OPPOSITION TO IMMIGRATION IN THE USA

1820 - 1924
Introduction
` Trailer : Gangs of New-York, Martin Scorsese, 2002
` 5 waves of immigration in the USA 17th to the 19th century/1820 -1900/1900-1921/1921-1965/1965-nowadays
` What means Opposition to immigration

I The roots of plural movements

` Origins of nativism
Alien and Sedition Act of 1798/ opposition to immigration /xenophobic and assimilation projects. Louiville, 1855.
Protestants attacked Irish Catholics 22 persons killed Bloody Monday / campaigned for immigration restriction and literacy test

` The Know-Nothing (1840s-1854)

nativism and anti-catholic sentiment. /against Irish catholics and Germans immigran/leader was President Millard
Fillmore/KN supporters joined the American Republican Party in 1854.

` The Order of the Star spangled banner (1849-1860s)

secret society/protest againt Irish,Catholic ;German immigration/nucleus of the NK

` The American Republican Party/Native American Party (1844-1860s)

political incarnation ofnativism movement/members claimed :-limitation immigration-reservation of jobs with
responsabilities for natives-21 years before American citizenship-reservation of teachers employment for Protestants/51
Representatives 1 million member in 1855.

` The Immigration Restriction League (1894-1921)

political grouping opposed the indesirable immigrants that were coming from Southern and Eastern Europe/the League
wanted : -more immigrant stations-more immigration inspectors- literacy test to limit the poor-educated immigration-the exclusion
from immigration of imbeciles, feeble-minded persons and eplipectics

II The rise of political measures

` The Chinese Exclusion Act (1882) and the Geary Act (1892)
prohibited immigration for all Chinese labors/mass Chinese immigration started with Gold Rush/exclued Chinese people
from american citizenship/Naturalization Act of 1790 prohibited naturalization for non-white subjects/Page Act of 1875 prohibited
immigration of Asian forced labores and prostitute/Geary Act of 1892 :Chinese in the US had to carry a resident permit

` The Benett Law (1882)

had to only use English at school, even if they have built many schools where German was spoken/1917-1918, nativists had
make an end to all of the German cultural activities in the US

` The Dillingham Commission (1907-1911)

conclued that immigration from southern and eastern Europe was dangerous for the American society and should be
reduced/provided the rationale for immigration reduction acts

` The Immigration Act of 1917

select immigration/undesirables immigrants :homosexuals, idiots, feeble-minded persons, epileptics, polygamists,
alcoholics, professionnals beggars , all persons mentally or physically defective and anarchists and illiterates over the age of
sixteen.

` The Johnson Act (1921)

beginning of the quota policy/one of the most important urning-point in American immigration policy/added numerical
limits on European immigration with a quota system/3 %/ divided immigration by 2 compared to 1920

` The Johnson Reed Act (1924)

more restrictive than the Johson Act/concerns particularly Asians/context of rising anti-semitism, xenophobic and racial
eugenics movements/aim to preserve the ideal of American homogeneity /quota reduced to 2%.

Mathilde Heitz