Unit 3: Hostility towards immigrants (1) Flashcards
What was the dominant ethnic group in America up until the 1880s?
WASPs
What does WASP stand for?
White Anglo-Saxon Protestant
Why did the superior WASPs pass laws to decrease immigration?
Because they feared the mass influx of new immigrants from Europe.
Who did the WASPs believe initiated the 1919 strikes and how did they react?
The communists and they used European immigrants as scapegoats.
How many people were involved in the 1919 strikes and why did this stir fear amongst the wasps?
4,000,000. Because the WASPs feared revolution.
John Higham (fear of revolution)…
“Never before had anti-radical nativism stirred the public mind so profoundly.”
Bar communism, what else did the Americans fear?
That anarchists would use violence to protest.
Give an example of American paranoia regarding anarchism (Victimisation)…
Sacco and Vanzetti were sentenced to death with no sufficient evidence.
How did this victimisation/paranoia backlash against the Gov.?
Because unjust victimisation caused people to oppose the Gov.
Give an example of anarchist violence that stirred fear amongst Americans…
The Haymarket Affair, and several other bombings.
What did the increase of new immigrants cause American nativists to demand?
They called for the ‘Protection of American Purity’
What were the real motives of this call for the ‘Protection of American Purity’?
Prejudice and racism.
What did this call for purity show about the WASPs?
They were threatened by the changing nature of America and the mass flood of inferiors.
Alan Kraut (threatened WASPs)
“Nativism was the response of those Americans who regarded themselves as an endangered species and were prepared to be ruthless in their own self-defence.”
How did the start of WW1 change how Americans looked at some immigrants?
Because it created tensions between Americans and groups such as Germans and Austrians.
What was introduced in 1917 as result of WW1, decreasing the influx of immigrants from Europe?
A literacy test for immigrants upon arrival.
John Higham (Germany)…
“The struggle with Germany called for the most strenuous nationalism…”
What did the war encourage amongst Americans?
100% Americanism, conformity/national loyalty.
How did the immigrants appear to Americans?
Malnourished, frightening, ragged, deformed, dressed traditionally, spoke little English.
Why was the appearance of immigrants an issue?
It showed a lack of conformity and a vague threat to society.
John Higham (inferiority)
“By Western European standards, the masses of Southern and Eastern Europe were educationally deficient, socially backward and bizarre in appearance.”
What did Americans typically associate immigrants with?
Crime and poor housing.
What commonalities were found between areas abundant in immigrants and crime rates?
Crime rates were greatly higher in areas of immigrants.
How was this correlation of crime and immigration less successful?
Because most of the immigrant arrests were for petty crimes and many arrests were motivated by racial prejudice.
