roosevelthad once written,
"we werethenalready,
whatwe are now,a people of
Roosevelt
had to be controlled
mixedblood."The smelting,
believed,
bya skilledpuddlerif itwereto producethebestand mostefficient
result;butracialmixingwould
thenalwaysproducepeoplessuperiorto thosethathad remainedpure.In his celeofhybridity,
bration
Roosevelt
wasverymucha modernanddeeplyat oddswithmembersof his gentry
class,suchas HenryCabot Lodge,MadisonGrant,and Frederic
who longedfora pureAnglo-SaxonAmerica.Nowherein Roosevelt's
Remington,
in hispublished
neither
worknorhisprivate
is itpossible
voluminous
writings,
letters,
to findthekindofindiscriminate
revulsion
against"outsiders"
expressed
byRemington
in a letter:
oftheearthI hate
Huns-the rubbish
"Jews,
Injuns,Chinamen,
Italians,
I'vegotsomeWinchesters
andwhenthemassacring
begins,I cangetmyshareof'em,
and what'smoreI will."32
Rooseveltinsteadwas a civicnationalist
who imaginedthenation,to useMichael
of equal,rights-bearing
citizensunitedin patriIgnatieff's
words,"as a community
oticattachment
to a sharedsetofpoliticalpractices
andvalues."Sucha nationalcommunitywas open,in theoryat least,to all thosewho residedin a nation'sterritory,
irrespective
of theirethnicity,
race,or religion.It was democratic,
foritvested"sovin all of thepeople."33
In practice,
Roosevelt's
nationalcommunity
wasopen
ereignty
to anyonewho couldclaimEuropeanoriginsor ancestry.
Rooseveltpaid littleattentionto whetherthoseEuropeanshad come fromeasternor westernEurope,from
or Jewishbackgrounds,
or fromthe ranksof the richor the
Catholic,Protestant,
to becomeAmerican.He assumeda different
poor;to all he extendedtheinvitation
He did notattemptto exclude
posturetowardblacks,Asians,and othernonwhites.
themfromthepoliticalcommunity
as thoroughly
as he had excludedthemfromhis
In fact,on numerousoccasionshe passionately
nationalist
mythology.
defendedthe
of selectedAfrican
Americans
andAsianswho,to his
politicalrightsand aspirations
levelof intellectual
thinking,
had achieveda requisite
and moralcompetence.
Buthe
also believedthatthevastmajority
of nonwhites
wouldnotachievethoselevelsduror forseverallifetimes
thereafter.
inghislifetime
hiscivicnationalism,
Althoughracismcompromised
itwouldbe a mistaketo dismissthesincerity
ofhiscivicdeclarations.
He felthiscivicnationalism,
whathe called
"trueAmericanism,"
deeply,and it allowedhim to welcomeintoAmericansociety
inferior"
"lowly"and "racially
Europeanimmigrants
whommostpeopleof hisclass
32Slotkin,Gunfighter
Nation,97; Roosevelt,"TrueAmericanism,"
24-25; Roosevelt,Winningof theWest,
VIII, 17. See also G. EdwardWhite,TheEasternEstablishment
and theWestern
TheWestofFrederic
Experience:
Remington,Theodore
Roosevelt,
and OwenWister
(New Haven, 1968). On Lodge and Grant,see Higham,Strangers
in
theLand,68-157 andpassim.I disagreewithAlexanderSaxton,who arguesthattheRemington
passageexpressed
Roosevelt's
viewsas well.Saxton,Riseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic,
343-44.
33Ignatieff,
Bloodand Belonging,
5.
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Nationalism
TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
1297
of
character
theprogressive
It is easyto belittle
background
despised.
andcultural
now thatantitowardEuropeanimmigrants,
Roosevelt's
inclusionary
attitudes
ideoloAmerican
vanished
assignificant
Catholicism
andanti-Semitism
havelargely
arethought
to belongto thesamewhiterace.But
giesand all Euro-Americans
amongmany
Europeans
wasnotpopular
andJewish
Roosevelt's
embrace
ofCatholic
of so manyof
of his time.In fact,thearrival
Protestant
Americans
native-born
Europe,
generated
andsouthern
regions
ineastern
from
"primitive"
them,
especially
in
Manyimmigrants,
of native-born
Protestants.34
amonglargenumbers
hysteria
withappreciation,
enthusiasm,
and votes.
to Roosevelt's
warmth
turn,responded
toworkwith,forits
Americans
something
alsogavenonwhite
His civicnationalism
ethosallowedthemto believethattheycouldyetfinda
democratic
andegalitarian
inthegreat
national
andthustoinclude
themselves
rights
waytogainfullcitizenship
andtheintegrationist
dream
TheAmerican
creedofa GunnarMyrdal
experiment.
ofcivicnationalism
that
fromthesametaproot
ofa MartinLuther
KingJr.sprang
intheearly
ofthiscentury.
Roosevelt
years
espoused
Theodore
wasrooted
bothinhisRepublicanism
andinhislove
civicnationalism
Roosevelt's
up.Sincethe1860s,theRepublican
ofthecosmopolitan
cityinwhichhehadgrown
Fromthe
foeofdiscrimination
andfavoritism.
hadcastitself
as theimplacable
party
offavortopurge
government
hadwanted
earliest
career,
Roosevelt
daysofhispolitical
would
andtoensure
thatgovernment
appointments
andcorruption
itism,
cronyism,
that
Thatmeantadopting
civilservice
procedures
be reserved
forthebestqualified.
ornationality.35'
friendship,
rather
thanontiesofparty,
merit
tests
relied
onimpartial
orcronyism
ForRoosevelt,
a commitment
tomerit
byprejudice
uncompromised
as a denizen
italsoreflected
whathe hadlearned
wasmorethanabstract
principle;
all
NewYork,
where
peoplefrom
ofwhathecalled"huge,polyglot,
pleasure-loving"
Roosevelt
valuedwhathesawas New
walksoflifehadfounda waytolivetogether.
thatcityleaders
andhebelieved
ought
Yorkers'
inclination
toputasidetheir
prejudices,
a friend
ofOtto
He wasproudtocallhimself
toencourage
thisbroad-mindedness.
NewYork."'As
was "'straight
who,likeRoosevelt,
policeman,
Raphael,a Jewish
forhismidnight
strolls
becamefamous
(1895-1897),Roosevelt
policecommissioner
tocatchdeadbeat
an immigrant),
withJacobRiis(himself
copswhowere
ostensibly
oftheirduties;butRoosevelt
lovedjustas
neglectful
asleepon thejob orotherwise
andactivitheseexcursions
muchtheexposure
gavehimtothehiddencommunities
aregreat
heoncewrote.
rambles
"My
fun,"
tiesofNewYorkCitylife."Thesemidnight
withevery
classofpeopleinNewYork.... I geta
meincontact
wholeworkbrings
millions."36
ofthereallifeoftheswarming
glimpse
tothis,justas there
hadbeeninRiis'ssensationelement
Therewasa voyeuristic
wasalsoa strong
desireto break
HalfLives.37
Butthere
alistexpose,
HowtheOther
andtoprodallcitiNewYorkers
from
eachother
downthebarriers
thathadseparated
34
in theLand, 52-105, 158-93.
Higham,Strangers
35Harbaugh,Lifeand Timesof Theodore
Roosevelt,
13-49, 69-92.
36Roosevelt,
June16,
AnAutobiography
(1913; New York,1927), 175, 179-80; Rooseveltto Anna Roosevelt,
Roosevelt,
ed. Morison,I, 463.
of Theodore
1895, in Letters
ofNew York(1890; New York,1971).
A. Riis,How theOtherHalf Lives:StudiesAmongtheTenements
37Jacob
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1298
ofAmerican
TheJournal
History
December
1999
zensofthe"great
city"tocrossneighborhood
andethnicboundaries.
Somescholars
have
extendedonlyto theso-calledold
arguedthatRoosevelt's
opennessto immigrants
fromGreatBritain,
and Scandinavia
whosupposedly
immigrants
Germany,
belonged
to superior
andeasilyassimilable
races.The "newimmigrants"
fromeastern
andsouthfortheywereconsidernEurope,in thisview,receivedno welcomefromRoosevelt,
Whilesomeevidencesupports
eredto lacktheracialmakeupto succeedinAmerica.38
thisview,otherevidencedoes not. It cannotaccount,forexample,forRoosevelt's
enthusiastic
embraceof IsraelZangwill'splay,TheMelting-Pot,
whenit openedon
David Quixano,belongsto a RussianJewish
Broadwayin 1908. The protagonist,
family
thatcan onlybe describedas newimmigrant.
David'smother,
and sisfather,
tershave been slainduringthe 1903 Kishinevpogrom.David fleesto New York,
wherehe is takenin byhisuncle,MendelQuixano,who is portrayed
byZangwillas
thestereotypical
easternEuropeanJewishimmigrant,
"wearinga blackskull-cap,a
FrauQuixano,a forlorn
soulwho
seedyvelvetjacket."Mendelliveswithhismother,
Yiddish
for
whom
America
is
a
emotional
and
cultural
and
speaksonly
graveyard.
Mendeland David, bothtalentedmusicians,desireto escapetheprovincialism
and
tragedythatenvelopFrau Quixano.While Mendel is too old and too tiedto his
motherto succeedin thisquest,David possessesthenecessary
talent,drive,and independence.He seizesthe opportunity
thatAmericagiveshim,writeshis American
thegentilegirlof hisdreams,and becomesa proudAmerican.39
marries
symphony,
of course,endorsedZangwill's
Roosevelt,
depictionofAmericaas a landof unlimitedopportunity.
he applaudedZangwill'sinsistence
that
But,evenmoreimportant,
evenimmigrants
suchas David,whoseorigins
inferior
layin theallegedly
racesofeasternEurope,couldbecomethemostsuccessful
It mattered,
andbestofAmericans.
too,
thatDavid succeedsinAmerica,
notbymaintaining
hisJewish
heritage,
butbyassimThe wordsthatZangwillputsin David'smouthcouldhave
culture.
ilatingtoAmerican
comefromRoosevelt's
own pen: "America
is God's Crucible,thegreatMelting-Pot
whereall theracesof Europearemeltingand reforming!
. . . Germansand Frenchmen,Irishmen
and Englishmen,
Jewsand Russians-into theCruciblewithyouall!
God is makingtheAmerican."
No wonderRoosevelt
wroteZangwill,"I do notknow
whenI haveseena playthatstirred
me as much."40
An evenmoreimpressive
demonstration
ofRoosevelt's
withthenewimmicomfort
grantsoccurredin 1913,in themidstof a strikebywomengarment
workers
in New
YorkCity.Roosevelt
traveled
to HenryStreet
St.
and Mark'sPlacetowitnessthestrike
firsthand
andto interview
thestrikers
abouttheirgrievances
andambitions.
On Henry
Streethe encountered
youngwomenwhomsomeobservers
wouldhavedescribedas
themostpathetic
ofthenewimmigration:
examples
Theywerethe"lowestandpoorest
paid workersthatwe saw,"Rooseveltnoted.Their"racial"background
was equally
base,formanywereTurkish
JewswhocouldnotevenspeakYiddish,letaloneEnglish.
38
See, forexample,Slotkin,Gunfighter
Nation,189-92.
39IsraelZangwill,TheMelting-Pot:
Drama in FourActs(1909; New York,1923), 2
andpassim.
40Ibid.,33; Rooseveltto IsraelZangwill,Oct. 15, 1908, in Letters
of Theodore
Roosevelt,
ed. Morison,VI,
1288.
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Nationalism
TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
1299
Theywerethuscut offnotonlyfromAmericanculturebutalso fromtheYiddishin NewYorkCity.41
and labormovement
community
speakingJewish
ItwouldhavebeeneasyforRoosevelt
to findfaultwiththesewomenand to deplore
an immigration
policythathad let themin. A HenryCabot Lodge or a Madison
withtheseTurkishJewGrantwouldprobablyhaverespondedto a closeencounter
or
withdemandsfortheirdeportation
ishwomenwithhorrorratherthanempathy,
reaction.
He
not
Roosevelt's
But thatwas
exclusionratherthanfortheirprotection.
forthempersonally."
Moreover,
was movedbytheirplight,feeling"deepsympathy
Rooseveltnoted,"thereis thelargerquestionof thesocialgood of thewholerace."
the "mothers
of . . . our
We musttakecareof them,he argued,fortheyrepresent
in
One
Roosevelt's
reacAmericancitizenship
forthenextgeneration." can discern
theneed to savethesepoor damselsfrom
thatstressed
tiona Victorianpaternalism
unionizationof thewomen,was not
remedy,
theirdistress(althoughhis preferred
unamtoo readilyignoresRoosevelt's
at all). Such a judgment,however,
paternalist
In
to thesewomento becomepartof theAmericannation. going
biguousinvitation
around
women,mixingeasilywiththem("gather
Jewish
outamongthesepoorTurkish
themas themothers
he implored
at one point),and treating
meand tellyourstories,"
wasshowingamplesolicitude
and easewitha groupof
of future
Roosevelt
Americans,
newimmigrants.42
to grantthoseimmigrant
women,or anywomen,therights
Roosevelt's
willingness
The centrality
of thewarriorto Roosevelt's
and dutiesof menwas anothermatter.
willingto use
formuscularindividuals
of nationbuilding,hisadmiration
narratives
in
the
character
men
gendered
underscore
of effeminacy
force,and his abhorrence
of his nationalism.
Men, Rooseveltbelieved,weresociety'snaturalleaders;nations
restedon the intensehomosocialbonds arisingamongmen sharingthe perilsof
combat.Women'snaturedid not allow themto succeedat men'swork,and the
of malecomradeship
admissionof femalesto thearmyand othersacredinstitutions
nationbuilding.
wouldonlycompromise
But women'sinferiority
did not meanthatthey,or at leasttheEuro-Americans
as wivesand
amongthem,wereto be excludedfromthenation.Theircontributions
those
citizens'
new
male
citizens
and
to
the
creation
of
mothers
wereessential
bothto
moraleducation;womenwere,as Roosevelthad declaredof the New YorkCity
An interesting
attaches
. .. ofourcitizenship."
womenstrikers,
the"mothers
ambiguity
to Roosevelt's
use of theword"our"in thatphrase.PerhapsRooseveltmeant"our"
butitseemsmorelikelythat"our"refers
only
toallAmericans,
maleandfemale,
torefer
rolewas to createmale
beliefthatwomen'sprimary
to menand expresses
Roosevelt's
citizenswhileacceptingtheirownexclusionfromcitizenship.
twodecadesof the
hisconception
ofwomen'sroleoverthefirst
Roosevelt
enlarged
in theconditionsofworkers
and theimmigrant
poor
His interest
twentieth
century.
butalso broughthim
forwomenworkers
notonlyled himto advocateunionization
ed. Morison,VII, 696-701.
Roosevelt,
of Theodore
Rooseveltto MichaelA. Schaap,Jan.24, 1913, in Letters
Politicsin theUnitedStates,
and Working-Class
Ibid.;AnneliseOrleck,CommonSenseand a LittleFire:Women
1900-1965 (Chapel Hill, 1995), 77-78. Emphasisadded. Madison Grant,ThePassingoftheGreatRace;or,the
(New York,1916).
RacialBasisofEuropeanHistory
41
42
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All use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
1300
The Journal
ofAmerican
History
December1999
intocontactwithwomenProgressives
suchas JaneAddamsand FlorenceKelleywho
advocatedwomansuffrage
andotherreforms
women'spoliticalinflulikelyto increase
ence.And whenRooseveltformedtheProgressive
partyin 1912 (a subjectthatthis
essaywilllatertakeup), he welcomedintoita largecontingent
ofwomenreformers,
whowereprominent
at theconvention
and in thecampaign.Roosevelt's
embraceof
thewomenactivists
reflected
morethanexpediency,
morethanhis desperateneed
forall thesupport,maleor female,he couldmuster.
At a timewhenmanymen,in
Roosevelt's
weresuffering
fromeffeminacy
and thusfailingas fathers,
estimation,
leaders,and soldiers,
thefemalerolein buildingthenationassumedgreater
importance.Byimproving
thelivingand familialconditionsin whichmalechildrenwere
bornand raised,womenreformers
of
could help ensurethatthe nextgeneration
menwouldbe inculcatedwithmanlyvirtues.Rooseveltat timesacceptedtheneed
fora modifiedconceptionof masculinity
thataccordedwiththe femalereformers'
emphasison cooperation,service,and social welfare,qualitiesthatothermen of
Roosevelt's
timederidedas fatalto men's"ruggedindividualism."
As a signof the
growingpoliticalrolethatRooseveltenvisionedforwomen,he becamea supporter
of woman suffrage.
in turn,foundin Roosevelt'scivic
and feminists,
Suffragists
nationalism
thelanguageto justify
theirstruggle
forequality.
ButRooseveltneverbecamea feminist,
nora believer
in thefundamental
equality
of men and women.He supportedsuffrage
becausehe believedthatby enlisting
womento cleansepoliticsofcorruption
andvice,itwouldultimately
strengthen
men,
enhancingtheirabilityto pursuenationalvirtueand glory.
Thus whileRooseveltian
conceptionsof nationhoodheld sway,feminists
would findfullequalityan elusive
civicnationalism
goal. Roosevelt's
retaineditsgenderedcast,reserving
formenthe
and responsibility
to becomefreeand self-governing
opportunity
individuals.43
Civic Nationalismand the Problemof Race
In theabstract,
thetaskof reconciling
civicnationalism
withracialnationalism
was
Roosevelt
straightforward.
simplyarguedthatcertainraces-notablyAsiansandAfrican Americans-couldnotmeetthefundamental
ofAmericancitizenrequirements
ship. "Only the veryhighestraces have been able" to make a successof selfhe wrotein a 1908 letter,
and it wouldbe foolish,evencontemptible,
government,
to assumethat"utterly
undevelopedraces"could functionon an evenfootingwith
whitesin a democracy.44
The practicalworkof exclusionwas in some casesas easilyaccomplishedas the
43 ArnaldoTesti,"The Genderof Reform
Politics:TheodoreRooseveltand theCultureof Masculinity,"
Journal of AmericanHistory,81 (March 1995), 1509-33; RobynMuncy,"Trustbusting
and White Manhood in
America,1898-1914," AmericanStudies,38 (Fall 1997), 21-42; Paula Baker,"The Domesticationof Politics:
Women and AmericanPoliticalSociety,1780-1920," AmericanHistoricalReview,89 (June 1984), 620-47;
Theodore Roosevelt,TheodoreRoosevelt:
Autobiography,
161-67; Theodore Roosevelt,The Foes of Our Own
Household(New York,1917), esp. 232-73; KristinL. Hoganson,Fighting
forAmericanManhood:How Gender
PoliticsProvoked
theSpanish-American
and Philippine-American
Wars(New Haven, 1998); Bederman,Manliness
and Civilization,170-215; Nancy F. Cott, "Marriageand Women'sCitizenshipin the United States,18301934,"American
HistoricalReview,
103 (Dec. 1998), 1440-74.
44 Roosevelt
to ArthurHamiltonLee, March7, 1908, in Letters
of Theodore
ed. Morison,VI, 965.
Roosevelt,
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Nationalism
TheodoreRoosevelt
andAmerican
1301
truein regardto theChinese,whomRoosevelt
ideologicalwork.Thatwas certainly
despised.The ChineseExclusionAct of 1882, whichbarredChineseimmigrant
thecountry,
insuredthattheChineseAmericanpopulation
laborersfromentering
would not becomelargeenoughto pose a realproblemforAmericandemocracy.
Congresskeptthis1882 exclusionin placeuntilthe 1940s. Rooseveltdid notwant
to excludetheJapanese,
a peoplewhomhe admired,buthe rathereasilyengineered
in California
madeone,in Roosevelt's
a policyofexclusion
onceanti-Japanese
agitation
45
eyes,a politicalnecessity.
in regardto black
principles
The workof reconciling
civicand racialnationalist
easyremedyof an
becausetherelatively
Americanswas anothermatteraltogether,
to
lawcouldnotsolvethe"Negroproblem."The corollary
exclusionary
immigration
of blackstoAfrica-seemedtoo impractiexclusion-therepatriation
immigration
cal bytheearly1900s evento proposeas publicpolicy.
to whitesand thoughtof themas
That Roosevelttolerated
blacks'subordination
an inferior
raceis beyonddispute.He neverdeviatedfromthewordshe wroteto his
agreewithyou thatas a raceand in
good friendOwen Wisterin 1906: "I entirely
to whites."46
He rarelyprotested
the segregainferior
the masstheyare altogether
tionistregimethat,duringtheyearsof his presidency,
reshapedsocialrelationsin
posihe actuallyappointedfewerblacksto federal
theAmericanSouth.As president,
tionsthanhad his predecessor
WilliamMcKinley.Duringtheseyears,Roosevelt
thefitness
and honorof blacksoldiers,as he had done since
continuedto denigrate
War.In 1906, he orderedthedishonorable
dischargeof 167
theSpanish-American
UnitedStatesInfantry
Regiment,allegingthat
men of the all-blackTwenty-fifth
theywerecovering
up fora fewsoldierswhomayhaveassaulteda whitewomanand
in a raidagainstthewhiteresidents
Texas.The factsof
of Brownsville,
participated
the case werehotlydebatedand werenevertrulyclarified.But thisdid not stop
Rooseveltfromdismissingscoresof black soldiers,includingfivewho had been
Medal of Honorfortheirheroismin Cuba and thePhilawardedtheCongressional
thatRooseveltwouldhavemetedout equallyharshtreatment
ippines.It is unlikely
to whitesoldiersaccusedof a cover-up.47
whites
of blacksand theenmityof southern
Yetthissamemanearnedtheloyalty
andhighly
ways.
publicized
becauseon occasionheviolatedthecolorlineinsensational
whiteswhenhe appointeda blackman,WilliamD. Crum,to
He enragedsouthern
federal
of theportof Charleston,
thecollectorship
SouthCarolina,a prestigious
post,
themagainwhenhe shutdownthepostofficein Indianola,Misand he infuriated
sissippi,to punishlocal whiteswho had run theirAfricanAmericanpostmaster,
Minnie M. Cox, out of town.Roosevelt'sgreatestracial"crime"occurredwithin
to theWhite
monthsof his inauguration,
whenhe invitedBookerT. Washington
Law (Chapel
and theShapingofModernImmigration
LawsHarshas Tigers:ChineseImmigrants
45 LucySalyer,
Restriction
(New York,1927), 308-54.
Hill, 1995), 94-138; Gyory,ClosingtheGate;Roy L. Garis,Immigration
Sept. 12, 1905, in Letters
of
On Roosevelt'sadmirationfortheJapanese,see Rooseveltto GeorgeOtto Trevelyan,
ed. Morison,V, 22.
Theodore
Roosevelt,
ed. Morison,V, 226.
Roosevelt,
of Theodore
April27, 1908, in Letters
46Roosevelt to Owen Wister,
47AlfredHolt Stone,Studiesin theAmerican
RaceProblem(New York,1908), 313; Lane,Brownsville
Affair.
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1302
ofAmerican
TheJournal
History
December
1999
Bee,
House forlunch.Not onlydid he thusbecome,in thewordsof theWashington
oftheUnitedStatesto entertain
a colouredman."He alsocommit"thefirst
President
ted,in thewordsof one keenobserver,
"theone unpardonable
violationoftheSouthernracialcode"-"the breakingof breadbetweentheraceson equal terms."With
and
theexceptionof interracial
sexualintercourse,
therecouldbe no more"ultimate
to socialequality.
of a commitment
whitesnever
positiveexpression"
Manysouthern
forgave
Rooseveltforthetransgression.48
meethistorians
havetreatedRoosevelt's
Whydid he do it?Recently,
high-profile
ingswith,and appointments
of, blacksas partof an elaborateand cynicalpolitical
to securehis southernbase amongblack
gamein whichRooseveltwas attempting
fromthatbasewas too small,
Republicans;once he decidedthatthepoliticalpayoff
he stoppedappointing
blacksand begancourting
southern
whitesinstead.49
his
no doubtmadesuchcalculations,
butitwouldbe a mistake
tointerpret
Roosevelt
in
thisMachiavellian
lens.If Roosevelt,
entireapproachto theracequestionthrough
general,endorsedthe notionthatthewhiteracewas supreme,he was nonetheless
withtheidea thatthetwomajorAmericanracesoughtto haveno contact
impatient
witheachother.In personalterms,
Roosevelt
was an adventurer
and boundary
crosser
on hisfreedom
If he wantedto meetwitha
whowantedno restrictions
ofassociation.
black-or a Jewor a Catholic-under conditionsof equality,
he wouldnottolerate
anyonetellinghimhe had no rightto do so. In politicalterms,Rooseveltgrounded
thisrightin hiscivicnationalist
beliefthatAmericansoughtto respect-and open
theirhomesand businessesto-anyone willingto workhardand live honorably,
regardless
ofhisorherracialorreligious
background.
Thatis whyRoosevelt,
on many
to treating
occasionsand at greatlength,declaredhiscommitment
"eachblackman
and each whiteman strictly
[accordingto] . . . his meritsas a man,givinghimno
to have."50
in otherwords,
moreand no lessthanhe showshimself
worthy
Roosevelt,
could not entirelycontainhis behaviorwithinthe boundariescalled forby the
racializednationhe had laboredso hardto imagineand create.This was trueevenof
hisefforts
to redirect
Americanpoliticsthrough
theNew Nationalism
he unveiledin
of theProgressive
1910,whichbecametheideologicalfoundation
partyhe founded
in 1912. Rooseveltworkedhardin thiscampaignto do whathe had done on San
closerto the centerof Americanlife
JuanHill-to bringEuropeanimmigrants
whilekeepingblacksand otherracialminorities
on the periphery.
And by many
he wassuccessful
in doingso. ButRooseveltcontinuedtoviolatethesouthmeasures
erners'racialcode in otherways,revealing
withwhathe
yetagain his discomfort
racialboundaries.
judgedarbitrary
48
Stone,AmericanRaceProblem,
243-49, 315, 319. Those wantingto believein Roosevelt'scommitment
to
racialequalitycould findotherexamplesof good deeds.As civilservicecommissioner,
he had eliminatedfrom
examsgivenin southerncitiesquestionsregarding
applicants'religion,politicalorientation,
and race;the result
was thatgreaternumbersof blackapplicantsenteredgovernment
service.As governor
of New York,he outlawed
racialdiscrimination
in thestate'spublicschoolsand prohibitedindividualtownsfromplacingwhiteand black
childrenin separateeducationalinstitutions.
Ibid.,312; Harbaugh,Lifeand Timesof Theodore
Roosevelt,
127-28.
49JoelWilliamson,The Crucible
ofRace:Black-White
Relations
in theAmerican
SouthsinceEmancipation
(New
York,1984), 354.
50 Roosevelt
toTourgee,Nov. 8, 1901, in Letters
ofTheodore
Roosevelt,
ed. Morison,III, 190. See also Roosevelt
to Owen Wister,ibid.,V, 221-30, esp. 228.
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Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism
1303
The New Nationalism
The NewNationalism,
a political
program
invented
bytheProgressive
Herbert
journalist
Crolyin 1908,wasintendedto offer
class-torn
Americaa thoroughgoing
planof economicand politicalreconstruction.
Crolycalledfora largestateto regulate
thepredAmericanlifewitha spiritof
atorypracticesof big industry
and to reinvigorate
and selflessness.
cooperation
Croly'sprogram
gaveRoosevelt
a namefortheefforts
he
had alreadytakenas president
to enlargethefederalgovernment
in orderto control
thecorporations
and to offerall ordinary
Americans,
no matterhow impoverished
ordisadvantaged,
a "squaredeal."Justbackfroman African
safariin 1910 and lookAmericanpoliticsafterhis premature
retirement
fromthe
ing fora wayto reenter
in 1909,RooseveltembracedCroly'sNew Nationalismas hisown.51
presidency
to addressa glaring
weakness
in his
alsoallowedRoosevelt
Croly'sNew Nationalism
earlier
formulations
ofcivicnationalism.
Roosevelt's
nationalism
hadalwayscontained
withinitthepromiseofeconomicopportunity
to thosewhoworked
andadvancement
But thecivicnationalist
hardand livedhonorably.
philosophythathe had formuforallcitizens,
could
latedinthe1890s,withitsfocuson equalcivilandpoliticalrights
notdeliver
on thatpromise.
thisphilosophy
liboweda greatdealtoclassical
Politically,
in itsinsistence
thatindividual
wouldfollowuponthe
eralism,
especially
emancipation
removal
ofartificial
constraints
on political
andcivicparticipation.
Thus,Roosevelt
had
in publicand privatelifewould
believedthattheendingof discriminatory
treatment
Americans
to
giveEuropeanimmigrants
and otherdisadvantaged
ampleopportunity
dream.ButRoosevelthad failedto gaugethenegative
effects
partakeoftheAmerican
of industrialization
on individualopportunity
and virtue.Belatedly,
and aftermuch
proddingfromNew YorkCity'svigorouslabormovement,
Rooseveltacknowledged
thatgrinding
was preventing
eventhosewithfullpoliticaland civil
poverty
workers,
or the leisurenecessary
to cultivatetheir
rights,fromachievingeconomicsecurity
civicvirtue.The poor neededwhatthe EnglisheconomistT. H. Marshallwould
latercall socialrights:rightsto limitson the hoursof work,to a decentwage,to
forwork-related
old
compensation
injuries,and to socialinsuranceagainstsickness,
and theirfamilies.Once theypossessedsuch social
age, and deathforthemselves
citizenscouldgaineconomicsecurity
and reachtheirfullestmoraland intelrights,
The New Nationalism
ofsocialrights
central
to
lectualpotential.
madetheattainment
itsprogram.
Everyman,Rooseveltdeclared,wouldthenbe able "tomakeof himself
all thatin himlies"and "toreachthehighestpointto whichhis capacities. . . can
52
wouldbe fulfilled.
carryhim."In thiswaythepromiseof civicnationalism
As a NewYorker,
oftheworking
Roosevelt
understood
howlargea proportion
class
and theirchildren.His New Nationalistprogramwas meantto
wereimmigrants
buteconomically
as well.
andculturally,
bringthemintothenation,notjustpolitically
51 HerbertCroly,ThePromise
ofAmericanLife(1909; Boston,1989); GeorgeE. Mowry,Theodore
Roosevelt
and theProgressive
Movement(Madison, 1946); ArthurS. Link,Woodrow
Wilsonand theProgressive
Era, 19101917(New York,1954), 1-24.
52HowardLawrenceHurwitz,Theodore
Roosevelt
and Laborin New YorkState,1880-1900 (New York,1943);
T. H. Marshall,Citizenship
and Social Classand OtherEssays(Cambridge,Eng., 1950), 11; TheodoreRoosevelt,
TheNewNationalism
(New York,1910), 11, andpassim.
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1304
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
December
1999
to it leadingsocialwelAs hismovement
gathered
momentum,
Rooseveltattracted
fareProgressives,
suchas Paul Kellogg,JaneAddams,FrancesKellor,RobertWoods,
in theirneighborand LillianWald,who had laboredintensively
withimmigrants
the plightof the European
hoods,schools,and workplaces.For thesereformers,
immigrants-theinadequatewages,the slum conditionsin whichtheylived,the
infectious
diseasesfromwhichtheysuffered,
and theurbanvicesto whichsomeof
themhad succumbed(prostitution,
gambling,
and politicalcorruption)-symbolized
muchthatwaswrongwiththeUnitedStates.Theycalledforbetterworkingcondito givechildren
tions,higherwages,improvedhousingand sanitation,
playgrounds
morewholesomerecreation,
Americanization
to teachimmigrants
programs
English,
libraries
to
cultivate
minds.
As
with
andpublicmuseumsand
immigrant
theygathered
thesereformers
were
Rooseveltin Chicagoin 1912 to foundthe Progressive
party,
and acagiddywiththebeliefthattheirconcernshad movedfromobscurecharity
to the verycenterof Americanpolitics."A greatparty,"Jane
demic conferences
Addamsexclaimedin herspeechsecondingRoosevelt'snomination,"has pledged
of children,
to thecareof theaged,to thereliefof overworked
itselfto theprotection
of burdenedmen."The Progressive
girls,to thesafeguarding
partyhad become"the
In
Americanexponentof a world-wide
movement
towardjustersocialconditions."
theprocess,
ithelpeddefinean agendathatwouldremaincentraltoAmerican
reform
forfifty
years.53
Buttheissueofraceintruded
on thisprogram
of nationalist
renewal.
The Progresto Roosevelt.
sivepartyhadraisedblackhopes,drawing
manyAfrican
American
voters
Eventhosewhoremainedsuspiciousof Rooseveltfoundin theProgressive
pledgeto
Americansa compelling
reasonto throwtheirsupport
helpthemostdisadvantaged
In thesummerof 1912, blackRepublicansin several
behindthisnew movement.
stateslefttheirpartyandputtogether
southern
delegateslatesto sendto theProgressiveparty's
convention.
ButRooseveltand hissupporters
refused
to seatthem,choosof lily-white
fromthosestatesinstead.54
ingto honorthecredentials
delegations
The blackdelegates
weretheproperly
electedones,butRoosevelt,
seeingan opporbaseamongsouthern
whitesdissatisfied
withtheDemtunityto builda Progressive
ocraticparty,
brushedpropriety
aside.The southern
whiteswhomRooseveltwanted
towoo wouldjoin theProgressive
partyonlyon theconditionthatthepartyendorse
of whitesupremacy,
theprinciples
and thatmeantan acceptanceof segregation
and
in theSouth.Rooseveltacquiescedin thatdemand,prevailblackdisfranchisement
Daniel Levine,JaneAddamsand theLiberalTradition
(Madison,1971), 190-91; JohnAllenGable, TheBull
MooseYears:Theodore
Roosevelt
and theProgressive
Party(PortWashington,1978), 6, 40; JaneAddams,Twenty
Yearsat Hull House(New York,1910); RivkaShpakLissak,Pluralism
and theProgressives:
Hull Houseand theNew
Immigrants,
1890-1919 (Chicago,1919); CatherineKerr,"Race in theMakingof AmericanLiberalism,19121965" (Ph.D. diss.,JohnsHopkinsUniversity,
1995), ch. 1. On theProgressive
reformers'
engagement
withthe
newimmigrants
and theirproblems,see also twovolumesof thePittsburgh
Survey,
an exhaustive
of
examination
the livesof immigrants
in Pittsburgh:
MargaretByington,Homestead:Householdsof a Mill Town(New York,
1910); and Paul U. Kellogg,ed., ThePittsburgh
District:CivicFrontage
(New York,1914). For a briefintroductionto thisproject,see Paul U. Kellogg,"The Pittsburgh
21 (Jan. 1909),
Survey,"Charities
and theCommons,
517-26.
54 Gable,BullMooseYears,
60-74.
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Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism
1305
ing upon the Progressive
conventioncommitteeto denysouthernblackdelegates
theirseats.55
Fromtheperspective
of hiscivicnationalism,
thisshouldnothavebeena difficult
blacks
moveforRoosevelt
to makeorjustify.
He couldhavestressed
howfewsouthern
had raisedthemselves
to a levelwheretheywouldbe capableofhandlingthepolitical
responsibilities
alreadyvestedin whites.ButRooseveltfeltcompelledto mounta far
morecomplexdefense,
forhisdecisionto subordinate
blackshaddrawna firestormof
criticism
withinand beyondtheProgressive
party.56
in the
Rooseveltstressedtheimpotenceand corruption
of blackRepublicanism
whichtheProgressives
wouldhavedrawntheirsupport.
He emphaSouth,thebasefrom
in theNorthand proudly
sizedhissupportforblackparticipation
pointedto theblack
ofdelegations
fromthirteen
northern
and border
menwhohad beenelectedmembers
"isalready,
Roosevelt
at itsverybirth,
endeavstates."The Progressive
Party,"
declared,
of therightsof the
oringin theseStates,in itshome,to actwithfullerrecognition
he insisted
thatracialprogress
coloredmanthanevertheRepublican
did."Finally,
party
to forcea new
in theSouthwouldcome,not fromhigh-handed
northern
attempts
"whitemen
racialorderon thatrecalcitrant
region,
butfromthemanywell-intentioned
in theSouthsincerely
desirousof doingjusticeto thecoloredman."Onlythese"men
of justiceand of visionas wellas of strength
and leadership,"
Rooseveltwrote,can
whitemannorthecoloredmen
do forthecoloredman "whatneithertheNorthern
themselves
cando":securetherightoffreepoliticalexpression
"tothenegrowhoshows
he possesses
suchrightofpolittheintelligence,
integrity,
andself-respect
whichjustify
convenicalexpression
in hiswhiteneighbor."
The whitedelegatesto theProgressive
the sortof wise southernmen who would
tion,Rooseveltimplied,wereprecisely
workon theNegro'sbehalf.57
Roosevelt's
rationalizations
couldnothidehowmuchhisactionshad violatedthe
whichforbadediscrimination
and Fifteenth
spiritof the Fourteenth
amendments,
whiteProgressivesagainstcitizenson thebasisof color,norhow muchsouthern
eventhoseof themwhomRooseveltconsideredthewisest-wantedto perpetuate
blacksto trusttheirfateto wellnotupendit.And to asksouthern
whitesupremacy,
intentioned
whiteneighbors
was not onlyto insulttheircapacityforpoliticalselfmobilization
butalso to demandthattheyacquiescein theirownsubordination.
as wellas others.
Roosevelt's
fellowProgressives
attackedhimon all thesegrounds,
of Progressives
ButRooseveltstuckto hisguns,and a majority
assentedto Roosevelt's
Roosevelthad hurthimselfwiththewhiteSouth.His
policy.Yet,despitehisvictory,
on thedecisionto excludetheblackdelegateswereagonizpublicpronouncements
of his civic
inglyapologeticand long-winded;
theyall includedlengthyiterations
LilyWhite Partyof 1912,"Journalof Southern
Ibid.; GeorgeE. Mowry,"The South and the Progressive
Movementand the Negro,"South
History,6 (May 1940), 237-47; Dewey W. GranthamJr.,"The Progressive
AltanticQuarterly,
54 (Oct. 1955), 461-77; ArthurS. Link,"The Negroas a Factorin theCampaignof 1912,"
32 (Jan.1947), 81-99.
JournalofNegroHistory,
56Grantham,
Movementand theNegro";Link,"Negroas a Factorin theCampaignof 1912."
"Progressive
57ArthurS. Link,ed., "Correspondence
Party's'LilyWhite'Policyin 1912,"JourRelatingto theProgressive
and theColoredMan,"
nal ofSouthern
History,10 (Nov. 1944), 483-88; TheodoreRoosevelt,"The Progressives
Roosevelt,
ed. Hagedorn,XVII, 304-5.
1912, in Works
ofTheodore
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1306
TheJournal
ofAmerican
History
December
1999
nationalist
conviction
thateveryAmericanbe guaranteed
"hisrightto life,to liberty,
to protection
frominjustice"withoutregardto creed,birthplace,
socialstation,or
by
color.In hiscommunications
and speeches,Rooseveltalso listedthemanyefforts
None of
theProgressive
partyin theNorthto guarantee
blackstheirpoliticalrights.
thiswentoververywell withwhitesoutherners
who werecontemplating
joining
Roosevelt's
crusade.And then,on theeveof theelection,Rooseveltfurther
alienated
another"unpardonable
violahispotentialwhitesouthern
supporters
bycommitting
tionof theSouthernracialcode":He dinedwithtwoblacksin a RhodeIslandhotel,
reminding
whitesupremacists
everywhere
of his originalsin-his White House
lunch,more than a decade earlier,with BookerT. Washington.The Progressive
southerncampaignwas a fiasco,nettingRooseveltmanyfewervotesthanhe
party's
had won as a Republicanin 1904.58
theeventsof 1912. The first
is to emphasize
Thereareat leasttwowaysto interpret
the hold that the racial nationalisttraditionexercisedover the imaginationof
Rooseveltand others.Throughouthis life,Rooseveltbelievedthatmostnonwhites
raceswithlimitedcapacitiesforself-government.
Only thefew
belongedto inferior
to
individuals
withinthoseraceswho demonstrated
thattheyhad liftedthemselves
the levelof Europeanswereto be rewardedwitha fullcomplementof civiland
Thiskindof thinking
socialrights.
Roosevelt
and hissupporters
at thePropermitted
into
gressive
party's1912 convention
to reinscribe
African
Americansubordination
theirliberalpolitics;thisparticular
acttakeson addedsignificance
becauseoftheconIt is nottoo muchto saythat
vention's
rolein defining
modernAmericanliberalism.
to seatblackdelegatesseta precedent
thatwouldhauntliberalpoliticsfor
therefusal
muchof therestof thetwentieth
century.
in 1912, Roosevelt
But it is equallystriking
that,in upholdingracialnationalism
createda politicaland personalmessforhimselfUnlikehisexcisionof blacksoldiers
fromtheRoughRidernarrative,
an act he had executedin 1899 withoutshameor
Rooseveltwas troubledbyhisexclusionof blackdelegatesfromthe1912
hesitation,
In theuncertain
termsin whichhe rationalized
thisexclusionand in the
convention.
of hisbehavioron the"racequestion,"we can detecttheinfluence
of
inconsistency
thecivicnationalist
ideal.This idealcould-and did-destabilize Roosevelt's
racial
evenas it failedto undercutthemaltogether.
mythsand practices,
In Roosevelt's
actionsin 1912,then,we can discernthetrueAmericandilemmaa nationalidentitydividedagainstitself.On the one hand,Rooseveltand others
conceivedofAmericaas a landmeantforEuropeansinwhichblackshad eithera subto a civicnationordinate
placeor no placeat all. On theotherhand,theysubscribed
alist ideal thatwelcomedall law-abidingresidents
into the polityand disavowed
distinctions
basedon race.How weretheopposingconceptions
of nationalidentity
to be reconciled
intoa singleAmericancreed?Sometimes
thisdilemmacameintofull
58Link, ed., "Correspondence
Relatingto the Progressive
Party's'LilyWhite' Policyin 1912," 482; Mowry,
"Southand theProgressive
LilyWhitePartyof 1912," 246; Link,"Negroas a Factorin theCampaignof 1912,"
97-98.
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Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism
1307
view,as it did in 1912; othertimesit was obscured,as imagesof thetwoAmericas
fromeachother,
different
andcultural
forms.
political
developed
separately
dominating
But bothsprangwithequal forcefromthesamesource-Americannationalismand bothanimatedAmericanpoliticswithequal intensity.
betweenthecivicand racializedformsofAmerican
Eventually,
thecontradiction
nationalism
becametoo greatforlargenumbersof Americansto tolerate.But that
momenttooka longtimeto arrive.
Onlyin the1960sdid a greatbattleeruptoverthe
ofupholding
a nationso steepedin racialized
notionsofbelonging.
We are
desirability
to figure
Americannationand
still,today,endeavoring
outwhether
wewanta strong
racializedpatterns
of exclusion.But
whetherone can be builtwithoutresuscitating
forso long
flourished
equallypuzzlingis thequestionof howAmericannationalism
in sucha dividedstate.One answeris easy:that,whenpush came to shove,racial
towhiteAmericans.
As muchas these
nationalism
wastheonlytradition
thatmattered
a commitment
eventheliberals
to equalrights,
they
Americans,
amongthem,expressed
andmoredeserving
thanwerepeopleofcolor.
alwaysbelievedthatwhiteswerebetter
answer:thatthe
Roosevelt's
a morecomplexand confusing
case,however,
suggests
definition
of socialordercalledforbytheracialnationalist
tradikindof restrictive
tionprovedtoo constraining
to humanimagination.
As committed
as Roosevelt
was
to celebrating
theUnitedStatesas a whitenation,he neverfeltentirely
comfortable
livingwithinsuchraciallyrigidborders.Roosevelthad alwaysbeen an adventurer,
drawnto frontiers,
whether
theywerelocatedin theAmericanWest,in Cuba, or in
in NewYorkCity.In hishistorical
writing
he celebrated
themiximmigrant
districts
of
in
his
his
the
with Turkish
Jewing peoples;
personallife,he enjoyed encounters
ishwomenworkers
in New York,withBookerT. Washington
in theWhiteHouse,
and even,initially,
withtheblacksoldierson San JuanHill. Forsuchan individual,
havingtwonations-a racialnationand a civicnation-may havebeenbetterthan
He could pursue
strivings.
havingone, forit allowedhimto satisfy
quitedifferent
socialorderthroughracialhierarchy
evenas he foundpersonalsatisfaction
through
hisfreedom
to associatewithindividuals
ofwidelydivergent
nationalities,
races,and
ofAmerican
thedividedordoublecharacter
nationvocations.Fromthisperspective,
of embaralismposesmuchlessof a problem;whileit undoubtedly
causedmoments
like
rassmentand politicalfailure,it also mayhave helpedto sustainnationalists
fortheir
Roosevelt
whocouldnotfindinonlyoneconception
ofthenationsatisfaction
ambitionsand needs.
One can discernin thisneedto inhabit"twonations"an implicitcritiqueof the
vehicleforsocialbondingand personal
verynotionthatnationhoodwas an effective
fulfillment.
In Roosevelt's
ownmind,thiscritiquecouldneverhavebecomeexplicit.
He was a manof histime,whichmeantthathe associatedabsolutedevotionto one
nationwiththehighest
civicvirtue.
He wouldhaveregarded
thenotionthathe himself
inhabitedtwo nationsas abhorrent,
muchas he detestedthoseAmericans,
ranging
fromnostalgic
who daredto suggest
immigrants
to anglophiliac
would-bearistocrats,
thattheylovedsomeEuropeannationas muchas theylovedAmerica.ButRoosevelt
thevessel-the nation-into
wasalsohuman,and hishumanity
overflowed
regularly
whichhe so insistently
and aspirations.
pouredall hisstrivings
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