Fighting to Be American: From the Civil War through World War I

• In Event: Modes of Labor and Access to Citizenship: Looking beyond Judith Shklar

Abstract

The period between the beginning of the Civil War and the end of World War I saw the transformation of the United States in economic, social, and geopolitical terms and featuring significant political development, defined as durable shifts in governing orders. It is also widely recognized as a troubled period in American history around questions of race despite the destruction of slavery and the inception of birthright citizenship, as the dream of Reconstruction died and cross-partisan collaboration supported white supremacist and xenophobic policy agendas at the state and federal levels.
During these years, men of color volunteered for and were drafted into service in the American military. As an institution, the military, like other institutions, experienced major changes during this period, but in contrast to other American institutions, the military at times incorporated men of color and overall, provided pathways to rights and civic membership for service members and veterans. Men of color who served and their advocates sought out this space as a rare institutional opportunity to secure individual and group status. And with each military mobilization, advocates built on the memory of service and sacrifice to ground arguments for advancement both within the military and more broadly.
Examining these struggles focuses attention on several important themes in American politics and political development. 1) How can we observe and understand development beyond looking for shifts in governing authority? 2) What new insights can we gain about race and American politics by considering the intercurrence between military institutions and their imperatives on the one hand and the developing domestic politics and institutions of white supremacy? 3) What can we learn about the role of ideas and memory in a period of American history during which people of color had little room for maneuver, and how did ideas and memory prepare the ground from which a robust and successful civil rights movement would ultimately emerge?

Author

• Julie L. Novkov, University at Albany, SUNY