Historical Studies (Chinese Edition)

No.2, 2018

 

American Legion and the “One Hundred Percent Americanism” in the Early 20th Century (Abstract)

 

Zhang Dapeng

 

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the United States, having undergone rapid industrial development for 40 years, faced a series of crises, including the intensification of racial and ethnic conflicts, the worsening of labor-management relations, the influx of “un-American” ideas and the eroding of traditional civic virtues. In this context, the ideological connotation of “Americanism” had expanded and transformed. The American Legion, established in 1919, actively held and participated in a series of civic activities with its strong organizational resources, large membership, the political identity of veterans of its members, and its extensive political and business relations. It strongly promoted “one hundred percent Americanism” centering on Anglo-Saxon values, and sought to make all Americans accept this idea at a broader and deeper level, in order to meet the spiritual challenges facing the whole society. Campaigns conducted or taken part in by the Legion in the 1920s included combating “un-American” activities and ideas, promoting the “Americanization” movement to transform new immigrants, and supervising the moral education of the younger generation of American citizens, among others. All these not only integrated and transformed the old ideology of “Americanism,” but also helped shape the “conservative American nationalist” ideology that has continued through the 20th century into this day.