Nativism Resurges
Economic concerns and religious and ethnic prejudices led some Americans to push for laws restricting immigration.
• Eventually, the wave of immigration led to increased feelings of nativism on the part of many Americans.
• Nativists opposed immigration for many reasons:
Nativism Resurges (cont.)
− fear that the influx of Catholics would swamp the mostly Protestant United States
− Labor unions argued that immigrants undermined American workers because they would work for low wages and accept jobs as strikebreakers.
• Increased feelings of nativism led to the founding of anti-immigrant organizations such as the American Protective Association.
• Enacted in 1882, a new federal law banned convicts, paupers, and the mentally disabled from immigrating to the U.S.
Nativism Resurges (cont.)
• In the West, Denis Kearney organized the Workingman’s Party of California in the 1870s to fight Chinese immigration.
Nativism Resurges (cont.)
− In 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act.
− The law was not repealed until 1943.
• On October 11, 1906, the San Francisco Board of Education ordered all Asian children to attend a racially segregated school.
Nativism Resurges (cont.)
− Japan took great offense at the treatment of its people.
− In response, Theodore Roosevelt proposed a deal known as the “Gentleman’s Agreement”—he would limit Japanese immigration if the school board would end segregation.
• Although Presidents Taft and Wilson both vetoed legislation to require literacy from immigrants, the legislation eventually passed in 1917.
Nativism Resurges (cont.)
A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D A B C D
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The American Protective Association vowed not to hire or vote for which type of immigrant?
A. German
B. Asian
C. Irish
D. Polish