Torchbearers of democracy: The First World War and the figure of the African -American soldier

This dissertation explores the experience, both historical and symbolic, of African-American soldiers in the First World War and their impact on wartime American society. The First World War and the post-war period mark key moments in the history of the United States and African Americans. Spatial, cultural, economic, and political changes in the lives of millions of African Americans converged to create a time of remarkable dynamism. No figure better captures the historical significance of this era than that of the African-American soldier. In examining this period, I use African-American soldiers and veterans as a prism to explore conceptions of nationalism, the personal and political meanings of military service, diasporic consciousness, racial violence, post-war political radicalism, and the production of historical knowledge. I assert that African-American soldiers and veterans—as historical actors and symbolic figures—fundamentally shaped the nature of American society during the World War I era.;Utilizing an interdisciplinary approach, this study addresses a gap in the social and military historiography of the World War I era by analyzing African-American soldiers as both subjects and catalysts of change. I investigate the war and post-war experiences of black servicemen and how the army impacted their identities as Americans, as African Americans, and as men. Simultaneously, this dissertation considers how competing symbolic interpretations of black soldiers and their meanings shaped the history of the war era. Mitigated by gender and class, the multifaceted interactions of African Americans with various groups and segments of American society transformed the structure of race relations during and after the First World War. By looking at the experience of African-American servicemen and veterans within their social, cultural, and political contexts—domestically and internationally—this dissertation reveals the inextricable relationship between war and racial ideologies, the symbolic potency of African American military service for both black and white Americans, and the transformative presence of African-American soldiers in the social, political, and cultural fabric of the World War I era.