Zangwill’s play emphatically claimed that America was ... into a metal from which He can cast Americans. Today, the melting pot metaphor is often taken to refer to soup, or perhaps fondue ...

In 1908 Israel Zangwill wrote a play "The Melting Pot" and introduced the phrase into the national vocabulary. Although his words were new, the idea was not. From Crevecoeur on, Americans have ...