Americans derived much of their Islamophobia from British colonial sources.

Evidence

Given the lack of contact with Muslims except in moments of crisis and through missionaries, Americans often relied on British views to inform their apprehensions about Islam. Thus, Thomas S. Kidd has observed, “Although one should hesitate to describe early Americans as conversant with Islam, they certainly conversed about Islam regularly.” — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 40

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to postcolonial and Orientalism literature on how imperial knowledge transfers across metropoles. — connects to: Contemporary anti-Western sentiment and Western Islamophobia both stem from the colonial legacy — Green, Todd H, The Fear of Islam_ An Introduction to…, 182; Anglo-American Islamophobia is not new, its roots demonstrated by an historical exploration of British and American literature between 1690 and 1947.; Most Americans and Britons seemingly accepted that the inherent fanaticism of (male) Muslims produced their violent success. (+10 more)
• SEED: Angle: tracing how a colonial power’s discourse becomes a second nation’s inherited prejudice — the transmission of fear between empires.

Broader Connections

• American Islamophobia borrowed British stereotypes because Americans had little contact with Muslims #expands (0.80)
• Anglo-American observers explained Muslim expansion as caused by inherent religious fanaticism. #expands (0.75) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 85
• British census data on Muslim numbers amplified Anglo-American fears. #expands (0.70) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 90
• Both Americans and Britons held Islam a perennial menace by its proselytizing and violence #expands (0.60)
• American Islamophobia equipped China and India to persecute their Muslim populations. #expands (0.60)
• Asian and American Islamophobia diverged according to each society’s domestic situation #qualifies (0.50) — Peter Gottschalk and Gabriel Greenberg, Common Heritage, Uncommon Fear, 18