Book contents
- A Nation of Immigrants
- A Nation of Immigrants
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 “Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-men, Libertines”
- 3 “A City upon the Hill”
- 4 “The Seed of a Nation”
- 5 Immigration and the Formation of the Republic
- 6 Building a Nation
- 7 The Golden Door
- 8 The Triumph of Restrictionism
- 9 Turning Inward
- 10 “A Nation of Immigrants”
- 11 A Nation of Refuge
- 12 The Pennsylvania Model at Risk
- 13 Executive Action and Immigration
- 14 Looking Ahead
- References
- Index
8 - The Triumph of Restrictionism
1882–1924
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2021
- A Nation of Immigrants
- A Nation of Immigrants
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 “Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-men, Libertines”
- 3 “A City upon the Hill”
- 4 “The Seed of a Nation”
- 5 Immigration and the Formation of the Republic
- 6 Building a Nation
- 7 The Golden Door
- 8 The Triumph of Restrictionism
- 9 Turning Inward
- 10 “A Nation of Immigrants”
- 11 A Nation of Refuge
- 12 The Pennsylvania Model at Risk
- 13 Executive Action and Immigration
- 14 Looking Ahead
- References
- Index
Summary
This chapter focuses on the growing movement to restrict immigration that culminated in the National Origins Act of 1924. The chapter discusses the principal attacks on immigration, arguing that the restrictionists effectively undermined the Pennsylvania model by providing “scientific evidence” of the inability of the new immigrants from southern and eastern Europe to become Americans. A leading proponent of restriction argued that Jews were “undersized and weak muscled,” Italians “possess a distressing frequency to low foreheads, open mouths, weak chins, poor features, skewed faces, small or knobby crania and backless heads.” He concluded that the new immigrants “are beaten men from beaten races, representing the worst failures in the struggle for existence.”
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- Information
- A Nation of Immigrants , pp. 139 - 159Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021