meta_pixel
Tapesearch Logo
Log in
BackStory

212: The Melting Pot: Americans and Assimilation

BackStory

BackStory

History, Education

4.72.9K Ratings

🗓️ 5 July 2019

⏱️ 61 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the spirit of July 4th, BackStory revisits an episode on the abiding question: What does it mean to be an American? We’ll explore 19th-century notions of who could become an American and the ways they were expected to change. Plus, we’ll discuss how much room there was for a hyphenated American identity in the past and if there is any room for it today.

Image: Cover of Theater Program for Israel Zangwill's play "The Melting Pot," 1916. Source: Wikimedia Commons

BackStory is funded in part by our listeners. You can help keep the episodes coming by supporting the show: https://www.backstoryradio.org/support

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0

Matrix Founding for Backstories provided by an anonymous donor, the National Dama for the Humanities, and the Joseph and Robert Cornell Memorial Foundation.

0:12.0

From Virginia Humanities, this is Backstory.

0:20.0

Welcome to Backstory, the show that explains the history behind today's headlines. I'm Nathan Connolly.

0:26.0

I'm Joanne Freeman.

0:27.0

And I'm Brian Ballow.

0:29.0

Brian, Ed Ayers, Nathan and I are all historians. Each week we explore a topic that's been in the news.

0:35.0

And we're going to start today's show in New York City in 1915.

0:39.0

It's Columbus Day, and a crowd of 2500 people is gathered in glittering Carnegie Hall.

0:45.0

The Knights of Columbus, an Italian fraternal organization, is hosting an event.

0:51.0

It's a celebration of Christopher Columbus, a source of Italian-American pride,

0:56.0

and a man that many considered to be the first Italian immigrant.

1:00.0

Or, as some saw it, the first immigrant to America of any nationality.

1:09.0

Four centuries and a quarter have gone by since Columbus, by discovering America,

1:14.0

opened the greatest era in world history.

1:18.0

It is eminently fitting to make an address on Americanism before this society.

1:24.0

And Theodore Roosevelt, the former president, War Hero, is addressing the subject of what it means to be an American.

1:36.0

This is historian Bruce Schoeman.

1:39.0

Of whether people from other countries can fully be American,

1:43.0

whether you can trust the loyalty of immigrants and their children.

1:49.0

He says this address remains a touchstone in the debate over multiculturalism.

1:55.0

So Roosevelt, in the speech, says that there is no room in this country for hyphenated Americanism.

2:03.0

When I refer to hyphenated Americans, I do not refer to naturalized Americans.

...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from BackStory, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of BackStory and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.

Copyright © Tapesearch 2025.