Total war’s demands bred intolerance of any divided loyalty in America

Evidence

An explanation for this whole temper of mind is not hard to find: it was caused by the unexpected exigencies of modern war impinging on traditional American habits and ideas. The struggle with Germany suddenly imposed enormous tasks upon a looseknit, peaceful society, calling for an immense output of manpower and material. The war seemed so encompassing, so arduous, that the slightest division of purpose or lack of enthusiasm appeared an intolerable handicap to it. Only a single-minded, even simpleminded, dedication to a presumably single national objective could, it was believed, prevent other interests or loyalties from competing or conflicting with the luminous will of the nation. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1218

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Rampant distrust existed in 1943 America during wartime unity — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 747; German Americans publicly declared loyalty to avoid WWI-era discrimination — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim: When Racism Quashes…, 410; The American public absorbed antiwar protests with bemused tolerance rather than hostility — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now: The 1960s New York…, 1049

Broader Connections

• Rampant distrust existed in 1943 America during wartime unity #corroborates (0.85) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 747
• German Americans publicly declared loyalty to avoid WWI-era discrimination #exemplifies (0.85) — Sahar F. Aziz, The Racial Muslim, 410
• The American public absorbed antiwar protests with bemused tolerance rather than hostility #complicates (0.75) — J. Hoberman, Everything Is Now, 1049