increased social tensions in the 1920s

Question 1

Attitudes and policies towards immigration
attitudes

Answer 1

At the start of the 20th century, the US happily accepted immigrants since they provided a cheap source of labor for both farmers and factory owners
After WWI this started to change.
Originally most immigrants came from Western Europe but in the decade before the war, the majority of immigrants came from countries such as Italy, Austria-Hungary, Russia, Western Poland and Greece, in eastern and southern Europe.
This upset some Americans since:
many were Catholics or Jews - different cultural and religious backgrounds to the majority of the people in the country
immigrants were often poor, illiterate, and unable to speak English
fear that some brought undemocratic ideas and supported radicalism - fear of communism especially after the Russian Revolution in 1917
Workers worried they would accept lower wages and take their jobs

Question 2

Attitudes and policies towards immigration
Policies

Answer 2

The US passed two new laws in the 1920s to restrict immigratioj.
Emergency Quota Act of 1921 - limited immigration numbers from outside the western half of the world to 357,000 per year- Each country could send 3% of the number of people from their nation already in the US
This became more restrictive in 1924 - National Origins Act was passed. Limited immigration to 164,000 per year, now nations could only send 2%

Question 3

Attitudes and policies towards immigration
Impact

Answer 3

New laws transformed the US immigration system and numbers fell rapidly
1914 - 1.2 million immigrants, 1929 - 280,000 immigrants
New enforcement measures and border control