No Hyphens: Theodore Roosevelt and the American People
In 1915 Roosevelt told a hall full of immigrants' sons what it meant to be an American. His answer still holds.
Theodore Roosevelt gave his warning against "hyphenated Americanism" in October 1915, while the war in Europe was testing the loyalties of a country of immigrants. His point was about allegiance, not ancestry.
“There is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.”Theodore Roosevelt, 1915
Roosevelt welcomed newcomers who became Americans in full. He asked that their loyalty be undivided: one flag, one language of public life, one country. He was not asking them to sign a creed. He was asking them to join a people.
Why it matters now
A country that cannot agree on what it is will struggle to agree on what it should do. A shared American identity, grounded in a real history and taught with pride and honesty, is the base everything else is built on.
More from the Dispatch
All entries
Venezuela and Iran: Two Uses of American Power
The Society backed one and opposes the other. The reason is a single test, and procedure has little to do with it.
Ships for a Sea Power: Rebuilding American Shipbuilding
The country that built more than 2,700 Liberty ships in four years now builds a fraction of one percent of the world's commercial ships. Policy Brief No. 2 sets out how to change that.
The American System: Tariffs and Industry as National Strategy
From Hamilton to McKinley, the United States built its industrial strength on purpose. The tradition is older and more practical than its critics admit.