History of the National Identity of the United States of America

The Recent Controversy over the proposal to build an Islamic community center within two blocks of the former site of the World Trade Center in New York has generated a debate about what it means to be an "American".

Among the questions raised in this debate are whether or not any group of immigrants might be said to "dilute" the American national identity and whether or not any particular religion might be said to be culturally incompatible with American values.

These questions, of course, require unpacking. Participants in this discussion must clarify how they would describe or define the "American national identity," if there is one. What does this national identity look like? What does it consist of? What are its origins? Has it changed over time; if so, what circumstances and conditions brought about this change?

Likewise, for "American values": What are they? How are they similar or distinct from the values of other nations? What makes them distinctively "American"? Where did these values come from? What role or roles do they play in American society (for better or for worse)? What functions do they serve? Who gets to shape and contribute to them? Under what circumstances do they get to do so?

Participants in the inquiry on this page, and other pages linked to it will also be expected to explore the historical component of this discussion. They will be invited to contrast and compare the current debate about whether or not Islam is suited for the American national identity and "American values" with a similar debate that took place during the first 150 years of the American republic concerning Roman Catholicism.

Participants in this inquiry are invited to examine the arguments, during most of American history, that Roman Catholics were not suitable to share in, or contribute to, the American national identity and the shaping of American values. What were the arguments against the possibility of Roman Catholics ever to become "good Americans"? What did Roman Catholics do to overcome the suspicion that they could never share in, or contribute to American values? How did non-Catholic Americans change in terms of how they thought about these things? What historic factors and events might have contributed to this change, and in what ways? How might this history of Roman Catholic immigrants during the late 19th and early 20th century inform current discussions about Islamic immigrants during the early 21st century concerning American identity and values?

Our project is to open up a conversation so that we can begin to explore these questions. Contributions to this page should include references to sources (including internet links) that will be helpful in exploring this topic. At the top of this page you will notice a "discussion" tab which can be used to navigate to a discussion on this topic and to see how the sources on this resource page are being used to inform that discussion.