An American and Nothing Else: The Great War and the Battle for National Belonging

Introduction

When the United States entered the Great War, mass mobilization permeated every aspect of American life. Americans answered the call—for service and sacrifice, money and time, life and loyalty—with an ambivalence that reflected the conflicting interests of emerging populations of a rapidly changing nation. The war raised new issues and exacerbated old ones already cleaving the country, putting strain on the question of national ideals and identity.

“We are all Americans and nothing else,” wrote former president Theodore Roosevelt in 1918. “And each, without regard to his birthplace, creed, or national origin.” Yet during the war Roosevelt had trumpeted a brand of belligerent nationalism, rooted in manhood, white supremacy, and imperial conquest. Civilian and military mobilizations often relied on oppressive and exclusionary tactics to uphold their patriotic projects. As President Woodrow Wilson vowed to make the world safe for democracy, home front battles for basic rights and liberties belied the integrity of that pledge.

An American and Nothing Else explores this moment of paradox at its centennial. “100% Americanism” marginalized innumerable civilians and soldiers, even while soliciting their uncritical support. Their manifold response of dedication and dissent cast criticism on American hypocrisy and energized debates about belonging and inclusion. This intense period of cohesion and tension fundamentally shaped American society in the century that followed.

This exhibit was curated by Anna Duensing, Ph.D., then a graduate student in History and African American Studies at Yale University. It first ran as a physical exhibit in the Memorabilia Room of Sterling Memorial Library in Spring 2018 to mark the centennial of the end of the First World War.

The project in both its physical and online forms was made possible by the scholarship of Adriane Lentz-Smith, Richard Slotkin, David Kennedy, Christopher Capozzola, and Chad Williams.  A very special thanks to Kerri Sancomb, Matthew Jacobson, Michael Printy, and the staff and curators at Manuscripts and Archives and the Beinecke Rare Book & Manuscript Library.

Please direct all questions and comments to anna.duensing@yale.edu.