Americanization

Examples of Americanization in the following topics:

• American Indians and the War Effort

  • American Indians first saw action in the Pacific Theater along with the rest of the American army and navy.
  • American Indians were also among the first Americans to enter Germany and played a role in the Liberation of Berlin.
  • Many military awards offered to American Indian soldiers were later used during the termination period by the Bureau of Indian Affairs as proof that American Indians were eager to assimilate into white mainstream American culture.
  • The war's aftermath, says historian Allison Bernstein, marked a "new era in Indian affairs" and turned "American Indians" into "Indian Americans."
  • In 1940, only 5 percent of Native Americans lived in cities.

• Americanization and Pluralism

  • The outbreak of war in 1914 led to the "Americanization" campaign aimed at millions of immigrants to the U.S.
  • Still, the question of whether they were politically American or still harbored loyalties to their native countries brought about a widespread push for "Americanization" of immigrants, which included efforts by the government and private organizations to ensure they embraced full, long-term assimilation into American society.
  • Once Americanized, workers would embrace American influences such as industrial ideals and be less likely to follow strike agitators or foreign propagandists.
  • The National Americanization Committee, led by Kellor, was one of the most significant private organizations working toward Americanization.
  • Describe the rationale behind the "Americanization" of immigrants by the National Americanization Committee and the Committee for Immigrants in America.

• Settlers and Native Americans

  • Settlers' relations with Native Americans were difficult and fueled by conflicts over land.
  • During the American Revolution, the newly proclaimed United States competed with the British for the allegiance of Native American nations east of the Mississippi River.
  • The British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris (1783) , through which they ceded vast Native American territories to the United States without informing or consulting with the Native Americans.
  • Native American tribes led the Northwest Indian War in an attempt to repulse American settlers.
  • Describe the role of the Native American tribes in the Revolutionary War

• Coercive Patriotism

  • "Americanization" was a process during WWI in which foreign-born Americans were encouraged to assimilate American culture and ethics.
  • Once Americanized, they would grasp American industrial ideals, be open to American influences, and not be subject to strike agitators or foreign propagandists.
  • The result, she argued would transform indifferent and ignorant residents into understanding voters, to make their homes into American homes, and to establish American standards of living throughout the ethnic communities.
  • The National Americanization Committee, led by Kellor, was one of the most important private organizations working towards Americanization.
  • Describe how foreign-born ethnic minorities were forced to assimilate into American culture through the process of "Americanization."

• African Americans in Southern Politics

  • There were few African Americans elected or appointed to national office.
  • African Americans voted for white candidates and for blacks.
  • As a result, states with majority African-American population often elected only one or two African-American representatives in Congress.
  • Because he preceded any African American in the House, he was the first African American in the U.S.
  • Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African-American in the Congress.

• American Indians and the Revolution

  • American Indian tribes were divided over whether to support Great Britain or the Patriots during the American Revolution.
  • During the American Revolution, the newly proclaimed United States competed with the British for the allegiance of American Indian nations east of the Mississippi River.
  • Most American Indians who joined the struggle sided with the British, based both on their trading relationships and hopes that colonial defeat would result in a halt to further colonial expansion onto American Indian land.
  • The British made peace with the Americans in the Treaty of Paris (1783), through which they ceded vast American Indian territories to the United States without informing or consulting with the American Indians.
  • The Northwest Indian War was led by American Indian tribes trying to repulse American colonists.

• The Great Migration and the "Promised Land"

  • By 1900, about 90% of African Americans still lived in Southern states.
  • African Americans moved as individuals or small family groups.
  • In 1910, the African American population of Detroit was 6,000.
  • African American migrants were often resented by the urban European American working class, often recent immigrants themselves, because African Americans migrated in large numbers over a short period of time.
  • Many African-Americans migrated North in search of a better life.

• American Indian Rights

  • The fight for American Indian rights expanded in the 1960s, resulting in the creation of the American Indian Movement.
  • The movement for American Indian rights in the 1960s centered around the tension between rights granted via tribal sovereignty and rights that individual American Indians retain as U.S. citizens.
  • One of the primary advocacy organizations for American Indian Rights, the American Indian Movement (AIM), was also formed during the 1960s.
  • The American Indian Movement (AIM) is an activist organization in the United States founded in 1968 in Minneapolis, Minnesota, by urban American Indians.
  • Explain the Native American rights movement of the 1960s and 1970s

• American Indians and the New Nation

  • The treaty served as a supposed peace treaty between the Iroquois and the Americans, yet it effectively procured more land from the American Indians and into the hands of the US government.
  • The cultural assimilation of American Indians was an assimilation effort by the United States to transform American Indian culture to European-American culture between the years of 1790 and 1920.
  • Americanization policies were based on the idea that when indigenous people learned US ("American") customs and values, they would be able to merge tribal traditions with American culture and peacefully join the majority of society.
  • These societies encouraged the assimilation and Christianization of American Indians.
  • A map showing land purchases from Native Americans in Pennsylvania (1682–1792).

• The Emergence of "American" Literature

  • Sometimes called the "American Renaissance" (a term coined by the scholar F.O.
  • Literary nationalists at this time were calling for a movement that would develop a unique American literary style to distinguish American literature from British literature.
  • These American writers who questioned transcendentalism illustrate the underlying tension between individualism and conformity in American life.
  • Walt Whitman was a highly influential American writer.
  • His American epic, Leaves of Grass, celebrates the common person.