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Americanism, also referred to as American patriotism, is a set of Nation values which aim to create a shared American identity for the United States that can be defined as "an articulation of the nation's rightful place in the world, a set of traditions, a political language, and a cultural style imbued with political meaning".Kazin, Michael and Joseph A. McCartin, eds. Americanism: New Perspectives on the History of an Ideal . Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press, 2006. The concept is "famously contested" and there is no consensus on "which is the true or authentic... exposition of Americanism... because each of these texts ... is informed by different interpretations of the nature, purpose, and goals of Americanism.", p. 632
Americanism is not merely nationalism and can cover two different meanings: the defining characteristics of the United States, or loyalty to the United States and defense of American political ideals. These ideals include but are not limited to independence, equality before the law, freedom of speech, democracy, and progress. Global Attitudes & Trends: Chapter 1: The American Brand, Pew Research Center, July 14, 2014.
For example, according to the American Legion, Americanism is an ideology, or a belief in devotion, loyalty, or allegiance to the United States, or respect for its flag, its traditions, its customs, its culture, symbols, its institutions, or its form of government. SAL Americanism report, American Legion, 2012.
Theodore Roosevelt wrote that "Americanism is a question of spirit, conviction, and purpose, not of creed or birthplace."Theodore Roosevelt. True Americanism, The Forum Magazine, April 1894.
The ideology has been central to a variety of fascist movements such as the Ku Klux Klan and the American Nazi Party.; cf. 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden It has also been referred to by the American Communist Party with a slogan “Communism is Twentieth Century Americanism.”
Professor of political science at Clemson University C. Bradley Thompson stated that
Some organizations have claimed to embrace Americanism and have taken positions that also align with founding documents and the cultural spirit original to America's founding codifying and violent enforcement of white supremacy: For example, the Ku Klux Klan adopted the American Legion's goal of Americanism ensuring (purity of white American) and of American Protestantism.
In a 1916 essay devoted to Americanism, Agnes Repplier emphasized that, "Of all the countries in the world, we and we only have any need to create artificially the patriotism which is the birthright of other nations."Agnes Repplier. "Americanism", The Atlantic, March 1916.
During the antebellum period, throughout the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s, Americanism acquired a restrictive political meaning due to nativist moral panics after increased Irish-American and German-American immigration led to the growth of American Catholicism.Elteren, Mel van. Americanism and Americanization: A Critical History of Domestic and Global Influence. Jefferson, N.C.: McFarland & Co, 2006, p. 51.
Journalist Matthew Continetti describes U.S. presidents Warren G. Harding and Calvin Coolidge as "spokesmen for Americanism" based on their policies. The John Birch Society and its founder, Robert Welch, promoted Americanism as "the philosophical antithesis of communism." Conversely, during the Great Depression and afterwards, the Communist Party campaigned that "Communism is the Americanism of the 20th Century."
The years from the end of the Civil War to the end of World War II brought new meaning to the term "Americanism" to millions of immigrants coming from Europe and Asia. Those were times of great economic growth and industrialization, and thus brought forth the American scene consisting of "industrial democracy" and the thinking that the people are the government in America. Since then, the success of the American nation has brought tremendous power to the notion of Americanism.
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