The Identity of America: Czolgosz Inadvertent Gift The concept of identity is an excessively fragile one and one with which all people struggle at some point in their lives. This fragility with regards to age is also prevalent when applied to nations, particularly the United States at the turn of the twentieth century during the time of William McKinley’s presidency. As is evident in Eric Rauchway’s book, Murdering McKinley: The Making of Theodore Roosevelt’s America, this fragility became much more obvious to the people of the United States when he was assassinated by the anarchist immigrant, Leon Czolgosz. His foreign background was simultaneously brought into question and shattered the thin mirror of falsehood with which the American
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Through Leon Czolgosz’s trial, the limitations of the American identity were finally laid bare on a national stage for all to see. The fact that the trial itself was rushed through so quickly that even the psychological evaluation given to him was minimal at best combined with the media’s overt portrayal of Leon. Being viewed as an extremely anarchistic immigrant, even though he was neither of those, caused overt eagerness to convict him and be through with it, which is generally not found in cases as high profile as this due to a need for highly accurate documentation. The eagerness that was existent came from the people who were in power, which consisted of primarily the minority group of white capitalists who represented the face of America. This group of people wanted nothing more than to keep the oppressed “other half” from being in the spotlight of the nation while having a voice in the system. The people of the United States were finally able to notice just how restricted access to the title “American” was. Using this as a starting point, the movement towards allowing all citizens of the nation to have said title began. Although it was slow and quiet at first, the resulting effects of Leon Czolgosz’s trial were much greater than anyone realized at the time. In a very strange way, his actions, however terrible they might have been, immensely benefitted the nation’s socioeconomical status while moving America ever further on the path to finding a new identity. This gave President Roosevelt a solid foundation for the birth of a new era of reformation, nonetheless ostracizing this concurrent occasion based exclusively on
Through Leon Czolgosz’s trial, the limitations of the American identity were finally laid bare on a national stage for all to see. The fact that the trial itself was rushed through so quickly that even the psychological evaluation given to him was minimal at best combined with the media’s overt portrayal of Leon. Being viewed as an extremely anarchistic immigrant, even though he was neither of those, caused overt eagerness to convict him and be through with it, which is generally not found in cases as high profile as this due to a need for highly accurate documentation. The eagerness that was existent came from the people who were in power, which consisted of primarily the minority group of white capitalists who represented the face of America. This group of people wanted nothing more than to keep the oppressed “other half” from being in the spotlight of the nation while having a voice in the system. The people of the United States were finally able to notice just how restricted access to the title “American” was. Using this as a starting point, the movement towards allowing all citizens of the nation to have said title began. Although it was slow and quiet at first, the resulting effects of Leon Czolgosz’s trial were much greater than anyone realized at the time. In a very strange way, his actions, however terrible they might have been, immensely benefitted the nation’s socioeconomical status while moving America ever further on the path to finding a new identity. This gave President Roosevelt a solid foundation for the birth of a new era of reformation, nonetheless ostracizing this concurrent occasion based exclusively on