Call number: LD2668 .T4 1961 D38

During the most active years of his life, Theodore Roosevelt lived in an age which was characterized by imperialism. From the time of his youth until the time of his retirement, the Great Powers of Europe were busily engaged extending their political domination over large areas of the world with a view of exploiting these areas economically and otherwise. The United States had been practicing a similar form of imperialism within the limits of North America as its frontier moved westwards. At the turn of the century the country turned from expansion on the American continent to expansion overseas. Roosevelt participated in this latter wave of American imperialism, and the terms of his presidency were wedged in between this and a minor wave of American imperialism in the Caribbean area which took place in the decades following his period. For this reason many people have come to regard Roosevelt as an imperialist and his presidency as an era of imperialism also. The purpose of this thesis is to prove that, although not untainted by the spirit of Manifest Destiny himself, as President of the United States, Roosevelt pursued a nationalist course in his relations with the other nations of the world. Roosevelt's aims in foreign affairs were basically simple. An ultra-nationalist and super-patriot, he believed that his country had a mission in life. This mission was to serve as the beacon of light of progressive civilization in a world of states struggling to better themselves and so reach the goal so happily attained by the United States. The methods he employed in foreign affairs were dominated by this belief. Thus he felt it not improper to use, at times, unethical means to achieve his idealistic ends. The main instrument he employed in this field was his 'big stick' which served him in as many ways as the occasion warranted. And since the 'stick' was used in defence of the 'honor', security and prestige of the United States, Roosevelt assumed that it was of little moment if heads were knocked within the area the 'big stick' was wielded. As a nationalist, and from a short-range and rather narrow point of view, Roosevelt's foreign policy was successful. But viewed from the standpoint of two generations later, his success was mediocre. / Arts, Faculty of / History, Department of / Graduate

A study of the foreign policies of Theodore Roosevelt.

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This project asserts that male Naturalist authors were not “hypermasculine” acolytes of strident manhood, but instead offer alternative constructions which they portray as less traumatic and more cohesive than prevailing social notions of normative male behavior. I maintain that the rise of the concept of manhood advocated by Theodore Roosevelt in the early decades of the twentieth century contributed to this misconception, for it generated a discourse of “manly” individualism which became equated with socially acceptable performances of masculinity for many Americans. My first chapter illustrates the gradual evolution of an individualistic, violent, and strident concept of manhood, which I label “strenuous masculinity,” through the rhetoric of Theodore Roosevelt. The second chapter explores the ways in which Stephen Crane’s fiction illuminates the trauma and confusion inherent in strenuous concepts of manhood. Many of Crane’s stories, like “Five White Mice,” demonstrate the failure of individualism, while others, like “The Open Boat,” document a more positive construction of what I call “homosocial manhood.” In my third and final chapter, I attempt to prove that Richard Wright’s early texts showcase a range of possible outcomes of black male attempts to stand up to racial oppression. I document that Uncle Tom’s Children and Native Son both depict a continuum of confrontation, with individual violence on one end of the spectrum and non-violent group protest on the other. Furthermore, because individual resistance is consistently equated with the suffering and death of the protagonists, my project implies that strenuous manhood also fails to provide a site for effectual and sustainable opposition to the negating forces of racial oppression. / Theodore Roosevelt and the transformation of American masculinity -- "The youth leaned heavily on his friend" : alternative constructions of masculinity in Stephen Crane's fiction -- Richard Wright's early fiction as a rejection of the racial oppression of strenuous manhood. / Department of English