Immigration Patterns, Public Opinion, and Government Policy

Immigration to the United States increased at a phenomenal rate during the early years of the 20th century. Between 1900 and 1915 the number of new immigrants entering the United States exceeded one million. These new immigrants came mainly from the southern and eastern European countries of Italy, Russia, Poland, Austria-Hungary, and the Balkans (see first featured document). For example, in 1914, one of the heaviest years of immigration, 73 percent of all immigrants came from southern and eastern European countries, while only 13.4 percent came from northern and western Europe.

Many native-born descendants of immigrant groups and many established ethic communities resented the languages, customs, and religious preferences of the new immigrants and feared competition from them in the workplace. As a result, many individuals and groups urged their Congressional representatives to support more stringent legislation on immigration and amend old immigration laws (see second featured document). Not all citizens, however, were implacable toward the immigrants. Government officials and industrialists were well aware of the substantial role immigrants played in the American economy. More enlightened individuals were aware of scientific, religious, and civic contributions of immigrants and believed continued immigration was essential to the nation’s well-being (see the third featured document).

Nevertheless, in response to increasing numbers of immigrants and domestic resistance to unrestricted immigration, Congress enacted two major laws in the 1920s to limit the number of immigrants entering the United States. Each immigration bill established an annual ceiling for all nationalities and created a system for calculating the number of each nationality to be granted entry.

In 1920 Congress declared the 1910 census as the basis for determining how many immigrants from each country would be allowed to enter the United States. Congress also set a limit on the number of persons who might enter the United States from a given country at no more than three percent of the number of immigrants from that country already recorded by the census takers.

In 1924 Congress passed an even more restrictive act known as the Johnson Bill, named after Congressman Albert Johnson of Washington, chairman of the House Committee on Immigration. The Immigration Act of 1924 established the 1890 census as the new base for determining how many immigrants would be admitted to the United States. This effectively reduced the percentage admitted for each nationality to 2 percent. Since the foreign-born population of the United States was much smaller in 1890 than in 1910, immigration was more restricted than it would have been by a simple reduction of the base percentage. The 1924 act curtailed immigration from southern and eastern European countries since there had been fewer people from these countries living in the United States in 1890 than in 1910. By the end of the decade, Congress had further restricted those seeking entry into the United States.

The pie charts in the first featured document show the distribution of foreign-born populationand are based on statistics gathered in the 1910 census, upon which the 1920 immigration quota was based. It is Plate 212 from Statistical Atlas of the United States, 1910, Records of the Bureau of the Census, Record Group 29. The second document, from letters to Congressman Allen F Cooper, shows the degree of organization of anti-immigration lobbying on the eve of World War I. They are found in the Records of the U.S. House of Representatives, Record Group 2 3 3 . The third document is a newspaper report about Commissioner of Immigration Frederick A. Wallis’s speech to the University Club in which he criticized the criteria for selecting immigrants. The article was clipped from the March 23, 1921, Standard Union, and collected by the Public Health Service. It is located in the Records of the Public Health Service, Record Group 90.

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TEACHING ACTIVITIES

A. Making Graphs

1. Conduct a poll to determine the ethnic background of students in your class. Ask for a show of hands as you name different ethnic groups. Designate two students to record the name of each ethnic group and the number of students who claim ancestry from that group. One student should keep track on the chalkboard, the other on paper. When you have finished listing the ethnic groups, ask students if any groups were missed and record any additions.

2. Duplicate and distribute to each student the list with the data on the ethnic profile of the class. Ask each student to create a pie, line, or bar graph showing the numerical distribution of ethnic groups by country for the class.

3. Duplicate and distribute document one and the worksheet to each student. When the students have completed the assignment, review their answers in class. Ask the students to compare and contrast the ethnic makeup of America in 1850, 1870, 1890, and 1910 with that of their class.

B. Analyzing Documents

1. Divide the class into groups of three and provide each group with document two or three. Direct students to read the documents and record their answers to the following questions:

a. From what areas of the world are immigrants coming?

b. What adjectives are used to describe immigrants?

c. What is the opinion in this document concerning immigration to the United States?

d. What reasons are given in support of this opinion? Consider nationalistic, economic, and racially based arguments.

2. Review the questions for each document, calling on reporters from each group.

3. Discuss with the class the following questions:

a. Which complaints are repeated?

b. Are opinions in the documents supported with facts?

c. What attitudes do they reflect toward the new immigrants themselves?

d. Are there any similarities between the complaints against immigrants voiced in the early 20th century and those voiced today?

4. Ask the student groups to exchange documents and review them carefully as the groups consider how government policy is influenced by public opinion. Discuss the following questions:

a. What evidence is there in this document of the methods used by individuals to influence government policy?

b. What evidence is there in this document of an organized campaign to influence government policy?

c. What disadvantages would immigrants have in trying to influence public officials?

d. Did immigrants or the opponents of immigration prevail? Support your answer.

C. Follow-up Activities

1. Play Neil Diamond’s song "Coming to America." Ask students to comment on Diamond’s theme of America as a haven for newcomers. Ask the question: Is Diamond’s dream of America a myth or a reality? Explain.

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2. Ask students to write a letter to Congressman Allen F. Cooper giving reasons why he should oppose the Johnson Bill and severe restriction of immigration.

3. Ask students to make a time line of federal laws pertaining to immigration from 1850 to the present.

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