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“Blood Brothers”. Racial Identification and the Right to Rule: the Australian Response to the Spanish‐American War
Author(s) -
Lake Marilyn,
Pratt Vanessa
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
australian journal of politics and history
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.123
H-Index - 23
eISSN - 1467-8497
pISSN - 0004-9522
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-8497.2008.00481.x
Subject(s) - enthusiasm , neutrality , race (biology) , government (linguistics) , identification (biology) , identity (music) , history , centrality , genealogy , political science , law , spanish civil war , gender studies , criminology , sociology , psychology , social psychology , linguistics , philosophy , botany , physics , acoustics , biology , mathematics , combinatorics
Historians have paid scant attention to Australia's enthusiastic response to the Spanish‐American war of 1898. Yet these events help us to better understand the centrality of race to Australia's national identity. Even though the Australian colonies were bound by Britain's neutrality, from Sydney to Perth Australians cheered America's decision to declare war. Many gathered outside the US consulate to offer their services as soldiers and nurses. This enthusiasm for the US cause was underpinned by an identification with fellow Anglo‐Saxons and the assumption that Filipinos and Cubans were races not yet fit for self‐government. Australians were intent on establishing their status as equal members of the governing race.