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

Anyexamination ofAmerican nationalismmust,soonerorlater, contendwithitscon-

tradictorycharacter.On theone hand,itoffers a civiccreedpromising allAmericans
the same individualrightsirrespective of color,religion,or sex. That creedhas
strongly influenced Americanpoliticsand society,imparting social cohesionto a
sprawling, heterogeneouspopulationand inspiring countless
democratic movements.
On theotherhand,Americannationalism has longharboredracialideologiesthat
definetheUnitedStatesand itsmissionin ethnoracial waysand havesoughtto prove
Americanracialsuperiority through economicmightand military conquest.As Rog-
ers Smith,MatthewJacobson,and othershaveshown,racializedconstructions of
Americannationalism werepresentfromtheearlydaysof theRepublic:in theCon-
stitution whichlegalizedslavery,
itself, and in a 1790 lawdeclaringthatnaturalization
wouldbe limitedto thoseindividuals who werefreeand white.And suchconstruc-
tionspersisted wellintothetwentieth century.'
Thisessayexplores thecontradictorycharacter ofAmericannationalism. It doesso
not by identifyinggroups,such as the NationalAssociation fortheAdvancement of
ColoredPeople(NAACP) and theKu KluxKlan (KKK), espousingone principleor the
other,butbyexamining how bothprinciples oftencoexistedin themindsof single
individuals.No individualbetterillustratesthis phenomenonthan Theodore

GaryGerstleteacheshistoryat the University of Maryland,CollegePark.Thanksare owed to Dave Thelen for

invitingme to participatein thisspecialissueand forhis encouragementand incisivefeedback.I also wishto
thanktheotherauthorsin thisissueand ElizabethLunbeck,Nell Painter, and membersofthePrincetonUniver-
sityFacultySeminaron Race, Politics,and Culturefortheircommentson earlierversionsof thisessay.My grati-
tudegoestoTom Bender,Marcelvan derLinden,and TonyBadgerforhostingthethreestimulating workshops at
whichtheplansforthisissueand thisessaytookshape.SusanArmenyhas beena superbeditor,and RobertRubin
and C. LoriPerezassistedin vitalwayswiththecopyediting and photographs.
ReadersmaycontactGerstleat gg74@umail.umd.edu.
I For an eloquentdefinitionof the Americanciviccreed,see GunnarMyrdal,An AmericanDilemma:The
NegroProblemand ModernDemocracy (1944; 2 vols.,New York,1972), I, 3-25. On racializednotionsof Ameri-
can nationality,
see RogersM. Smith,CivicIdeals:ConflictingVisionsof Citizenshipin U.S. History(New Haven,
1997); MatthewFryeJacobson,Whiteness of a DifferentColor:EuropeanImmigrants and theAlchemy of Race
(Cambridge,Mass., 1998); MichaelRogin,Blackface, WhiteNoise:JewishImmigrants 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: PatternsofAmerican Nativism(1955; New
Brunswick, 1992).

1280 TheJournalofAmerican
History December1999
 Theodore
Roosevelt Nationalism
andAmerican 1281

Roosevelt,historian, dude rancher, civilservicecommissioner, policecommissioner,

governor, soldier,
president,explorer. Fewfigures ofanyagehavematchedhisdevotion
to theAmericannationorhisinfluence on theformand contentofAmericannation-
alism.Regardless of thetaskRooseveltwas carrying out,theofficehe had assumed,
or theadventure he had undertaken, he was alwayslookingforwaysto strengthen
theAmericannationand intensify thenationalist ardorof theAmericanpeople.
Roosevelt'snationalism expressed itselfas a combative andunapologetic racialideol-
ogythatthrivedon aggression and thevanquishing of savageand barbaricpeoples.
Fromtheperspective ofthatideology, itwasvitalthat"Americans" theirracial
cultivate
superiority and expelor subordinate theracialinferiors in theirmidst.Yet,Roosevelt
also locatedwithinAmericannationalism a powerful civictradition thatcelebrated
theUnitedStates as a place that welcomed all people,irrespective theirnational-
of
ity,race,and religiouspractice,as longas theywerewillingto devotethemselves to
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 createdandwouldsustainAmer-
ican racialsuperiority.His affection forthemeltingpot expressed, too,thepersonal
delighthe tookin crossing socialboundariesand meetingdiversegroupsof people.
Mostof thetime,Roosevelt foundwaysto reconcile hiscommitments to theracial
and civictraditionsofAmerican nationalism. He disciplined hiscelebrationofhybrid-
ityby insisting thatcertainkindsof boundarycrossingwould damagethe racially
superiorcharacter of theAmericannation,and he expendedmucheffort to explain
whyblacks,in particular, could not participate in America'sgreatmeltingpot. But
Roosevelt's at reconciliation
efforts werenotalwayssuccessful. In particular,
hiscom-
mitmentto the civictraditionsometimesfilledhim withanxietyand uncertainty
aboutAmerica's racialorderand causedhimto violatethatorderin sensational and
politicallydamagingways.The civicand racialtraditions, in otherwords,sometimes
pulledRoosevelt in suchdifferent directions thathe couldnoteasilyencasethemboth
withinthenationalidentity he waslaboringso hardto create.BuildingtheAmerican
nationfromsuchcontradictory materials turnsout to havebeenexceptionally diffi-
cultpoliticaland personalwork.
Rooseveltneverstoppedtrying to reconcilehis civicand racialbeliefsor to con-
structhisnation,as hisextensive writings amplyattest.Nor did he everquestionthe
needto builda nation.Butthesheerarduousness of hisnation-building effortsallow
us to glimpsetheproblemoftrying to yokedivergent humanaspirations to a nation-
alistideal. Rooseveltcelebratedracialconquestbut also admiredcertainformsof
racialmixing;he prizedsocialorderas a paramountpoliticalgood but also thirsted
foradventure and thethrillof theunexpected and thechaosthatso oftenaccompa-
niedit.The verycomplexity of hisstrivings, in otherwords,mayhaverendered one
nationtoolimiting a spaceforpersonal exploration andaspiration.The caseofRoosevelt
suggests,then,thatthedesireto escapeor to transcend thenationlurkednotonlyin
themindsofinternational migrants, suchas theItaliansojourners aboutwhomDonna
Gabacciawrites,butin themindsof leadingnationalists themselves.
1282 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History 1999
December

Roosevelt'sRacialized Nation

In thelatenineteenth century, ideologiesgroundedin racestrengthened

nationalist
theirhold on thepeoplesof manycountries, includingthoseof theUnitedStates.
Theseweretheyearsof a remarkable globalcapitalistexpansion.Societiesin disparate
geographic and culturalregionswereinterpenetrating eachother,theirpeopleslook-
ingvariously forwork,rawmaterials, markets, and, at leastthemissionaries among
them,soulsripeforsalvation. The resulting jostlingof peoples,oftenunderadverse
economicconditions-poverty-level wages amongworkers, productioncoststhat
exceededrevenuesamongfarmers, the eclipseof smallbusinessby corporations-
generated fearsof socialdisintegration
and a tendency to blamemisfortune on social
contamination. Groupswithineveryindustrial societybegancallingforracialpurity
as a wayof strengthening theirnationsand of overcoming theproblemsthatcapital-
ist development had thrustupon them.International competitionintensified, as
nationssoughtto provetheireconomic,military, and racialsuperiority.
In theUnitedStatesone can detectthegrowing prestigeof racialideologiesin the
victoryoverSpainin 1898 and in theacquisition ofSpanishcoloniesin theCaribbean
Sea and thePacificOcean.The wargenerated remarkable nationalunity, becomingan
occasionwhen deep,seemingly intractabledivisions-betweenNorthand South,
capitaland labor,native-born and immigrant-wereat leastmomentarily overcome.
But thisunitydependedon thereinvigoration of America'sracialnationalist tradi-
tion.In thenewAmerican territories
ofthePhilippines andPuertoRico,theindigenous
peoplesweredeclaredraciallyinferior and thusincapableof handlingtheresponsi-
bilitiesof Americancitizenship. At home, the formalsubjugationof the South's
African Americanpopulationthrough JimCrowallowedwhitesoutherners to believe
that"their"nationhad finally beenredeemed.Whitewesterners associatednational
greatness withtheircampaignsto "cleanse"theircitiesand statesof ChineseandJap-
anese influence. A beliefin the superiorityof theAmerican"race"underlaythese
effortsat racialexclusionand subordination. Drawingon internationalist and "scien-
tific"racialistdiscourses,
themselves theproductof themodernage of capital,white
Americansfoundthe essenceof theirrace in its "Anglo-Saxon," "English-speak-
ing,"or simply"white"character.2
In the 1880s,TheodoreRoosevelthad turnedhis intellectual talentsto identify-
ingthehistorical originsof theAmericanraceand to tracinghowit madeitselfthe
greatest English-speaking racetheworldhad everknown.That was thepurposeof
hisepicwork,TheWinning oftheWest(1889-1896), mostof whichfocusedon the
conquestand settlement of theAmericanWestbypeopleof Europeanorigin.3

2Higham,Strangers in theLand, 131-57; Cecilia ElizabethO'Leary,To Die For: The ParadoxofAmerican

Patriotism (Princeton,1999), 129-49; AlexanderSaxton,TheRiseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic:ClassPoliticsand
Mass Culturein Nineteenth-Century America(New York,1990), 293-383; AndrewGyory,ClosingtheGate:Race,
and theChineseExclusion
Politics, Act(Chapel Hill, 1998).
3 TheodoreRoosevelt, The Winningof theWest:An Accountof theExploration and Settlement
of Our Country
fromtheAlleghanies tothePacific,in TheWorksof Theodore ed. HermannHagedorn(20 vols.,New York,
Roosevelt,
1926), VIII, IX. In additionto Roosevelt'sown writings,the followingaccountdrawson Thomas G. Dyer,
Theodore Rooseveltand theIdea of Race (Baton Rouge, 1980); GeorgeSinkler,TheRacialAttitudesofAmerican
 Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism 1283

If forKarlMarxhistory was thehistoryof classconflict, forRoosevelthistory was

thehistory of raceconflict,
of theworld'svariousracesstruggling forsupremacy and
power.The history in Roosevelt's
of racialconflict, eyes,pointedin thedirection of
civilizationand 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 affordto become
complacentaboutitsdestiny. Racialtriumphcame onlyto thosepeopleswillingto
fightforit. Successin battlerequiredthecultivation of manly,warlike,evensavage
qualities:physicaltoughness and fitness,
fearlessness,
bravery, single-mindedness, ruth-
lessness.Thus, Rooseveltfoundtheformative experience of theAmericanracenei-
therin thegodlyPuritanswho settledNew England,norin thevirtuousfarmers of
themid-Atlantic stateswho diligently workedtheland,norevenamongtheBoston,
New York,and Philadelphiamerchants who made greatfortunes by acquiringand
tradingthecontinent's abundantresources. Rather,he foundit in thebackwoods-
menwho bravely venturedforthintothewilderness to battletheIndiansand clear
theland.The backwoodsmen, in Roosevelt'seyes,liketheGermanswhohad invaded
Britainand fashioneda super-Teutonic racethere,werewarriors aboveall,and their
primary taskwas not placidhusbandry but relentless waragainstthesavageIndians
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 mili-
taryforcescould haveprotected themor enabledthemto movewestward.... The
Westwouldneverhavebeensettledsaveforthefiercecourageand theeagerdesireto
bravedangerso characteristic of thestalwart backwoodsmen."4
Rooseveltloathedthesavageredman butadmiredhim,too,forhisbravery, cun-
ning,and,mostof all,ferocity. The backwoodsman achievedhisgreatness as a result
of thebattleshe foughtto subduetheremarkable Indianfoe.Rooseveltregarded the
of
conquest theIndiansand the winning of the West as "thegreatepic featin the his-
toryofourrace."The relentless westward marchwas"a recordofmenwhogreatly dared
and greatly did,a recordof wanderings widerand moredangerousthanthoseof the
Vikings;a recordof endlessfeatsof arms,of victoryaftervictoryin the ceaseless
strifewagedagainstwildmanand wildnature."'The warto exterminate theIndian
createdthe"Americans."

Presidents:
FromAbrahamLincolnto Theodore Roosevelt(GardenCity,1971), 308-73; RichardSlotkin,Gunfighter
Nation:TheMythoftheFrontier in Twentieth-CenturyAmerica(New York,1992), 29-122; Gail Bederman,Man-
A CulturalHistoryof Genderand Race in the UnitedStates,1880-1917 (Chicago,1995),
linessand Civilization:
170-215; and Saxton,Riseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic, 349-83.
4 Roosevelt,Winning in Works
of theWest, ofTheodore Roosevelt,
ed. Hagedorn,VIII, 100-1 01. See Frederick
JacksonTurner,TheSignificance oftheFrontier in AmericanHistory,
ed. Harold P. Simonson(New York,1980),
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.
1284 ofAmerican
TheJournal History December
1999

Thatwar,Rooseveltbelieved,had setin motiona criticalassimilatory process,one

thatfashioned a singleAmerican peopleoutofmanyEuropeanraces.The backwoods-
men,accordingto Roosevelt, wereprimarily thedescendants of twoBritishraces-
theScotch-Irish and theEnglish-but includedin theirrankssignificant numbersof
Germans,Huguenots,"Hollanders,"and Swedes.Althoughthosedistinct"racial"
groupswerestillconsciousof theirdifferences whentheyarrivedin thewilderness,
theybecameobliviousto themwithinthelifetimes of thefirst settlers.
"Asinglegen-
eration,passedunderthehardconditionsof lifein thewilderness," Rooseveltwrote,
"wasenoughto weld [them]together intoone people."And so, "longbeforethefirst
ContinentalCongressassembled,the backwoodsmen, whatevertheirblood, had
becomeAmericans, one in speech,thought,and character." "Theirironsurround-
ings,"Rooseveltcontinued,"madea mouldwhichturnedout all alikein thesame
shape."Here,forthefirst of manytimes,Rooseveltreferred in a positivewayto the
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
Africanslavesto theNorthAmericancontinent as a racialand nationalcatastrophe.
The Europeanraceswho conqueredAmerica,Rooseveltintoned,"totheirownlast-
ingharm,committed a crimewhoseshort-sighted follywas worsethanitsguilt,for
theybroughthordesofAfrican slaves,whosedescendants nowformimmensepopu-
lationsin certainportionsof thisland."Those "hordes"couldnevertrulybe assimi-
latedintoAmericansociety:thedistanceseparating themfromthewhiteraceswas
simplytoo great.Nor couldtheyprovidetheproudsavagefoeagainstwhomAmeri-
canwarriors definedtheirraceand peoplehood,fortheAfricans werealreadya bowed
and conqueredpeoplewhentheyarrived, forcedto obeytheirmasters'everycom-
mand.Regrettably, theblackmancould "neither be killednordrivenaway."He had
to be founda place in the nation.But where?Givingblacksan equal placewould
violatetheracialorderof things, whilehemmingthemintoa subordinate statusviti-
atedtheAmericancommitment to democracy and equal opportunity.7
Rooseveltblamedthisdilemma,not on his heroicbackwoodsmen, but on the
Ctrans-oceanic aristocracy"of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuriesthathad
allegedlycreatedand sustainedtheinternational slavetrade.The racialcrimecom-
mittedby thosearistocrats had alreadytriggered one nationaldisaster-the Civil
War-that almostdestroyedthe mightynationthatthe backwoodsmenhad so
painstakingly and courageouslybuilt. And even emancipation-an act that

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.
 Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism 1285

Rooseveltheartilysupported-providedno simplecureto theraceproblembecause

Negroes,Rooseveltbelieved,would not takewellto democracy, a formof govern-
mentthatdependedon a self-control and masterythatonlythe whiteraceshad
attained.As president,
Rooseveltstruggledto devisewhatwere,in his eyes,decent
remedies to theraceproblem.Buthe alwaysregarded theNegroas an indelibleblack
markon thewhitenationthathad so gloriously emergedin themid-eighteenth cen-
tury,a constantreminder of America's
racialimperfection,
of an opportunity com-
promisedby the nefariousdealingsof corrupt,antidemocratic, and immoral
Therewould neverbe, Rooseveltonce concededin privatecorrespon-
aristocrats.
dence,a truesolutionto "theterrible
problemoffered bythepresenceof thenegro
on thiscontinent."8

The 1890s: Crisis,War,and NationalistRenewal

TheWinning oftheWestbrimswithconfident But,evenas he was writ-

superiority.
ingthistreatise,Roosevelt wasbesetbyworry thatpastachievements hadsetin motion
processesthatcouldyetruintheAmerican race.Bytheearly1890s,thewildfrontier of
theeighteenth century had vanishedand theIndianshad beenrouted.The conquest
of theWestand theinvention of democracy had triggeredtechnological and cultural
revolutions thatwererapidlymakingAmericainto an urban,industrialized society.
Whilethebackwoodsmen hadsetthechangesin motion,theirverysuccesshad forced
themto themargins ofAmericansociety. Roosevelt worriedthatAmerica,as a result,
wouldloseitsracialedge."Apeaceful andcommercial civilizationis alwaysin dangerof
thelossof thevirilefighting
suffering qualitieswithoutwhichno nation,however cul-
tured,however refined,however thriftyandprosperous, caneveramountto anything."9
Everywhere, Roosevelt spottedsignsofracialdegeneration: in an overlyrefined elite
thathad abandoned"thestrenuous life"fortheeffete mannersand habitsof Euro-
peanaristocrats; in a falling
birthrateamongthissameelite,an unmistakable signto
Rooseveltthatthevigorof thismighty racewas slipping;in theimpoverished urban
masseswhoseloyalty to thenationwas questionable and whosegrowing involvement
in lawlessstrikesRooseveltregarded as signsof barbarism; in a societyso preoccu-
piedwithmaterial gainand "ignobleease"thatit no longerknewhowto pursuethe
heroiclife.In short,theuniqueand racially superiorcivilization thatthebackwoods-
menhadassiduously createdwasin dangerofgoingthewayofRome:opulence,com-
placency,effeminacy, military 'O
collapse.
Rooseveltconceivedof hispersonallifeas a crusadeagainsttheenervating effects
of excessivecivilization. He was determined to excelat huntingand ranching, to

ITheodore Roosevelt,"NationalLifeand Character,"1894, in Works of Theodore Roosevelt,

ed. Hagedorn,
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 TheodoreRoosevelt,
ed.
Hagedorn,XIII, 32.
IOTheodoreRoosevelt,"TrueAmericanism," 1894, ibid., 19. See also TheodoreRoosevelt,"The Strenuous
Life,"1899, ibid.,319, andpassim.
1286 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History December
1999

developthequalitiesthatmadetheScotch-Irish backwoodsmen sucha vigorousrace.

His twowivesand sixchildren wereampledemonstration of hisownvirility and,he
hoped,an examplethatothermembersof his racewould emulate.He preached
againstthecomplacent life,whether thatof thebeggarcontentto liveoffcharity or
of therailroadtycoonobsessedwithcountinghis money.He calledincessantly for
thepursuitof a "higherlife"of glory, as achievedbyGeorgeWashington, Abraham
Lincoln,and UlyssesS. Grant.Each of thoseheroeshad distinguished himself inwar,
and Roosevelt believedthattrueeminencewouldeludehimuntilhe,too,had proved
hisworthon thebattlefield."
Justas he expectedhisprogram fora strenuous lifeto bringhimpersonalgreatness,
so Rooseveltbelievedthatan emphasison muscularand racialized nationalism would
reinvigorateAmerica.Bytheearly1890s he had casthislotwithAdm.Alfred Thayer
Mahanand otherimperialists whoarguedthattheUnitedStatesshouldviewithBrit-
ain, France,Germany, Russia,and Japanforterritory, military might,and world
power.SocialDarwinist to thecore,theimperialists believedthatAmericahadto prove
itselfthemilitaryequalofthestrongest Europeannationandthemaster ofthe"lesser"
peoplesofAsia,Africa, and LatinAmerica.Hankering fora fight,theystroveto turn
emergent powerstruggles in theCaribbeanand thePacificintoarmedconfrontations.
Fightswithbarbarian racesabroadcouldreplacethefight withthesavageIndiansat
homeand thuskeepAmericans raciallyfit.As Rooseveltdeclaredin 1897, "No tri-
umphof peace is quiteso greatas thesupremetriumphof war."The imperialists'
opportunity came in 1898, whentheexplosionof thebattleship Maine in Havana
harborsetSpainand theUnitedStateson thepathto war.12
Atthefirstopportunity, Rooseveltresigned as assistantsecretaryofthenavytoaccept
thelieutenant colonelcyof theFirstVolunteer Cavalry, a regiment thatwouldsoon
be immortalized as theRoughRiders.Morethan20,000 menappliedforthe1,000
availableplaces,and Rooseveltfilleda majority of placeswithcowboys, hunters, and
prospectors fromtheWestand Southwest-menwho boretheclosestresemblance
to his fabledbackwoodsmen. "Theywerea splendidsetof men,"Rooseveltwould
laterwrite,"talland sinewy, withresolute, weather-beaten faces,and eyesthatlooked
a manstraight in thefacewithoutflinching." "In alltheworld,"he added,"there could
be no bettermaterialforsoldiersthanthatafforded by thesegrimhuntersof the
mountains, thesewildroughridersof theplains."Havingcomefromlandsthathad
been"mostrecently won over[fromthesavageIndians]to whitecivilization," these
menwereamongthefewremaining Americans who stillpossessedtheferocity, the
independence, and thewar-making skillsof theKentucky backwoodsmen. 13

Justas the predominately Scotch-Irish backwoodsmen had benefited fromthe

admixture of minority streams fromFrance,Germany, and elsewhere, so thequality
oftheRoughRiderswasenhanced bytheinclusion ofcomplementary American strains.
Mostimportant werethefifty men,mostof themathletes, whohad comefromHar-
" TheodoreRoosevelt,"AmericanIdeals,"1895, ibid.,3-4; "Grant,"1900 speech,ibid.,430-41.
'2WalterLaFeber,TheNewEmpire:An Interpretation ofAmerican Expansion,1860-1898 (Ithaca,1963), 80-
101; WilliamH. Harbaugh,TheLifeand Timesof Theodore Roosevelt
(New York,1975), 99.
13 TheodoreRoosevelt,
TheRoughRiders(New York,1902), 22-23.
 Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism 1287

vard,Princeton, andYaleuniversities andwhopossessed a worldlinessanda capacity for

leadership thatmanyof therowdysouthwesterners lacked.Rooseveltchosean equal
numberof Indians(segregated in theirowncompany),a fewof purebloodbutmost
a powerfully disciplinedmixture of redand white.He selecteda smattering of Irish-
menand Hispanics,at leastoneJew,one Italian,fourNewYorkCitypolicemen,and
a group"inwhoseveins... bloodstirred withthesameimpulsewhichoncesentthe
Vikingsoverseas."Like thefrontier, theregiment createdtheconditionsfora care-
fullyregulatedprocessof 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 yielded,in Roosevelt's eyes,a sterling,all-American regiment.14
The inclusion ofevenlimitednumbers ofIndians,Jews, and Italiansmadetheregi-
mentmorediverse thanthebandsofbackwoodsmen whohadconquered theWesthad
been-a sign,perhaps,thatRooseveltwas becomingmoreliberalin his racialatti-
tudesthanhe had beenwhenhe wroteWinning oftheWest. 15 Yet,Roosevelt was not
preparedto welcomeeveryracialtypeintotheRoughRidercrucible:he had neither
soughtnoracceptedanyblackorAsianAmerican volunteers, demonstrating onceagain
hisconviction thattheinclusionof the"mostinferior" racialingredientswouldpol-
lutetheAmerican brew.The melting potcontinuedto dependforitssuccessas much
on exclusionas on inclusion.16
The RoughRidersquicklyachieveda camaraderie that,in Roosevelt'seyes,justi-
fiedhiseffortsto regulate
theracialmixing. The IvyLeaguersbrought civility
to a reg-
imentfullof rowdyspirits, whiletheroughness andphysicality ofthesouthwesterners
compelledtheeliteeasterners to abandontheiraversionto hardand "disagreeable"
labor.The regimentsomewhatuneasilyabsorbedthe fewIrishmen,Italians,and
Jews,givingthembelittling (although nicknames
affectionate) suchas SheenySolomon
and Pork-chop. The socialequalitythatRooseveltencouragedalso shapedrelations
between officers
andenlisted men.Roosevelt craveda closerelationshipwithhistroops.
He gotto knoweachof histhousandmenbyname,greetedthemwithwavesrather
thanformalsalutes,boughtthembeeraftera longmarch,tookhissergeants to din-
nerat a restaurantreservedforthearmy's topbrass,andcommandeered officers'
rations
forhisenlistedmen.Oftenreprimanded byhissuperiors forsuchtransgressive frat-
ernizing, Rooseveltwas quickto offer theauthoritiesthenecessary apologies.But,in
truth,he lovedflouting therulesof military conduct.Herewas a wayforhimto re-
createa frontierenvironment, wheresocialdistinctions and rankcountedforlittle.A
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
ofThe-
odoreRoosevelt, 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.
1288 The Journal
ofAmerican
History December1999

Thisphotowastakenona hilloverlooking
Santiago,Cuba,inJuly1898after
theRough
hadtakenKettle
Riders andSanJuanhills.TheodoreRoosevelt
iswherehe
wantstobe,atthecenterofitallbutalsooneoftheguys.
Library
Courtesy ofCongress.

and Washington Rooseveltand his superior,

influence, Col. LeonardWood, made
surethattheRoughRiderswereamongthefirst troopsto disembark at Daiquirlin
June1898 and to beginmarching towardthe expectedengagement withSpanish
troopsin theheavily hillseastofSantiago.
fortified The Spanish,as itturnedout,were
in no moodfora longwarand gaveup afteronlythreeweeksand fourrathersmall
battles.But the Rough Ridersplayedimportantrolesin threeof the four-Las
Gua'simas, KettleHill,andSanJuanHill-and camehomemilitary heroes.Roosevelt,
bymuscling hiswayto Cuba,hadliterally willedhisregiment and to
to thebattlefield
glory.18
It had takenconsiderablepropagandato turnthelight-complexioned and highly
culturedSpanishenemyintothedarkand savagefoe,buttheAmericantabloids,led

8Morris, Riseof Theodore 623; Roosevelt,RoughRiders,46-78. See David F. Trask,The Warwith

Roosevelt,
Spainin 1898 (NewYork,1981); and PhilipS. Foner,TheSpanish-Cuban-AmericanWarand theBirthofAmerican
Imperialism,
1895-1902 (2 vols.,New York,1972).
 Roosevelt
Theodore andAmerican
Nationalism 1289

by the Hearstand Pulitzerpapers,provedequal to the task.These newspapers fed

Americanciviliansand troopsa steadydietof sensational storiesaboutatrocitiesthat
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 encounter withSpanishtroopsseemedto confirm thelat-
ter'ssavageracialnature.The Americans had expectedto meettheSpanishin a civi-
lizedengagement on an openfieldofbattle;butinsteadtheywereambushedinheavily
forested terrainatLas Gua'simas. The battlerevealed thattheSpanisharmyhadadopted
theguerrilla tacticsfavoredby theirCuban adversaries, an intelligentadaptationof
military tacticsto theCubanterrain andfoethattheAmericans wouldcometo respect.
But initiallyit seemedto Rooseveltand otherssteepedin frontier lorethatat Las
Guasimastheyhad encountered a savageenemy.Roosevelt's recounting of thebattle
resembled thenarratives he hadalready written abouteighteenth-century Indianattacks
in theKentucky backwoods.Victorycameto theRoughRiders,in Roosevelt's tell-
ing,becausetheydemonstrated thesamepluck,resourcefulness, and courageas the
Kentucky backwoodsmen. Andjustas thetoughconditions of theAmericanwilder-
nesshad weldedthefrontiersmen, "whatever theirblood,"intoone superiorpeople,
so too theroughencounter at Las Guaisimas had forged themotleyRoughRidersinto
a trulyAmericanshape.20
Las Gua'simas wasonlya preludeto thefurious battlesat Kettleand SanJuanhills,
thehighandheavily fortifiedridgesthatguardedtheapproachto Santiago. The Rough
Ridershad beenassigneda supportrolebehindseveralregiments of regulartroops,
butas thecasualties mountedand as communications betweenthegenerals in therear
and frontline troopsbrokedown, Roosevelt his
moved Rough Riders intothethick
of the action.Rooseveltdemonstrated extraordinary heroismand recklessness. He
inspireda wild chargeup KettleHill thatoverranSpanishdefenses.He thenorga-
nizedthefragments ofseveralregiments thathadmadeitto thetopintoa reserve force
thatprovidedcriticalsupportto theregulars who wereassaultingtheadjacentSan
JuanHill. Rooseveltspentmuchof thebattleon horseback, ridingamonghistroops;
urging them up the hill,disregarding dangerand death. His daringand impulsive-
nessresembledthoseof 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
ended,90 of the450 RoughRiderswhohad entered thebattlelaykilledorwounded.
Manymorewouldlatersuccumbto sickness. One bulletgrazedRoosevelt's wrist,but

19GeraldLinderman,TheMirrorof War:AmericanSociety
and theSpanish-American
War(AnnArbor,1974),
114-73.
79- 118, esp. 110, 1 5.
RoughRiders,
20Roosevelt,
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 journalistswhowerereporting thisfightto
the millionsof avid newspaperreadersback home. "Mountedhighon horseback,
and charging at a gallopand quitealone,"wroteRichardHardingDavis,
therifle-pits
the famedNew YorkHeraldand Scribners reporter,Roosevelt"madeyou feelthat
youwouldliketo cheer."'21
In the Cuban campaign,Rooseveltbroughtto lifethe mythicpast thathe had
inventedfortheAmericanpeoplein TheWinning oftheWest. In theclimacticKettle
Hill-SanJuanHill battlethatsymbolized thetriumph ofAmericaoversavagery and
theforging of themanystreamsof humanity intoone Americanpeople,Roosevelt
himselfplayedthestarring role.Buttherewasa problem. oftheblack
Justas thearrival
manon theNorthAmericancontinent had compromised thegreatwhitenationtak-
ing shapethere,so, too, thepresenceof blackUnitedStatestroopson KettleHill
and San JuanHill interfered withthenation'striumph-or at leastwithRoosevelt's
enjoyment of thattriumph.
Roosevelthad beenableto keepblacksoutof theRoughRiders,buthe couldnot
keep themout of Cuba. Four regularregiments-a substantial percentage of the
UnitedStatesArmy-wereall-black(althoughcommandedbywhiteofficers), and
theywereamongthe mostexperienced and reliableAmericantroops.The Negro
NinthandTenthcavalryregiments foughtwellat Las Guaisimas and playedan even
morevitalrolein thetakingof Kettleand San Juanhills.The TenthCavalryhad
beenthefrontline troopson KettleHill and therelostmoreof theirofficers (eleven
of twenty-two) thananyotherregiment. When Rooseveltcalledfora chargeup the
hill,theyeagerlyjoinedin; meanwhile, severalplatoonsoftheNinthCavalryreached
thesummitof KettleHill froma different directionat thesamemomentas Roosevelt.
Black troopsfromboth regiments and, even moreimportant, fromthe Twenty-
FourthInfantry Division,fought hard for San Juan Hill as well.22
When Rooseveltreachedthetop of San JuanHill, he foundhimselftheeffective
commander oftheRoughRiders,theNinthandTenthNegrocavalries, andthreeother
cavalryregiments. The chaosof battlehad mischievously produceda trueAmerican
meltingpot-the heterogeneity of theRoughRidersfurther bythepres-
diversified
ence 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,119-

64; Morris,Riseof TheodoreRoosevelt,
650-56.
22
WilliamH. Leckie, The BuffaloSoldiers:A Narrativeof theNegroCavalryin theWest(Norman,1967);
AlbertL. ScipioII, LastoftheBlackRegulars:
A HistoryoftheTwenty-FourthInfantryRegiment,1869-1951 (Silver
Spring,1983); AnthonyLukas,Big Trouble: A Murderin a Small WesternTownSetsOffa Strugglefor theSoul of
America(New York,1997), 118-32; Roosevelt,RoughRiders,132-64; TheophilusG. Steward,TheColoredReg-
ularsin theUnitedStatesArmy(1904; New York,1969); MarvinEdwardFletcher, "The NegroSoldierand the
UnitedStatesArmy,1891-1917" (Ph.D. diss.,University of Wisconsin,1968), ch. 8.
 TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
Nationalism 1291

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1292 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History December
1999

neverbe broken."The RoughRiders,reported a blacksoldierof theTenthCavalry,

roaredtheirapproval.23
Roosevelt mighthaveseizedon evidenceofintermixing ofblackandwhitetroopsto
celebrate themelting pot as a mechanism thatcouldfashiona singlenationout of all
thedifferent racial,ethnic,and regional groupswho residedin theUnitedStates.But
Roosevelthad neverbeen entirely comfortable withthe presenceof blacksfighting
alongside whitesintheclimactic battleon KettleandSanJuanhills.In fact,he hadbeen
alarmedby themixing,by "thedifferent regiments beingcompletely intermingled-
whiteregulars, coloredregulars, and RoughRiders."He believedthatcompleteand
unregulated mixing-as had goneon in Mexicoand otherLatincountries-produced
mediocreraces.The indiscriminate mingling of blackand whitetroopsin theheatof
battle,moreover, threatened to explodethemyththatregulated assimilationproduced
raciallysuperior Americans and to disruptthe reenactment of assimilationcarefully
orchestrated by RoosevelthimselfThe blacktroopshad to be put in theirplace-a
placeseparate from, andsubordinate to,thatofwhiteAmericans. 24

Roosevelt tookon thistaskwhenhe beganpublishing hishistory of theRoughRid-

ersin Scribners Magazinein 1899.In recounting theseizureofSanJuanHill,Roosevelt
interrupted histriumphalist narrativeto criticize
theshortcomings 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.
Onlyafter he had threatened to shootthemdid theyreturn to theforward lines.25
PresleyHolliday,a blacksoldierof theTenthCavalry,remembered theincident
differently.He described a chaoticsituation as nightwasfalling on SanJuanHill amid
manycallsforsoldiersto carrythewoundedto therearand to procurerationsand
trenching toolsforthetroopsat thesummit.BothRoughRidersand blacksoldiers
respondedto thosecalls,whichcreatedtheimpression of manysoldiersleavingthe
battlescene.That is whatRooseveltapparently saw whenhe drewhis revolver and
aimeditat theblacktroops.But,according to Holliday,Lt. RobertF. Flemingof the
Tenth(a whiteofficer) quicklyreassured Rooseveltthattheblacksoldiershad been
following orders;thenextday,Rooseveltevenvisitedmembers of theTenthCavalry
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 TheCul-
turesof 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.
 TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
Nationalism 1293

The soldierspicturedabovebelongedto one ofthefourAfrican AmericanUnitedStates

Armyregiments-theNinthandTenthcavalries, theTwenty-fourth and
Twenty-fifthinfantries-that playedindispensable rolesin the
at Kettleand San Juanhills.
victories
Nationa/Archives.
Couirtesy

It is, of course,difficultto knowexactlywhatwenton at dusk,whenall thesol-

diers,includingRoosevelthimself, wereexhausted fromthefightand mayhavehad
difficulty seeingand thinking It is possiblethatsomeblacktroopsmayhave
clearly.
beentoo quickto leavethestillinsecuresummitforthesafety of therearwhenthe
opportunity arose. Holliday admitted that some of the Tenth Cavalry'snewer
recruits becamenervousat beingseparatedfromthebulkof theirregiment and at
beinginsuchcloseproximity towhitesoldiers. Butevenifnervousness prompted them
to lookforopportunities toleavethesummit, itwasnotadequatereasonforRoosevelt
to challengetheworthof theblackfighting man.Therehad beenmanyinstances in
Cuba of whitesoldierly cowardiceand of blacksprovingthemselves to be themore
stalwart andreliabletroops;indeed,thecoloredTwenty-Fourth Infantryhadbeencalled
upon to chargeSan JuanHill-and did-only afterthewhiteSeventy-First New
Yorkhad panickedand refused to attack.Rooseveltignoredthisand otherincidents
of whitecowardiceand blackvalor,determined as he was to chargethatonlyblack
troopslackedtheself-reliance and hardyindividualism to becometheirownmen,to
becometrueAmericans.In thatchaoticand confusing momenton San JuanHill,
Rooseveltwas certainthathe had uncoveredincontrovertible evidenceof theblack
soldiers'"peculiardependence"on whiteofficers. 'Whereasthe Rough Riders,in
1294 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History December
1999

Roosevelt's eyes,hadshownthemselves equalto theKentucky backwoodsmen in every

respect,theblackcavalrytroopshad demonstrated once againwhatRoosevelthad
viscerallybelieved:thatblackswerenot trulyfitforcombat,thattheylackedthe
qualitiesneededto participate as equalsin thegreatnationthatDaniel Booneand his
fellowfrontiersmen had willedintoexistence in theeighteenth century.27

These weredevastating chargesin 1899, especiallywhenleveledby a personof

Roosevelt'sstature.Emboldenedby the 1896 SupremeCourtdecisionin Plessyv.
Ferguson, theSouthwas disfranchising blacksand excludingthemfrominstitutions
thathad beendesignated white-schools,restaurants, parks,and manyplaces
stores,
of employment. In theNorth,whiteswerepushingblacksout of theskilledtrades
and servicejobs thathad longsupported a smallbutvibrantblackmiddleclass.The
Spanish-American Wartookon specialsignificance in thiscontext,forit gaveblacks
an opportunity to demonstrate theirloyaltyto theUnitedStatesand to demandan
endto discriminatory treatment. African Americans hopedthattheirimpressive record
of servicewould compeltheUnitedStatesmilitary to open officer ranksto them,
and thatthe achievement of thatstatuscould thenbecomea powerful symbolin
theirquestforequality, integration, andbelonging. How coulda nationpermit officers
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,how-
ever,notby tearingdownracialbarriers, butbyreinforcing and justifyingtheones
alreadyin place.Justas mostblackscouldnotsuccessfully dischargetheresponsibil-
itiesof citizenship,
so, too,Rooseveltand othersargued,theycouldnotbe entrusted
withleadingtroopsintobattle.The blackdemandforofficer statuswas rebuffed.In
thisclimateof racialseparation and discrimination, itdid nottakelongforwhitesto
challengethefighting abilitiesof blacksoldiers,evenwhentheywerecommanded
bywhiteofficers. ByWorldWarI, fewblacksweregivencombatroles.The nation
hadstripped virtuallyall blacksoftherightto fight anddie fortheircountry. The sac-
rificesand heroismof theNinthandTenthcavalries had becomebuta dimmemory
to whites.Whitesoutherners, meanwhile, werereintegrating themselves intothemil-
itary.As a resultof theSpanish-American War,efforts to re-create
theUnitedStates
as a whitenationhad bornefruit.28
The centrality of raceto thedefinition of Roosevelt'sAmericawas apparent, too,
in thetreatment of theCubansand Filipinos,ostensible Americanalliesin thefight
againsttheSpaniards. Findinga savagefoein theSpanish-American Warproveda more

27Ibid.,95-96, 97, 72-73, 76-81; Lukas;Big Trouble,134-35.

28Plessyv.Ferguson,163 U.S. 537 (1896); JohnW. Cell, TheHighestStageof WhiteSupremacy: TheOriginsof
Segregationin SouthAfricaand theAmericanSouth(New York,1982); KennethL. Kusmer,A GhettoTakesShape:
BlackCleveland,1870-1930 (Urbana,1976), 53-90; Gatewood,"SmokedYankees" and theStruggleforEmpire,
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,
 Theodore andAmerican
Roosevelt Nationalism 1295

taskthanRooseveltandothershad anticipated.
difficult Despitetheir"savage"behav-
iorat Las Gua'simas, theSpanishsoldierssoon revealedthattheywerefarwhiterand
morecivilized thantheAmericans hadexpected. Meanwhile,UnitedStatestroopswere
unnerved bytheirencounters withCubantroops.The latter wereoftenpoorlydressed,
inadequately provisioned, Americansoldierswereparticularly
and lackingdiscipline.
upsetbytheCuban troops'practiceof stripping corpses-of friendand foealike-
of clothing, food,guns, and any otherusableitems and bytheirannoying penchant
forbegging. And theywerestunnedthatCuban troopswereoverwhelmingly darkin
complexion. The UnitedStatestroopsknewlittleof theCubans'longstruggle for
independence, theyhad had to endure,and ofwhytheyhad chosen
of thehardships
tacticsagainsttheSpanish.The Americans,
guerrilla influencedbyHearstand Pulitzer
newspapers, hadimagined thatCubanswerea peoplemuchlikethemselves-freedom
loving,civilized,and white.Hence,theywereshockedto discoverthattheCubans
exhibitedtraits theycoulddefineas primitive The blackCubans,not
and undignified.
theSpanish,weretheisland'struesavages!29
The Cubans themselves, however, neverbecamea savagefoeagainstwhomthe
Americans a warofextermination-that
feltcompelledto fight honorwentto theFil-
ipinos.The Cubansinsteadbecamea childlikeallyin needofAmericanmentoring,
assistance,and protection.On thesegrounds, theUnitedStatesjustified to
itsrefusal
granttheCubansthepoliticalindependence theyso desperatelysought.Instead,it
madetheislandintoa virtualcolony,takingon the"whiteman'sburden"of uplift-
inga darker and moresavagerace.In suchwaystheSpanish-American Warreinforced
Americans' as
senseof themselves a white and superiorpeople.30

Roosevelt'sCivic Nationalism

It is tempting
to interpret
Roosevelt'snationalism as simplyan Americanexpression
of whatEuropeanscholarslabelethnic,or romantic, nationalism.Suchnationalism
locatestheessenceof thenationin theVolk,definedas a peoplewho sharethesame
blood,history,language,and land.The Volk,in theeyesof ethnicnationalists, did
notchangemuchovertime;itwasthought of as an entitystandingoutside a
history,
forceof moraland biologicalpuritythatcoulderadicatetheallegedevilsof moder-
nity:corruption,materialism,
promiscuity,and racialmixing.31
Manyindividuals and groupsin theUnitedStatessubscribed to suchethnoracialist
notions,theKu KluxKlan beingthe best known and most example.But
successful

RoughRiders,81; Morris,Riseof Theodore

29 Roosevelt, Roosevelt,646; Kaplan,"Blackand Blue on San Juan
Hill,"223-26; Linderman, MirrorofWar,114-47.
30
StuartCreightonMiller,"BenevolentAssimilation'TheAmericanConquestof thePhilippines, 1899-1903
(New Haven, 1982); RichardDrinnon,FacingWest:TheMetaphysics ofIndian-Hating and EmpireBuilding(Min-
neapolis,1980), esp. 307-51; Paul Kramer,"U.S. Anthropology and Colonial Politicsin the Occupied Philip-
pines, 1898-1916" (Ph.D. diss., PrincetonUniversity, 1998); Slotkin,Gunfighter Nation, 106-22; Foner,
Spanish-Cuban-American War;JamesH. Hitchman,LeonardWoodand Cuban Independence, 1898-1902 (The
Hague, 1971); LouisA. Perez,Cuba underthePlattAmendment, 1902-1934 (Pittsburgh, 1986).
31 On thehistoryof ethnicnationalismin Europe,see RogersBrubaker, Citizenshipand Nationhoodin France
and Germany Bloodand Belonging:
(Cambridge,Mass., 1992); and MichaelIgnatieff, Journeys in theNew Nation-
alism(New York,1993).
1296 ofAmerican
TheJournal History December
1999

Roosevelt wasnotamongthem.The notionthattheEuropeanpeoplesrepresented pure

biologicalentities madeno senseto him,forhe keenlyunderstood thatwarand con-
questhadmadetheEuropeans farmorehybridized thanmostcaredtoadmit.Roosevelt
celebrated hybridity: theworld'sgreatest peoples,afterall-the English,theAmeri-
cans,theAustralians-hademerged frommelting pots.Evenpriorto theRevolution,
Roosevelthad once written, "we werethenalready, whatwe are now,a people of
mixedblood."The smelting, Roosevelt had to be controlled
believed, bya skilledpud-
dlerif itwereto producethebestand mostefficient result;butracialmixingwould
thenalwaysproducepeoplessuperiorto thosethathad remainedpure.In his cele-
bration ofhybridity, Roosevelt wasverymucha modernanddeeplyat oddswithmem-
bersof his gentry class,suchas HenryCabot Lodge,MadisonGrant,and Frederic
Remington, who longedfora pureAnglo-SaxonAmerica.Nowherein Roosevelt's
voluminous writings, neitherin hispublished worknorhisprivate is itpossible
letters,
to findthekindofindiscriminate revulsion against"outsiders"expressed byRemington
in a letter:
"Jews, Injuns,Chinamen, Huns-the rubbish
Italians, oftheearthI hate
I'vegotsomeWinchesters andwhenthemassacring begins,I cangetmyshareof'em,
and what'smoreI will."32
Rooseveltinsteadwas a civicnationalist who imaginedthenation,to useMichael
Ignatieff'swords,"as a community of equal,rights-bearing citizensunitedin patri-
oticattachment to a sharedsetofpoliticalpractices andvalues."Sucha nationalcom-
munitywas open,in theoryat least,to all thosewho residedin a nation'sterritory,
irrespective of theirethnicity, race,or religion.It was democratic, foritvested"sov-
ereignty in all of thepeople."33 In practice,Roosevelt's nationalcommunity wasopen
to anyonewho couldclaimEuropeanoriginsor ancestry. Rooseveltpaid littleatten-
tionto whetherthoseEuropeanshad come fromeasternor westernEurope,from
Catholic,Protestant, or Jewishbackgrounds, or fromthe ranksof the richor the
poor;to all he extendedtheinvitation to becomeAmerican.He assumeda different
posturetowardblacks,Asians,and othernonwhites. He did notattemptto exclude
themfromthepoliticalcommunity as thoroughly as he had excludedthemfromhis
nationalist mythology. In fact,on numerousoccasionshe passionately defendedthe
politicalrightsand aspirations of selectedAfrican Americans andAsianswho,to his
thinking, had achieveda requisite levelof intellectualand moralcompetence. Buthe
also believedthatthevastmajority of nonwhites wouldnotachievethoselevelsdur-
inghislifetime or forseverallifetimes thereafter.
Althoughracismcompromised hiscivicnationalism, itwouldbe a mistaketo dis-
missthesincerity ofhiscivicdeclarations. He felthiscivicnationalism, whathe called
"trueAmericanism," deeply,and it allowedhim to welcomeintoAmericansociety
"lowly"and "racially inferior"Europeanimmigrants whommostpeopleof hisclass

32Slotkin,Gunfighter Nation,97; Roosevelt,"TrueAmericanism," 24-25; Roosevelt,Winningof theWest,

VIII, 17. See also G. EdwardWhite,TheEasternEstablishmentand theWestern TheWestofFrederic
Experience: Rem-
ington,Theodore Roosevelt,
and OwenWister (New Haven, 1968). On Lodge and Grant,see Higham,Strangersin
theLand,68-157 andpassim.I disagreewithAlexanderSaxton,who arguesthattheRemington passageexpressed
Roosevelt's viewsas well.Saxton,Riseand Fall oftheWhiteRepublic,
343-44.
33Ignatieff, Bloodand Belonging,5.
 TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
Nationalism 1297

andcultural background despised. It is easyto belittle theprogressive character of

Roosevelt's inclusionary attitudes towardEuropeanimmigrants, now thatanti-
Catholicism andanti-Semitism havelargely vanished assignificantAmerican ideolo-
giesand all Euro-Americans arethought to belongto thesamewhiterace.But
Roosevelt'sembrace ofCatholic andJewish Europeans wasnotpopular amongmany
native-born Protestant Americans of his time.In fact,thearrival of so manyof
them, especiallyfrom "primitive" regions ineastern andsouthern Europe, generated
hysteria amonglargenumbers of native-born Protestants.34 Manyimmigrants, in
turn,responded to Roosevelt's warmth withappreciation, enthusiasm, and votes.
His civicnationalism alsogavenonwhite Americans something toworkwith,forits
democratic andegalitarian ethosallowedthemto believethattheycouldyetfinda
waytogainfullcitizenship rightsandthustoinclude themselves inthegreat national
experiment. TheAmerican creedofa GunnarMyrdal andtheintegrationist dream
ofa MartinLuther KingJr.sprang fromthesametaproot ofcivicnationalism that
Theodore Roosevelt espoused intheearly years ofthiscentury.
Roosevelt'scivicnationalism wasrooted bothinhisRepublicanism andinhislove
ofthecosmopolitan cityinwhichhehadgrown up.Sincethe1860s,theRepublican
party hadcastitself as theimplacable foeofdiscrimination andfavoritism. Fromthe
earliest
daysofhispolitical career,Roosevelt hadwanted topurge government offavor-
itism,cronyism, andcorruption andtoensure thatgovernment appointments would
be reserved forthebestqualified. Thatmeantadopting civilserviceprocedures that
reliedonimpartial merit testsratherthanontiesofparty, friendship,ornationality.35'
ForRoosevelt, a commitment tomerit uncompromised byprejudice orcronyism
wasmorethanabstract principle; italsoreflected whathe hadlearned as a denizen
ofwhathecalled"huge,polyglot, pleasure-loving" NewYork, where peoplefrom all
walksoflifehadfounda waytolivetogether. Roosevelt valuedwhathesawas New
Yorkers'inclinationtoputasidetheir prejudices, andhebelieved thatcityleaders ought
toencourage thisbroad-mindedness. He wasproudtocallhimself a friend ofOtto
Raphael,a Jewish policeman, who,likeRoosevelt, was "'straight NewYork."'As
policecommissioner (1895-1897),Roosevelt becamefamous forhismidnight strolls
withJacobRiis(himself an immigrant), ostensibly tocatchdeadbeat copswhowere
asleepon thejob orotherwise neglectful oftheirduties;butRoosevelt lovedjustas
muchtheexposure theseexcursions gavehimtothehiddencommunities andactivi-
tiesofNewYorkCitylife."Thesemidnight rambles aregreat fun," heoncewrote. "My
wholeworkbrings meincontact withevery classofpeopleinNewYork.... I geta
glimpse ofthereallifeoftheswarming millions."36
Therewasa voyeuristic element tothis,justas there hadbeeninRiis'ssensation-
alistexpose, HowtheOther HalfLives.37 Butthere wasalsoa strong desireto break
downthebarriers thathadseparated NewYorkers from eachother andtoprodallciti-

34 in theLand, 52-105, 158-93.

Higham,Strangers
Roosevelt,
35Harbaugh,Lifeand Timesof Theodore 13-49, 69-92.
36Roosevelt,AnAutobiography (1913; New York,1927), 175, 179-80; Rooseveltto Anna Roosevelt,
June16,
1895, in Letters
of Theodore ed. Morison,I, 463.
Roosevelt,
37Jacob A. Riis,How theOtherHalf Lives:StudiesAmongtheTenements ofNew York(1890; New York,1971).
1298 ofAmerican
TheJournal History December
1999

zensofthe"great city"tocrossneighborhood andethnicboundaries. Somescholars have

arguedthatRoosevelt's opennessto immigrants extendedonlyto theso-calledold
immigrants fromGreatBritain, Germany, and Scandinavia whosupposedly belonged
to superior
andeasilyassimilable races.The "newimmigrants" fromeastern andsouth-
ernEurope,in thisview,receivedno welcomefromRoosevelt, fortheywereconsid-
eredto lacktheracialmakeupto succeedinAmerica.38 Whilesomeevidencesupports
thisview,otherevidencedoes not. It cannotaccount,forexample,forRoosevelt's
enthusiasticembraceof IsraelZangwill'splay,TheMelting-Pot, whenit openedon
Broadwayin 1908. The protagonist, David Quixano,belongsto a RussianJewish
family thatcan onlybe describedas newimmigrant. David'smother, father,and sis-
tershave been slainduringthe 1903 Kishinevpogrom.David fleesto New York,
wherehe is takenin byhisuncle,MendelQuixano,who is portrayed byZangwillas
thestereotypical easternEuropeanJewishimmigrant, "wearinga blackskull-cap,a
seedyvelvetjacket."Mendelliveswithhismother, FrauQuixano,a forlorn soulwho
speaksonly Yiddish and forwhom America is a culturaland emotional 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 inde-
pendence.He seizesthe opportunity thatAmericagiveshim,writeshis American
symphony, marries thegentilegirlof hisdreams,and becomesa proudAmerican.39
Roosevelt,of course,endorsedZangwill's depictionofAmericaas a landof unlim-
itedopportunity. But,evenmoreimportant, he applaudedZangwill'sinsistence that
evenimmigrants suchas David,whoseorigins layin theallegedly inferiorracesofeast-
ernEurope,couldbecomethemostsuccessful andbestofAmericans. It mattered,
too,
thatDavid succeedsinAmerica, notbymaintaining hisJewish heritage,butbyassim-
ilatingtoAmerican culture.The wordsthatZangwillputsin David'smouthcouldhave
comefromRoosevelt's own pen: "America is God's Crucible,thegreatMelting-Pot
whereall theracesof Europearemeltingand reforming! . . . Germansand French-
men,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 comfort withthenewimmi-
grantsoccurredin 1913,in themidstof a strikebywomengarment workers in New
YorkCity.Roosevelt traveledto HenryStreet St.
and Mark'sPlacetowitnessthestrike
firsthandandto interview thestrikersabouttheirgrievances andambitions. On Henry
Streethe encountered youngwomenwhomsomeobservers wouldhavedescribedas
themostpathetic examples ofthenewimmigration: 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.
 TheodoreRooseveltandAmerican
Nationalism 1299

Theywerethuscut offnotonlyfromAmericanculturebutalso fromtheYiddish-

speakingJewish community and labormovement in NewYorkCity.41
ItwouldhavebeeneasyforRoosevelt to findfaultwiththesewomenand to deplore
an immigration policythathad let themin. A HenryCabot Lodge or a Madison
Grantwouldprobablyhaverespondedto a closeencounter withtheseTurkishJew-
ishwomenwithhorrorratherthanempathy, withdemandsfortheirdeportation or
exclusionratherthanfortheirprotection. But thatwas not Roosevelt'sreaction. He
was movedbytheirplight,feeling"deepsympathy forthempersonally." Moreover,
Rooseveltnoted,"thereis thelargerquestionof thesocialgood of thewholerace."
We musttakecareof them,he argued,fortheyrepresent the "mothers of . . . our
Americancitizenship One
forthenextgeneration." can discern in Roosevelt's reac-
tiona Victorianpaternalism thatstressed theneed to savethesepoor damselsfrom
theirdistress(althoughhis preferred remedy, unionizationof thewomen,was not
paternalistat all). Such a judgment,however, too readilyignoresRoosevelt's unam-
biguousinvitation to thesewomento becomepartof theAmericannation. going In
outamongthesepoorTurkish Jewish women,mixingeasilywiththem("gather around
meand tellyourstories," he implored themas themothers
at one point),and treating
of futureAmericans, Roosevelt wasshowingamplesolicitude and easewitha groupof
newimmigrants.42
Roosevelt'swillingness to grantthoseimmigrant women,or anywomen,therights
and dutiesof menwas anothermatter. The centralityof thewarriorto Roosevelt's
narrativesof nationbuilding,hisadmiration formuscularindividuals willingto use
force,and his abhorrence of effeminacy in men underscore the gendered character
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
admissionof femalesto thearmyand othersacredinstitutions of malecomradeship
wouldonlycompromise nationbuilding.
But women'sinferiority did not meanthatthey,or at leasttheEuro-Americans
amongthem,wereto be excludedfromthenation.Theircontributions as wivesand
mothers wereessential bothto the creation of new malecitizensand to those citizens'
moraleducation;womenwere,as Roosevelthad declaredof the New YorkCity
womenstrikers, the"mothers . .. ofourcitizenship." An interestingambiguity attaches
to Roosevelt's use of theword"our"in thatphrase.PerhapsRooseveltmeant"our"
torefertoallAmericans, maleandfemale, butitseemsmorelikelythat"our"refers only
to menand expresses Roosevelt's beliefthatwomen'sprimary rolewas to createmale
citizenswhileacceptingtheirownexclusionfromcitizenship.
Rooseveltenlarged hisconception ofwomen'sroleoverthefirst twodecadesof the
twentieth century. His interest in theconditionsofworkers and theimmigrant poor
notonlyled himto advocateunionization forwomenworkers butalso broughthim
41
Rooseveltto MichaelA. Schaap,Jan.24, 1913, in Letters ed. Morison,VII, 696-701.
Roosevelt,
of Theodore
42
Ibid.;AnneliseOrleck,CommonSenseand a LittleFire:Women Politicsin theUnitedStates,
and Working-Class
1900-1965 (Chapel Hill, 1995), 77-78. Emphasisadded. Madison Grant,ThePassingoftheGreatRace;or,the
RacialBasisofEuropeanHistory (New York,1916).
1300 The Journal
ofAmerican
History December1999

intocontactwithwomenProgressives suchas JaneAddamsand FlorenceKelleywho

advocatedwomansuffrage andotherreforms likelyto increasewomen'spoliticalinflu-
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'sestimation,weresuffering fromeffeminacy and thusfailingas fathers,
leaders,and soldiers,thefemalerolein buildingthenationassumedgreater impor-
tance.Byimproving thelivingand familialconditionsin whichmalechildrenwere
bornand raised,womenreformers could help ensurethatthe nextgeneration of
menwouldbe inculcatedwithmanlyvirtues.Rooseveltat timesacceptedtheneed
fora modifiedconceptionof masculinity thataccordedwiththe femalereformers'
emphasison cooperation,service,and social welfare,qualitiesthatothermen of
Roosevelt'stimederidedas fatalto men's"ruggedindividualism." As a signof the
growingpoliticalrolethatRooseveltenvisionedforwomen,he becamea supporter
of woman suffrage. and feminists,
Suffragists in turn,foundin Roosevelt'scivic
nationalism thelanguageto justifytheirstruggleforequality.
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
goal. Roosevelt's
civicnationalism retaineditsgenderedcast,reserving formenthe
opportunity and responsibility
to becomefreeand self-governing individuals.43

Civic Nationalismand the Problemof Race

In theabstract,
thetaskof reconcilingcivicnationalismwithracialnationalism
was
Roosevelt
straightforward. simplyarguedthatcertainraces-notablyAsiansandAfri-
can Americans-couldnotmeetthefundamental requirementsofAmericancitizen-
ship. "Only the veryhighestraces have been able" to make a successof self-
government, he wrotein a 1908 letter,
and it wouldbe foolish,evencontemptible,
to assumethat"utterlyundevelopedraces"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,"
Jour-
nal 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
PoliticsProvokedtheSpanish-Americanand Philippine-AmericanWars(New Haven, 1998); Bederman,Manliness
and Civilization,170-215; Nancy F. Cott, "Marriageand Women'sCitizenshipin the United States,1830-
1934,"American HistoricalReview,
103 (Dec. 1998), 1440-74.
to ArthurHamiltonLee, March7, 1908, in Letters
44 Roosevelt of Theodore ed. Morison,VI, 965.
Roosevelt,
 TheodoreRoosevelt Nationalism
andAmerican 1301

ideologicalwork.Thatwas certainly truein regardto theChinese,whomRoosevelt

despised.The ChineseExclusionAct of 1882, whichbarredChineseimmigrant
laborersfromentering thecountry, insuredthattheChineseAmericanpopulation
would not becomelargeenoughto pose a realproblemforAmericandemocracy.
Congresskeptthis1882 exclusionin placeuntilthe 1940s. Rooseveltdid notwant
to excludetheJapanese, a peoplewhomhe admired,buthe rathereasilyengineered
a policyofexclusion onceanti-Japanese in California
agitation madeone,in Roosevelt's
eyes,a politicalnecessity.45
The workof reconciling civicand racialnationalistprinciplesin regardto black
Americanswas anothermatteraltogether, becausetherelatively easyremedyof an
exclusionary immigration lawcouldnotsolvethe"Negroproblem."The corollary to
immigration exclusion-therepatriation of blackstoAfrica-seemedtoo impracti-
cal bytheearly1900s evento proposeas publicpolicy.
That Roosevelttolerated blacks'subordination to whitesand thoughtof themas
an inferiorraceis beyonddispute.He neverdeviatedfromthewordshe wroteto his
good friendOwen Wisterin 1906: "I entirely agreewithyou thatas a raceand in
the masstheyare altogether inferiorto whites."46He rarelyprotested the segrega-
tionistregimethat,duringtheyearsof his presidency, reshapedsocialrelationsin
theAmericanSouth.As president, he actuallyappointedfewerblacksto federal posi-
tionsthanhad his predecessor WilliamMcKinley.Duringtheseyears,Roosevelt
continuedto denigrate thefitness and honorof blacksoldiers,as he had done since
theSpanish-American War.In 1906, he orderedthedishonorable dischargeof 167
men of the all-blackTwenty-fifth UnitedStatesInfantry Regiment,allegingthat
theywerecovering up fora fewsoldierswhomayhaveassaulteda whitewomanand
participated in a raidagainstthewhiteresidents of Brownsville,Texas.The factsof
the case werehotlydebatedand werenevertrulyclarified.But thisdid not stop
Rooseveltfromdismissingscoresof black soldiers,includingfivewho had been
awardedtheCongressional Medal of Honorfortheirheroismin Cuba and thePhil-
ippines.It is unlikelythatRooseveltwouldhavemetedout equallyharshtreatment
to whitesoldiersaccusedof a cover-up.47
Yetthissamemanearnedtheloyalty of blacksand theenmityof southern whites
becauseon occasionheviolatedthecolorlineinsensational andhighly publicizedways.
He enragedsouthern whiteswhenhe appointeda blackman,WilliamD. Crum,to
thecollectorship of theportof Charleston, SouthCarolina,a prestigious federal
post,
and he infuriated themagainwhenhe shutdownthepostofficein Indianola,Mis-
sissippi,to punishlocal whiteswho had run theirAfricanAmericanpostmaster,
Minnie M. Cox, out of town.Roosevelt'sgreatestracial"crime"occurredwithin
monthsof his inauguration, whenhe invitedBookerT. Washington to theWhite

45 LucySalyer, LawsHarshas Tigers:ChineseImmigrants and theShapingofModernImmigration Law (Chapel

Hill, 1995), 94-138; Gyory,ClosingtheGate;Roy L. Garis,Immigration Restriction
(New York,1927), 308-54.
On Roosevelt'sadmirationfortheJapanese,see Rooseveltto GeorgeOtto Trevelyan, Sept. 12, 1905, in Letters
of
Theodore Roosevelt,ed. Morison,V, 22.
46Roosevelt to Owen Wister, April27, 1908, in Letters
of Theodore ed. Morison,V, 226.
Roosevelt,
47AlfredHolt Stone,Studiesin theAmerican RaceProblem(New York,1908), 313; Lane,Brownsville Affair.
1302 ofAmerican
TheJournal History December
1999

House forlunch.Not onlydid he thusbecome,in thewordsof theWashington Bee,

"thefirstPresidentoftheUnitedStatesto entertain a colouredman."He alsocommit-
ted,in thewordsof one keenobserver, "theone unpardonable violationoftheSouth-
ernracialcode"-"the breakingof breadbetweentheraceson equal terms."With
theexceptionof interracial sexualintercourse, therecouldbe no more"ultimate and
positiveexpression"of a commitment to socialequality.Manysouthern whitesnever
forgave Rooseveltforthetransgression.48
Whydid he do it?Recently, historians havetreatedRoosevelt's high-profilemeet-
ingswith,and appointments of, blacksas partof an elaborateand cynicalpolitical
gamein whichRooseveltwas attempting to securehis southernbase amongblack
Republicans;once he decidedthatthepoliticalpayoff fromthatbasewas too small,
he stoppedappointing blacksand begancourting southern whitesinstead.49
Rooseveltno doubtmadesuchcalculations, butitwouldbe a mistake his
tointerpret
entireapproachto theracequestionthrough thisMachiavellian lens.If Roosevelt,
in
general,endorsedthe notionthatthewhiteracewas supreme,he was nonetheless
impatient withtheidea thatthetwomajorAmericanracesoughtto haveno contact
witheachother.In personalterms, Roosevelt was an adventurer and boundary crosser
whowantedno restrictions on hisfreedom ofassociation. If he wantedto meetwitha
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,
regardlessofhisorherracialorreligious background. Thatis whyRoosevelt, on many
occasionsand at greatlength,declaredhiscommitment to treating "eachblackman
and each whiteman strictly [accordingto] . . . his meritsas a man,givinghimno
moreand no lessthanhe showshimself worthy to have."50Roosevelt, in otherwords,
could not entirelycontainhis behaviorwithinthe boundariescalled forby the
racializednationhe had laboredso hardto imagineand create.This was trueevenof
hiseffortsto redirect
Americanpoliticsthrough theNew Nationalism he unveiledin
1910,whichbecametheideologicalfoundation of theProgressive partyhe founded
in 1912. Rooseveltworkedhardin thiscampaignto do whathe had done on San
JuanHill-to bringEuropeanimmigrants closerto the centerof Americanlife
whilekeepingblacksand otherracialminorities on the periphery. And by many
measures he wassuccessful in doingso. ButRooseveltcontinuedtoviolatethesouth-
erners'racialcode in otherways,revealing yetagain his discomfort withwhathe
judgedarbitrary racialboundaries.
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
racialdiscriminationin 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.
 Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism 1303

The New Nationalism

The NewNationalism, a political

program invented bytheProgressive journalistHerbert
Crolyin 1908,wasintendedto offer class-tornAmericaa thoroughgoing planof eco-
nomicand politicalreconstruction. Crolycalledfora largestateto regulate thepred-
atorypracticesof big industry and to reinvigorate Americanlifewitha spiritof
cooperation and selflessness.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 look-
ing fora wayto reenter Americanpoliticsafterhis premature retirement fromthe
presidency in 1909,RooseveltembracedCroly'sNew Nationalismas hisown.51
Croly'sNew Nationalism alsoallowedRoosevelt to addressa glaring weakness in his
earlierformulations ofcivicnationalism. Roosevelt's nationalismhadalwayscontained
withinitthepromiseofeconomicopportunity andadvancement to thosewhoworked
hardand livedhonorably. But thecivicnationalist philosophythathe had formu-
latedinthe1890s,withitsfocuson equalcivilandpoliticalrights forallcitizens, could
notdeliver on thatpromise. thisphilosophy
Politically, oweda greatdealtoclassical lib-
eralism,especiallyin itsinsistencethatindividualemancipation wouldfollowuponthe
removal ofartificial
constraints on political
andcivicparticipation.Thus,Roosevelt had
believedthattheendingof discriminatory treatment in publicand privatelifewould
giveEuropeanimmigrants and otherdisadvantaged Americans ampleopportunity to
partakeoftheAmerican dream.ButRoosevelthad failedto gaugethenegative effects
of industrializationon individualopportunity and virtue.Belatedly, and aftermuch
proddingfromNew YorkCity'svigorouslabormovement, Rooseveltacknowledged
thatgrinding poverty was preventing workers, eventhosewithfullpoliticaland civil
rights,fromachievingeconomicsecurity or the leisurenecessary to cultivatetheir
civicvirtue.The poor neededwhatthe EnglisheconomistT. H. Marshallwould
latercall socialrights:rightsto limitson the hoursof work,to a decentwage,to
compensation forwork-related injuries,and to socialinsuranceagainstsickness, old
age, and deathforthemselves and theirfamilies.Once theypossessedsuch social
rights,citizenscouldgaineconomicsecurity and reachtheirfullestmoraland intel-
The New Nationalism
lectualpotential. madetheattainment ofsocialrights central to
itsprogram. Everyman,Rooseveltdeclared,wouldthenbe able "tomakeof himself
all thatin himlies"and "toreachthehighestpointto whichhis capacities. . . can
carryhim."In thiswaythepromiseof civicnationalism wouldbe fulfilled. 52

As a NewYorker, Roosevelt understood howlargea proportion oftheworking class

wereimmigrants and theirchildren.His New Nationalistprogramwas meantto
bringthemintothenation,notjustpolitically andculturally,buteconomically as well.
51 HerbertCroly,ThePromise ofAmericanLife(1909; Boston,1989); GeorgeE. Mowry,Theodore Roosevelt
and theProgressive
Movement(Madison, 1946); ArthurS. Link,Woodrow Wilsonand theProgressiveEra, 1910-
1917(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.
1304 ofAmerican
TheJournal History December
1999

As hismovement gathered momentum, Rooseveltattractedto it leadingsocialwel-

fareProgressives, suchas Paul Kellogg,JaneAddams,FrancesKellor,RobertWoods,
and LillianWald,who had laboredintensively withimmigrants in theirneighbor-
hoods,schools,and workplaces.For thesereformers, the plightof the European
immigrants-theinadequatewages,the slum conditionsin whichtheylived,the
infectious diseasesfromwhichtheysuffered, and theurbanvicesto whichsomeof
themhad succumbed(prostitution, gambling, and politicalcorruption)-symbolized
muchthatwaswrongwiththeUnitedStates.Theycalledforbetterworkingcondi-
tions,higherwages,improvedhousingand sanitation, playgrounds to givechildren
morewholesomerecreation, Americanization programs to teachimmigrants English,
andpublicmuseumsand librariesto cultivate
immigrant minds. As theygathered with
Rooseveltin Chicagoin 1912 to foundthe Progressive party, thesereformers were
giddywiththebeliefthattheirconcernshad movedfromobscurecharity and aca-
demic conferences to the verycenterof Americanpolitics."A greatparty,"Jane
Addamsexclaimedin herspeechsecondingRoosevelt'snomination,"has pledged
itselfto theprotection of children, to thecareof theaged,to thereliefof overworked
girls,to thesafeguarding of burdenedmen."The Progressive partyhad become"the
Americanexponentof a world-wide movement towardjustersocialconditions." In
theprocess, ithelpeddefinean agendathatwouldremaincentraltoAmerican reform
forfifty years.53
Buttheissueofraceintruded on thisprogram of nationalistrenewal. The Progres-
sivepartyhadraisedblackhopes,drawing manyAfrican American votersto Roosevelt.
Eventhosewhoremainedsuspiciousof Rooseveltfoundin theProgressive pledgeto
helpthemostdisadvantaged Americansa compelling reasonto throwtheirsupport
behindthisnew movement. In thesummerof 1912, blackRepublicansin several
southern stateslefttheirpartyandputtogether delegateslatesto sendto theProgres-
siveparty's convention. ButRooseveltand hissupporters refused to seatthem,choos-
ingto honorthecredentials of lily-white delegationsfromthosestatesinstead.54
The blackdelegates weretheproperly electedones,butRoosevelt, seeingan oppor-
tunityto builda Progressive baseamongsouthern whitesdissatisfied withtheDem-
ocraticparty, brushedpropriety aside.The southern whiteswhomRooseveltwanted
towoo wouldjoin theProgressive partyonlyon theconditionthatthepartyendorse
theprinciples of whitesupremacy, and thatmeantan acceptanceof segregation and
blackdisfranchisement in theSouth.Rooseveltacquiescedin thatdemand,prevail-

Daniel Levine,JaneAddamsand theLiberalTradition (Madison,1971), 190-91; JohnAllenGable, TheBull

MooseYears:Theodore Rooseveltand theProgressiveParty(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,1912-
1965" (Ph.D. diss.,JohnsHopkinsUniversity, 1995), ch. 1. On theProgressive
reformers'engagement withthe
newimmigrants and theirproblems,see also twovolumesof thePittsburgh Survey,an exhaustiveexaminationof
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 briefintroduc-
tionto thisproject,see Paul U. Kellogg,"The Pittsburgh Survey,"Charities
and theCommons, 21 (Jan. 1909),
517-26.
54 Gable,BullMooseYears, 60-74.
 Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism 1305

ing upon the Progressive conventioncommitteeto denysouthernblackdelegates

theirseats.55
Fromtheperspective of hiscivicnationalism, thisshouldnothavebeena difficult
moveforRoosevelt to makeorjustify.He couldhavestressed howfewsouthern blacks
had raisedthemselves to a levelwheretheywouldbe capableofhandlingthepolitical
alreadyvestedin whites.ButRooseveltfeltcompelledto mounta far
responsibilities
morecomplexdefense, forhisdecisionto subordinate blackshaddrawna firestormof
criticismwithinand beyondtheProgressive party.56
Rooseveltstressedtheimpotenceand corruption of blackRepublicanism in the
South,thebasefrom whichtheProgressives wouldhavedrawntheirsupport. He empha-
sizedhissupportforblackparticipation in theNorthand proudly pointedto theblack
menwhohad beenelectedmembers ofdelegations fromthirteen northern and border
states."The ProgressiveParty,"Roosevelt declared,"isalready,at itsverybirth, endeav-
oringin theseStates,in itshome,to actwithfullerrecognition of therightsof the
coloredmanthanevertheRepublican party did."Finally,he insistedthatracialprogress
in theSouthwouldcome,not fromhigh-handed northern attempts to forcea new
racialorderon thatrecalcitrantregion,
butfromthemanywell-intentioned "whitemen
in theSouthsincerely desirousof doingjusticeto thecoloredman."Onlythese"men
of justiceand of visionas wellas of strength and leadership," Rooseveltwrote,can
do forthecoloredman "whatneithertheNorthern whitemannorthecoloredmen
themselves cando":securetherightoffreepoliticalexpression "tothenegrowhoshows
he possessestheintelligence,integrity,
andself-respect whichjustify suchrightofpolit-
icalexpressionin hiswhiteneighbor." The whitedelegatesto theProgressive conven-
tion,Rooseveltimplied,wereprecisely the sortof wise southernmen who would
workon theNegro'sbehalf.57
Roosevelt'srationalizationscouldnothidehowmuchhisactionshad violatedthe
spiritof the Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments, whichforbadediscrimination
againstcitizenson thebasisof color,norhow muchsouthern whiteProgressives-
eventhoseof themwhomRooseveltconsideredthewisest-wantedto perpetuate
whitesupremacy, notupendit.And to asksouthern blacksto trusttheirfateto well-
intentioned whiteneighbors was not onlyto insulttheircapacityforpoliticalself-
mobilization butalso to demandthattheyacquiescein theirownsubordination.
Roosevelt'sfellowProgressivesattackedhimon all thesegrounds, as wellas others.
ButRooseveltstuckto hisguns,and a majority of Progressivesassentedto Roosevelt's
policy.Yet,despitehisvictory, Roosevelthad hurthimselfwiththewhiteSouth.His
publicpronouncements on thedecisionto excludetheblackdelegateswereagoniz-
inglyapologeticand long-winded; theyall includedlengthyiterations of his civic

Ibid.; GeorgeE. Mowry,"The South and the Progressive LilyWhite Partyof 1912,"Journalof Southern
History,6 (May 1940), 237-47; Dewey W. GranthamJr.,"The Progressive Movementand the Negro,"South
AltanticQuarterly,54 (Oct. 1955), 461-77; ArthurS. Link,"The Negroas a Factorin theCampaignof 1912,"
JournalofNegroHistory, 32 (Jan.1947), 81-99.
56Grantham, "ProgressiveMovementand theNegro";Link,"Negroas a Factorin theCampaignof 1912."
57ArthurS. Link,ed., "Correspondence Party's'LilyWhite'Policyin 1912,"Jour-
Relatingto theProgressive
nal ofSouthern History,10 (Nov. 1944), 483-88; TheodoreRoosevelt,"The Progressivesand theColoredMan,"
1912, in Works ofTheodore ed. Hagedorn,XVII, 304-5.
Roosevelt,
1306 TheJournal
ofAmerican
History December
1999

nationalistconviction
thateveryAmericanbe guaranteed "hisrightto life,to liberty,
to protectionfrominjustice"withoutregardto creed,birthplace, socialstation,or
color.In hiscommunications and speeches,Rooseveltalso listedthemanyefforts by
theProgressivepartyin theNorthto guarantee blackstheirpoliticalrights. None of
thiswentoververywell withwhitesoutherners who werecontemplating joining
Roosevelt'scrusade.And then,on theeveof theelection,Rooseveltfurther alienated
hispotentialwhitesouthern supporters
bycommitting another"unpardonable viola-
tionof theSouthernracialcode":He dinedwithtwoblacksin a RhodeIslandhotel,
reminding whitesupremacists everywhereof his originalsin-his White House
lunch,more than a decade earlier,with BookerT. Washington.The Progressive
party'ssoutherncampaignwas a fiasco,nettingRooseveltmanyfewervotesthanhe
had won as a Republicanin 1904.58

Thereareat leasttwowaysto interpret theeventsof 1912. The first is to emphasize

the hold that the racial nationalisttraditionexercisedover the imaginationof
Rooseveltand others.Throughouthis life,Rooseveltbelievedthatmostnonwhites
belongedto inferior raceswithlimitedcapacitiesforself-government. Only thefew
individuals withinthoseraceswho demonstrated thattheyhad liftedthemselves to
the levelof Europeanswereto be rewardedwitha fullcomplementof civiland
socialrights. Thiskindof thinking permittedRooseveltand hissupporters at thePro-
gressive party's1912 convention to reinscribe
African Americansubordination into
theirliberalpolitics;thisparticular acttakeson addedsignificance becauseofthecon-
vention's rolein defining modernAmericanliberalism. It is nottoo muchto saythat
therefusal to seatblackdelegatesseta precedent thatwouldhauntliberalpoliticsfor
muchof therestof thetwentieth century.
But it is equallystriking that,in upholdingracialnationalism in 1912, Roosevelt
createda politicaland personalmessforhimselfUnlikehisexcisionof blacksoldiers
fromtheRoughRidernarrative, an act he had executedin 1899 withoutshameor
hesitation, Rooseveltwas troubledbyhisexclusionof blackdelegatesfromthe1912
convention. In theuncertain termsin whichhe rationalized thisexclusionand in the
inconsistency of hisbehavioron the"racequestion,"we can detecttheinfluence of
thecivicnationalist ideal.This idealcould-and did-destabilize Roosevelt's racial
mythsand practices, evenas it failedto undercutthemaltogether.
In Roosevelt's actionsin 1912,then,we can discernthetrueAmericandilemma-
a nationalidentitydividedagainstitself.On the one hand,Rooseveltand others
conceivedofAmericaas a landmeantforEuropeansinwhichblackshad eithera sub-
ordinate placeor no placeat all. On theotherhand,theysubscribed to a civicnation-
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 ProgressiveParty's'LilyWhite' Policyin 1912," 482; Mowry,
"Southand theProgressive LilyWhitePartyof 1912," 246; Link,"Negroas a Factorin theCampaignof 1912,"
97-98.
 Theodore
Roosevelt
andAmerican
Nationalism 1307

view,as it did in 1912; othertimesit was obscured,as imagesof thetwoAmericas

developed separately fromeachother, dominating different andcultural
political forms.
But bothsprangwithequal forcefromthesamesource-Americannationalism-
and bothanimatedAmericanpoliticswithequal intensity.
Eventually, thecontradiction betweenthecivicand racializedformsofAmerican
nationalism becametoo greatforlargenumbersof Americansto tolerate.But that
momenttooka longtimeto arrive. Onlyin the1960sdid a greatbattleeruptoverthe
ofupholding
desirability a nationso steepedin racializednotionsofbelonging. We are
still,today,endeavoring to figure outwhether wewanta strong Americannationand
whetherone can be builtwithoutresuscitating racializedpatternsof exclusion.But
equallypuzzlingis thequestionof howAmericannationalism flourishedforso long
in sucha dividedstate.One answeris easy:that,whenpush came to shove,racial
nationalism wastheonlytradition thatmatteredtowhiteAmericans. As muchas these
Americans, eventheliberals amongthem,expressed a commitment to equalrights,they
alwaysbelievedthatwhiteswerebetter andmoredeserving thanwerepeopleofcolor.
Roosevelt'scase,however, suggests a morecomplexand confusing answer:thatthe
kindof restrictive definition of socialordercalledforbytheracialnationalist tradi-
tionprovedtoo constraining to humanimagination. As committed as Rooseveltwas
to celebrating theUnitedStatesas a whitenation,he neverfeltentirely comfortable
livingwithinsuchraciallyrigidborders.Roosevelthad alwaysbeen an adventurer,
drawnto frontiers, whether theywerelocatedin theAmericanWest,in Cuba, or in
immigrant districts in NewYorkCity.In hishistorical writinghe celebratedthemix-
of
ing peoples; in his his
personallife,he enjoyed encounters the
with Turkish Jew-
ishwomenworkers in New York,withBookerT. Washington in theWhiteHouse,
and even,initially, withtheblacksoldierson San JuanHill. Forsuchan individual,
havingtwonations-a racialnationand a civicnation-may havebeenbetterthan
havingone, forit allowedhimto satisfy quitedifferent strivings.He could pursue
socialorderthroughracialhierarchy evenas he foundpersonalsatisfaction through
hisfreedom to associatewithindividuals ofwidelydivergent races,and
nationalities,
vocations.Fromthisperspective, thedividedordoublecharacter ofAmerican nation-
alismposesmuchlessof a problem;whileit undoubtedly causedmoments of embar-
rassmentand politicalfailure,it also mayhave helpedto sustainnationalists like
Roosevelt whocouldnotfindinonlyoneconception ofthenationsatisfactionfortheir
ambitionsand needs.
One can discernin thisneedto inhabit"twonations"an implicitcritiqueof the
verynotionthatnationhoodwas an effective vehicleforsocialbondingand personal
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 immigrants would-bearistocrats,
to anglophiliac who daredto suggest
thattheylovedsomeEuropeannationas muchas theylovedAmerica.ButRoosevelt
wasalsohuman,and hishumanity overflowed
regularly thevessel-the nation-into
whichhe so insistently pouredall hisstrivings and aspirations.