At least he gave serious attention to nationalism as a mode of American groupness.
The American nation, he proclaimed, “was formed by an idea, a universal idea.” This capacious foundation meant “everyone could be included, and if he were of good will, assimilated.” To justify this claim, however, Kohn had to ignore some uncomfortable historical exceptions to his claim (slavery, for example, the US Civil War, Chinese exclusion, anti-immigrant nativism) as well as such contemporary realities as racial segregation throughout the Southern states and in the US Army then fighting to defeat fascism in Europe and Asia. The immigré author found in the United States the ideal embodiment of these values. Hans Kohn’s formidable essay The Idea of Nationalism first appeared in 1944, a distant historical era when the liberal ideals of individual freedom and equality appeared to be triumphant in the waning days of World War II. Rothera (University of Arkansas - Fort Smith)
Published on H-Nationalism (December, 2019)Ĭommissioned by Evan C. Scott-Childress (State University of New York at New Paltz)
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