Abstract
This chapter focuses on the discourse regarding the identity form of Czech immigration in the United States of America. As their numbers grew throughout the second half of the 19th century, the topic of the relations to their metropolis became the central sore point of disputes amongst Czech compatriots.
This brief study qualitatively analyzes archival sources, newspapers, and secondary literature to find out what currents of opinion dominated this debate, which group and what mindset prevailed, and why? The purpose is to offer an introductory overview of this neglected topic. Although this chapter presents only a partial investigation, the conclusions confirm that the advocates of Americanization were victorious in the end.
The reasons were principally threefold: Americanization offered better opportunities for the second and subsequent generations of Czech Americans, these advocates became dominant in the compatriot society in the interwar period because of the 1924 Immigration Act (which limited the number of Europe- born migrants), and there was a lack of support from the newly independent Czechoslovak state for their nationals abroad.