PURSUIT OF ETHNIC LOYALTY
Immigrant Americanization During World War I Not surprisingly, given that the war was against Germany, Americanizers devoted much of their attention to German Americans, but this focus did not spare other ethnic groups, including Norwegian Americans, from expectations of uncompromised loyalty.
D
uring Word War I, as part of a campaign to engender patriotic orthodoxy, national and state agencies systematically pressured immigrants to “Americanize,” to embrace undivided national loyalty and conform to appropriate social and cultural norms. Persistent concerns about aliens’ willingness and capacity to assimilate dated from the early Republic, yet the nation concurrently had welcomed most foreign arrivals. Ethnic enclaves proliferated, allowing the immigrants and their progeny to preserve and perpetuate many of their “Old World” mores. Tolerance of this foreign presence changed abruptly as the U.S. prepared for and then fought in the Great War. Government agents and concerned citizens intensely monitored aliens’ behavior. Even groups theretofore considered to be the “right kind” of immigrants— those from northern and western Europe—came under intense scrutiny and experienced uncompromising demands to jettison their purportedly subversive foreign attributes and engage in properly patriotic American practices. To Americanizers, World War I was a clash of nations, not mere armies, and even the prospect of the U.S. playing a belligerent role demanded unequivocal cohesion. This imperative could not be left to chance, to the whims of individuals or groups. Even before the U.S. declared war, national leaders foresaw the need to utilize every resident’s strengths in order to meet the potential demands of a military engagement. Toward this end, Congress in 1916 created the Council of National Defense, envisioning it as public/private collaboration to promote readiness, and it then called upon governors to establish state and county councils. Involvement in combat intensified the groups’ efforts, and activities at all levels focused on immigrants. Working with other agencies, the councils made a priority of “welding of the many races and nationalities comprising America’s thirteen million foreign 6
born and thirty-three million of foreign origin into a unified American people back of the fighting line,” designating it “a task of large importance to the successful persecution of the war.”1 Iowans dutifully pursued this directive. An un-dated State Council of Defense Resolution, prepared by Secretary Herbert Metcalf, made clear the “need in Iowa and in the country of militant patriotism, aggressive patriotism, the patriotism that will not tolerate treason in any form or in any man, the patriotism that will gladly make sacrifices for our country in the time of its great need.” On the battlefields, the U.S. was “fighting for its very life,” and defeat would mean German subjugation of U.S. freedom. Some Americans may have presumed the right to dissent—equated with public sympathy for Germany—but that liberty ceased to exist after the United States declared war. Thereafter, all Iowans had an obligation to champion “fighting red-blooded patriotism” and condemn every traitorous presence in their midst. Proper behavior included support for U.S. troops, “soldiers in spirit and heart,” who would be “an indomitable and irresistible force on the western front,” as well as loyalty to the Wilson Administration and other government officials. Expectations of conformity extended to all parts of the state, to its churches, schools, and workplaces. Dedication to the nation at this moment of crisis, averred the Scott County Defense Council, was a responsibility which obliged all Americans to contribute based on “ability,” not “willingness.”2 Everyone could find some way to advance these aims. The Defense Council and its subordinate units intended to mobilize the state’s resources “in such a manner as to make them available for war” and enhance patriotism through educational programs and public speeches. To accomplish the former, it sought to conserve pertinent commodities, prevent speculation, assist farmers in maximizing yields, and promote Vesterheim