Carrie Hough

Immigration and Ethnicity

HST 325

November 11, 2016

The American nation was in a state of unease in the first part of the 20th century. World

War I and the years leading up to the war helped to create those feelings. War and Democracy

have never been happy bedfellows. (Madison) Although most Americans seemed to have

positive feelings towards immigrants- many of them were first and second generation

immigrants- the general feeling of uneasiness and fear of losing their national identity and

standards had spread through the nation. When most Americans are generally united and feel

confident about their future, they seem to be more willing to share that future with foreigners;

conversely when they are divided and lack confidence in the future, nativism is more likely to

triumph.(Daniels, pp. 265-266)

Further exploration would also reveal that much of this unease had to do with the

competition for workers wages and supposed racial differences. (Wyman, p. 101) Racial

differences were mostly attributed to the new class of immigrants- Asian, Hispanic and Jews.

They were often perceived as not white or not white enough and considered unable to

assimilate to the culture. (Brinkman) Arguably, xenophobia is never a good reason to ostracized

people; regardless has been used as an excuse to cover many bad ethical decisions.
The National Origins Act of 1924 enacted a quota by percentage on the number of immigrants

that could entered the United States based on the 1910 census results. The Act enabled

adjustments to the quota based on the most recent census, however this would seem to just be

give lip service to idealism- a feel good measure- as many countries didnt receive quotas based

on previous legislation that barred immigration from most countries in Asia and even Mexico

and Canada. This quota helped to ensure that people that were considered desirables by the

current racial and ethnic standards of the time were ensured entrance to the United States if so

desired. This was signed into legislation in May of 1924 by President Calvin Coolidge. It is

interesting to note that 1924 was an election year; one could assume that if the American

people were feeling uneasy about the state of the American nation, that this bill somehow was

politically influenced and was meant to assure the public that the incumbent President was

taking into consideration their sentiments. The connections to many other election seasons in

the past 50 years, cannot be easily dismissed- when the citizens of the United States are forced

to live in a season of ambiguity, nativism rears its ugly head and immigration once again

becomes a centripetal point of contention.

Notable consequences of this act would be that more people were leaving the United

States in the years of 1932-1935 than were arriving and the separation of families were very

pronounced (Daniels, pp. 294-295). Family members wishing to immigrate needed

documentation that they would be able to be supported in the United States by family

members until they were self-sufficient. Unfortunately, there were few concessions made for

those who sought refuge in American; the the state department consistently made it difficult.
(Daniels, p. 297) The assumption had been made that people wanted to immigrate based on

economic reasons, not to save their lives.

I believe that the link to the immigration reform made in 1965 is through the Civil Rights

movement of the mid-20th century. When it was no longer culturally couth to base rules and

regulations based on the appearance and race of a person, immigration rules were also

transformed to reflect the changing attitude of the nation.

Im not sure if this appropriate to add, but this weeks lesson relates to my family

history. My grandmothers family was partly caught up in this immigration period as her

Uncles family had immigrated to Canada and her Father had immigrated to Iowa. This

immigration action must have had a lot to do with keeping the family apart, even though it was

never spoken of in these terms. It was only spoken of as an uneasy and painful time. My

grandmother also speaks of times when her parents refused to use their native language

(except when needing to discuss the children!) because of fears that they would be ostracized

and condemned for not fitting in with the local culture. One hundred years ago seems so far

away, yet it is so close when we consider what it means to be an American and how our past

actions influence our futures.

Works Cited:

Brinkman, T. (n.d.). Immigration and the Dillingham Commission. Retrieved 2016, from
https://www.c-span.org/video/?311985-1/dillingham-commission-immigration-legislation

Daniels, R. (n.d.). Coming to America; History of Immigration and Ethnicity in American Life (2nd
ed.).

Madison, J. (n.d.). Ku Klux Klan in America 1920's. Indiana. Retrieved from https://www.c-
span.org/video/?313132-1/ku-klux-klan-1920s-america
Wyman, M. (n.d.). Round-Trip to America; The Immigrants return to Europe 1880-1930.