America's Hostility toward Immigration in the 1920s
Why did the USA become increasingly hostile towards immigration in the 1920s?
By 1914 forty million people had emigrated to America from Europe and the East. They were escaping poverty, hardship and persecution, attracted by the promise of the American Dream which was rooted in the capitalist ideals of freedom, prosperity and democracy. However, even before the 1920s it can be seen that America’s open door immigration policy had began to close as the government chose to systematically exclude people of certain nationalities, who were seen to be politically radical or perhaps feeble minded. The most early sign of this change in attitude was manifested in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which was the first significant law restricting Oriental and Asian immigration into the USA. By the 1920s it can be seen that the original settlers who were White Anglo-Saxon Protestant’s (WASPs) felt threatened by the arrival of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. It is this change that saw America become increasingly hostile towards immigrants who brought with them various problems. The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution caused a great fear in America, leaving non-WASP immigrants to be accused of anarchism and Communism. This went hand in hand with a feeling of nativism in American society, stoked by racist, scientific writings asserting WASP superiority. The more obviously racist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) led an efficient campaign of hatred and violence which aided the spread of hostility towards the subordinate immigrants and promoted the nativist belief. World War One left America upholding an increasingly isolationist stance in which she was reluctant to become involved in foreign affairs. The patriotism of immigrants was questioned as they were believed to have sympathies for their mother countries during war time. This resulted in the introduction of an ever harsher series of anti-immigration legislation. Finally, the realities of having so many immigrants in the USA gave rise to
By 1914 forty million people had emigrated to America from Europe and the East. They were escaping poverty, hardship and persecution, attracted by the promise of the American Dream which was rooted in the capitalist ideals of freedom, prosperity and democracy. However, even before the 1920s it can be seen that America’s open door immigration policy had began to close as the government chose to systematically exclude people of certain nationalities, who were seen to be politically radical or perhaps feeble minded. The most early sign of this change in attitude was manifested in the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act which was the first significant law restricting Oriental and Asian immigration into the USA. By the 1920s it can be seen that the original settlers who were White Anglo-Saxon Protestant’s (WASPs) felt threatened by the arrival of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe. It is this change that saw America become increasingly hostile towards immigrants who brought with them various problems. The 1917 Bolshevik Revolution caused a great fear in America, leaving non-WASP immigrants to be accused of anarchism and Communism. This went hand in hand with a feeling of nativism in American society, stoked by racist, scientific writings asserting WASP superiority. The more obviously racist Ku Klux Klan (KKK) led an efficient campaign of hatred and violence which aided the spread of hostility towards the subordinate immigrants and promoted the nativist belief. World War One left America upholding an increasingly isolationist stance in which she was reluctant to become involved in foreign affairs. The patriotism of immigrants was questioned as they were believed to have sympathies for their mother countries during war time. This resulted in the introduction of an ever harsher series of anti-immigration legislation. Finally, the realities of having so many immigrants in the USA gave rise to