Theodore Roosevelt, widely known as Teddy Roosevelt, was the 26th President of the United States and a prominent figure in American history. During his presidency, immigration was a significant issue, and Roosevelt had strong opinions on the subject. His quotes on immigration still resonate today and offer valuable insight into his perspective on the matter.
Roosevelt believed in the importance of immigration to the United States, but he also emphasized the need for immigrants to assimilate into American society. He was a proponent of the idea that immigrants should embrace American values and contribute to the country’s growth and prosperity. His quotes on immigration reflect his complex and nuanced views on the topic, making them worth revisiting in today’s discussions on immigration policy.
In this article, we will explore some of Teddy Roosevelt’s most notable quotes on immigration and delve into the meaning behind his words. Whether you are a history enthusiast, a student of politics, or simply interested in understanding the perspectives of past leaders, Roosevelt’s quotes on immigration are a compelling subject to explore. Read on to discover the wisdom and insight that Teddy Roosevelt had to offer on the topic of immigration.
Read these teddy roosevelt immigration quotes
“In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person’s becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American.”
“We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile. We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house; and we have room for but one soul loyalty, and that is loyalty to the American people.”
“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English- Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.”
“We freely extend the hand of welcome and good fellowship to every man, no matter what his creed or birthplace, who comes here honestly intent on becoming a good United States citizen like the rest of us; but we have a right to demand that every man who comes here becomes in good faith an American and nothing else.”
“The immigrant is bound to be affected by the life and atmosphere of the new nation in which he has cast his lot, and is bound to become, in all essential respects, a different man from his brother who remains beyond the ocean.”
“We cannot have too much of industrialism, we cannot have too much development; but we are not to be excused if we permit the welfare of the wage-workers to be forgotten in the mad chase after wealth.”
“Immigrants who come here in good faith become Americans and assimilate themselves to us, they shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such men because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.”
“There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn’t an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag, and this excludes the red flag, which symbolizes all wars against liberty and civilization, just as much as it excludes any foreign flag of a nation to which we are hostile.”
“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.”
“We cannot afford to continue to use hundreds of thousands of immigrants merely as industrial assets while they remain social outcasts and menaces any more than fifty years ago we could afford to keep the black man merely as an industrial asset and not as a human being.”
“The immigrant is bound to be affected by the life and atmosphere of the new nation in which he has cast his lot, and is bound to become, in all essential respects, a different man from his brother who remains beyond the ocean.”
“The immigrant is not an American, and never can be, if he remains in his native land; but if he comes here and becomes an American, he assimilates himself to us, he will be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.”
“Every immigrant who comes here should be required within five years to learn English or leave the country.”
“We should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else, for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin.”
“We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language, for we intend to see that the crucible turns our people out as Americans, of American nationality, and not as dwellers in a polyglot boarding house.”
“We must Americanize in every way, in speech, in political ideas and principles, and in their way of looking at the relations between church and state.”
“We keep just as high a standard of living as any country on the globe. No country can, of course, be just as rich as any other country, unless it has a lower standard of living. We must keep just as high a standard of living, but we must keep it in part by decreasing our expenses and increasing our wages.”
“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.”
“We cannot afford to continue to use hundreds of thousands of immigrants merely as industrial assets while they remain social outcasts and menaces any more than fifty years ago we could afford to keep the black man merely as an industrial asset and not as a human being.”
“The one absolutely certain way of bringing this nation to ruin, of preventing all possibility of its continuing to be a nation at all, would be to permit it to become a tangle of squabbling nationalities, an intricate knot of German-Americans, Irish-Americans, English-Americans, French-Americans, Scandinavian-Americans or Italian-Americans, each preserving its separate nationality, each at heart feeling more sympathy with Europeans of that nationality than with the other citizens of the American Republic.”
