Americanization, Part 1

Americanization, Part 1 is a scholarly examination of national identity within the fields of linguistics and language arts and disciplines. Thomas Ricento analyzes the Americanization era from 1901 to 1927, challenging the notion that the American idea is a universal set of secular and democratic values. By applying critical discourse analysis to the speeches and texts of influential political figures and intellectuals, this volume 1 study reveals how national identity was constructed to privilege Anglo-Saxonism, white race, and Protestant Christianity.

The text demonstrates that the foundations of Americanism were rooted in specific cultural and religious biases rather than inclusive Enlightenment ideals. Ricento connects these historical patterns to the modern rise of right-wing political thought, illustrating how these enduring constructions continue to impact the status of the democratic republic. This academic work provides a rigorous linguistic critique of the social forces that shaped early twentieth-century American identity.