Immigration
At the end of the nineteenth century, the United States had an Open Door policyPolicy of accepting immigrants from various countries. towards immigrationThe action of coming to live permanently in another country..
This meant that anyone could come from their home country to settle in America.
By 1920, more than 40 million people had arrived and made new lives for themselves.
Traditionally, immigrants had tended to come from northern and western Europe, for example from Britain, Ireland and Germany.
However, between 1900 and 1914, those who arrived were mainly from eastern Europe, Italy, Greece and Russia.
By 1920, many Americans began to disapprove of the government's Open Door policy because they feared the economic, political and social impact of immigration.
These fears were often unjustified, but they led to a lot of hostility.
Attitudes towards immigration
Americans had a range of economic, political and social concerns about the increase in the amount of immigrants arriving in the USA.
Reasons for people coming to the USA
A combination of push and pull factors made people emigrate to the USA.
The push factors made people want to leave their own countries, and the pull factors attracted them to the USA.
The main reasons were:
- Escaping from poverty in their own country.
- Escaping from political persecution.
- The religious tolerance promised in the US Bill of RightsThe first ten amendments to the US constitution. These are the rights and civil liberties granted to US citizens in relation to their government. Among them are freedom of speech, press, and religion., for example the Jews wanted to escape the pogromA violent riot or attack that is started with the intention of killing, harming or expelling a particular ethnic or religious group. in Russia.
- A plentiful supply of land and the hope of owning property.
- Massive industrialisationChanges in the way products are made, usually involving factories where the work is increasingly done by machines. in the USA meant the possibility of jobs with higher wages than in their homeland.
- The adventure of going to a new country.
- The hope of equality of opportunity ("The American Dream").
Economic concerns
- Many immigrants were IlliterateUnable to read and write. and there were fears they might become a burden on society.
- They were taking jobs that many Americans thought should be theirs.
- They drove down wages because there were so many of them competing for jobs.
Political concerns
It was feared immigrants held dangerous extremist views, such as anarchismThe belief in the abolition of all government and movement towards organising society by voluntary or cooperative means. and communismA system of running a country in which all means of production such as tools, factories and raw materials, are owned by the community as a whole. Private property does not exist and each individual contributes according to their ability and receives according to their needs. This means there is no hierarchy of social class.. The trauma of World War One and the Red ScareA period in American history when some believed that a communist revolution was going to take place. Those who believed this suspected that immigrants were involved in plotting this revolution. in 1919 increased concerns.
Americans thought immigrants did not have the same love for the USA and devotion to it as they did. This meant they regarded immigrants as unpatriotic.
Social concerns
- There was a lot of prejudiceAn unreasonable negative opinion of a person or group of people that is not based on actual experience. against immigrants, particularly towards those from southern Europe, Ireland and Asia.
- The sheer numbers led to pressures on housing as well as overcrowded slum housingHouses that are of poor quality and tightly packed together. that were linked to crime, violence and prostitution.
- They were blamed for the spread of infectious diseases, such as tuberculosis (TB)Historically called consumption, TB is an airborne infectious disease that usually infects the lungs. and choleraA disease that causes infection of the intestine. It is normally spread through contaminated water..
- Many were Roman Catholics or Jews, therefore from a different cultural and religious background from wealthier Americans and previous generations of immigrants who were described as WASPs (White Anglo Saxon Protestants).
Restrictions on immigration in the 1920s
The concerns over the new wave of immigration led to pressure on politicians to change the Open Door policyPolicy of accepting immigrants from various countries.
Lawmakers in the CongressThe legislative body of the US government, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. passed laws to restrict immigration.
Literacy Test, 1917: Immigrants had to pass a series of reading and writing tests. Many of the poorer immigrants, especially those from eastern Europe, had received no education and therefore failed the tests - so, they were refused entry.
The Dillingham Hardwick Act, 1918: Forbade the entry of people with anarchistSomeone who believes that society should be free from any government. political views.
The Emergency Quota Act, 1921: This law restricted the number of immigrants to 357,000 per year and also set down a quota. A quota was a limit on the amount that could enter from each country based upon the existing population from that country already living in the USA. So, only 3 per cent of the total population of any overseas group already in the USA in 1910 could come into America after 1921. This quota system favoured immigration from Britain and western Europe because of the large numbers of these groups already in the USA.
The National Origins Act, 1924: This law used the same formula but reduced the maximum number of immigrants to 150,000 per year and cut the quota to 2 per cent, based on the population of the USA in 1890. This act, like the previous one, restricted the number of southern and eastern European immigrants. It also prohibited immigration from Asia. However, it did not apply to immigrants from Mexico because they were an important source of labour for Californian farmers.
It seemed clear that the America government only wanted what they thought was the 鈥榬ight type鈥 of immigrant.
This meant prioritising Northern Europeans over other groups.
For example, the number of Italian immigrants dropped from 200,000 a year to only 4000.
The President, Calvin Coolidge, had said that 鈥淎merica must be kept for the Americans鈥.
America鈥檚 'open door' was now firmly closed to many and open only to the preferred few.
Hostility towards immigrants
In the 1920s, there was an increase in xenophobiaThe term used to describe the dislike of, or prejudice against, people from other countries. and racial persecution in the USA.
There were a number of high profile examples of hostility towards immigrants.
The Red Scare
Many Americans were frightened by the communistSomeone who believes in the political ideology of communism, a system of running a country in which all means of production such as tools, factories and raw materials, are owned by the community as a whole. Private property does not exist and each individual contributes according to their ability and receives according to their needs. This means there is no hierarchy of social class. revolution in Russia in October 1917.
Some believed that a communist uprising could also happen in the USA and destroy the American way of life.
Immigrants were suspected of bringing communism in from Europe.
This was known as the Red Scare.
The Red Scare was heightened by:
The formation of the American Socialist Party and the American Communist Party.
Industrial unrest in 1919, which included a general strike in Seattle and all of the Boston police force refusing to work. Communists were blamed for these strikes.
The scare led to:
Mobs and police attacking left-wing parades and the seizure of left-wing books and pamphlets.
All strikes being seen as 鈥渞ed鈥 and workers not joining trade unions in case they were branded communists.
A new law called The Sedition Act made it a crime to criticise the US government and army.
The Palmer Raids and injustices, such as internment and unfair trials.
The Palmer Raids
Mitchell Palmer (the Attorney GeneralThe head of the US Department of Justice, and the chief law enforcement officer of the US Federal Government. , a member of the government) told CongressThe legislative body of the US government, made up of the Senate and the House of Representatives. there was an ongoing communist plot.
He used the Red Scare as an excuse to organise raids against left-wing organisations.
These raids had serious consequences.
6,000 people were arrested in 36 cities across the United States. Not all of them were communists and Jews, Catholics and black people were targeted.
556 of those arrested were also deported on flimsy evidence under the 1918 Alien Act.
People used the raids as an excuse to attack any group they disliked or distrusted.
36 mail bombs were discovered in April 1919.
In September 1920, a bomb exploded on Wall Street, killing 38 people and a bomb destroyed the front of Mitchell Palmer's home.
trade unionAn organisation whose main purpose is to represent the interests of workers in a specific type of business or industry. were weakened by Palmer鈥檚 rumours and raids because they were branded un-American.
The Sacco and Vanzetti case
Bartolomeo Vanzetti and Nicola Sacco were Italian immigrants.
The two men were anarchistSomeone who believes that society should be free from any government. and had avoided serving in World War One.
They spoke little English.
They seemed to fit the prejudiceAn unreasonable negative opinion of a person or group of people that is not based on actual experience. view many Americans had of immigrants.
In May 1920, Sacco and Vanzetti were arrested and accused of armed robbery and murder.
From the beginning, public opinion was against them because of their political ideas and because they were immigrants.
During the court case in May 1921, Judge Webster Thayer was also prejudiced against them.
They were convicted of the crime in a very unfair trial.
Although a man named Celestino Madeiros later admitted that he had committed the crime, Sacco and Vanzetti lost their lengthy appeals.
In August 1927, they were both executed by electrocution in Charlestown prison.
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The impact of the restrictions on the lives of immigrants
The restrictions on the lives of immigrants created an environment in which employers felt they could exploit minorities.
For example, they had to work longer hours for lower pay.
It also led to an increase in the number attacks on them by the Ku Klux KlanA white supremacist organisation that used violence and intimidation to target black, immigrant, Jewish and Catholic people. Its members believed, based on incorrect and unscientific ideas about evolution, that white people are superior and should therefore hold the power in society..
It intensified the Red ScareA period in American history when some believed that a communist revolution was going to take place. Those who believed this suspected that immigrants were involved in plotting this revolution. because people felt there must be a real threat if the government was restricting immigration.
During the Palmer Raids many immigrants were being arrested and deported.
It led to immigrant communities in the USA becoming more isolated from other Americans.
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