[Ads-l] Antedating of "America First"

[Stephen Goranson]

I agree with Churchwell p. 41 that "America first" was "not suddenly...invented by an individual...."

E.g., June 18, 1855, Philadelphia Inquirer 1:3;

"As an American citizen, I prefer this rain [it was raining] or any other reign, than the reign of foreignism. (Applause.) I could have America first, last, and always. I could go for America first,...."


Stephen

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From: American Dialect Society <...> on behalf of Shapiro, Fred <...>
Sent: Friday, March 1, 2019 4:14:28 PM
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Subject: [ADS-L] Antedating of "America First"

The OED's first use citation for the phrase "America first" is dated 1915.  Sarah Churchwell _Behold, America_ (2018) discusses a number of earlier uses of "American first" beginning in 1884, at pages 39-40 of her book.


Fred Shapiro
<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.americandialect.org&d=DwIFAw&c=imBPVzF25OnBgGmVOlcsiEgHoG1i6YHLR0Sj_gZ4adc&r=uUVa-8oDL2EzfbuMuowoUadHHcJ7pjul6iFkS5Pd--8&m=dqwtm9Ztor-KXNYSRprLGcnZtUcRDUGx2qFRdY2Wq6M&s=pb_p0Z6zOklkZvi2hNcRbZP1HP7H0EOxC01bmYjJsIM&e=>

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