John Higham wrote, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925, to expose, or paint a picture on, the history and origin of the rejection of immigrants by native-born Americans. Higham discusses many different kinds of immigrants that are affected by one of the three stylized themes which are: anti-Catholicism, anti-radicalism and people Anglo Saxon ethnocentrism. He shows us how these three groups are affected and also displays how native born Americans face a crisis, and in return that these groups suffer even more. Higham poses a great argument and backs himself with good sources to get his point across. Through his vivid examples and emotional appealing tone, he catches the attention of those who might have not realized …show more content…
that they have been a contributor to this thing called nativism, as well. Higham begins to really show us nativism in the eighties and carries it into the nineties. At this time in history native-born Americans feared the spread of Catholic influence within the states. Higham explains that people during this time basically enjoyed their liberties so much that they ridiculed and protested the ways of Catholicism. Because of this fear, native-born Americans began to group together several kinds of immigrants with different background into this stylized theme. Therefore, when these immigrants began to come over to the "new land" they were stereotyped before people in the states even knew if they did or did not have a Catholic background. The American people almost seemed paranoid, or threatened by these groups of immigrants. Higham mentions anti-radicalism as another stylized theme that victimizes a few new kinds of immigrants.
The three main kinds of immigrants that were focused on when talking about anti-radicalism were: Italians, Slavs and Jews (88). They soon became the focus when native-born Americans went to blame people for problems in the economy and the industrial world. No matter what kind of people these immigrants were native-born Americans assumed that all of them were looking to make some radical change to America. This caused unneeded tension and hatred for different kinds of people that were merely seeking refuge by coming to the …show more content…
states. The last main stylized theme Higham discusses is Anglo Saxon ethnocentrism. This theme is the last one Higham discusses in his book, and is also a theme that still exist today in our society. Native-born Americans began to use race to show their anti-immigrant sentiment. the reason this theme is so important is because the Civil War was almost entirely based off of this stylized theme. Groups such as the Ku Klux Klan were huge contributors to the hatred and torment of these immigrants. Higham lets us know that this thing called nativism is and will be around forever but will change slightly based on the group being targeted. Therefore, I would not be surprised if we did not see a new stylized theme arise from our generation. Based upon Higham's book, most of the time, when these three stylized themes were heightened it was due to some type of extreme economical struggle.
During the "panic of '93",(Higham 69) people felt the physical drain of a depression because of all the worker strikes. From these strikes the country was struggling financially. This opened an opportunity for the native-born Americans to once again place blame on someone other than themselves. They blamed the immigrants for coming over and taking jobs from native-born Americans, in turn forcing the states into an economical struggle (69-86). Depressions and pre war economical tension were times of great suffering for immigrants. It was almost as if Americans could not take responsibility for anything that went wrong, it was always someone else's fault. Higham's book is in direct correlation with our class. In class, we have been discussing these time periods, when things were not very great for the average American worker. Riots, protest, labor laws and the rise in immigration are some of the big topics that we are going over in class. Higham helps us understand the American experience by opening our eyes to the things that we go through every day, but do not realize what actually has been going on. Racism, stereotypes and the self-centeredness of native-born Americans is still around today and have been around forever. This has been a part of the American experience since people began to live here. Higham tries to open our
eyes in order for us to realize what we are doing is wrong. This book was very well written and conveys a point of view that many of us would not be able to see without the help of Higham. He really sheds a light on nativism in order for us to grasp an understanding of it which, in return, will help us as a country grow and prosper further than those who blamed immigrants for all of their problems. Higham wants us to understand that without all of the hatred and blame that America can benefit greatly from these groups of immigrants. The author uses great amounts of detail and vivid language to get his point across. He backs his main arguments with more than enough sources and examples. Higham was able to make a book about historical events seem alive. We can tell that Higham worked long and hard on his book because of the craftsmanship exemplified in it. He did a magnificent job at getting his point across even though he supplied us with so much information. Higham, has made a masterpiece that not only had an effect on the people at the time the book was published, but also has an effect on today's generation and many generations to come. I feel that Strangers in the Land has much to teach us as a whole, and can better our nation if we just took the time to read it and understand what it is telling us. I enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone that is able to get their hands on it.
The only thing the new immigrants had in common with each other was the dream of becoming rich and the poverty of their current state. Unfortunately, so many different people with so little in common often left tension between different groups on the edge of becoming violent outbreaks. The famous Tammany set the example early on of how to broaden it's ow...
The “Red Scare” was consuming many American’s lives following World War 1. After the war ended, anarchist bombings began, and a general fear of socialists, anarchists, communists, and immigrants swept the nation. There had always been resentment to immigrants in America, and these attacks just intensified these feelings. Americans were concerned that, because the Russian Revolution occurred, that it would happen in America next. The government began sweeping immigrants up and deporting them. Many innocent people were arrested because of their views against democracy. Although Sacco and Vanzetti were on trial for murder, their beliefs of how society should be run was the main focus in the trial.
He attempts to shock his reader into believing America is falling apart by comparing the diverse cultures that are active in it today. At one point in the essay, Buchanan writes “Our population is down to 67 percent European, and falling; 14.5 percent Hispanic and rising rapidly, 13 percent black and holding, and 4.5 percent Asian and rising” (599). The usage of “Our” in the sense of talking about Americans is a viewpoint that excludes anyone who is not white from being a true American. In addition, Buchanan is segregating the population by the color of their skin and creating an ethnic hierarchy. By only including white people in the definition of an American, Buchanan is showing an ethnocentric trait that Fredrickson analysed in his own essay. Fredrickson describes this changing viewpoint in American society when he examines the acceptance of all white people and the differences between colored people growing “more striking and salient than ever” (567). In general, Buchanan does not recognize the differences between white people, focusing primarily on the differences between white and non-white people. The correlation between the statistics he presents and the color of people’s skin undoubtedly prove Buchanan’s take on skin color and their ability to be American. This trait within Buchanan’s writing, coupled with the non-acceptance of colored people, has a strong presence throughout his essay, ultimately weakening his
During the 1900’s, it was common for people to immigrate to America. They saw it as a land of freedom and opportunity. Some thought that this was a great way for the US’ economy to boom, but some thought otherwise. With the shortage of jobs, many believed that the immigrants were stealing their precious jobs. Because of the competition over jobs, immigrants became the new public enemy to many.
...y Burnett, “The Noncitizen National and the Law of American Empire” , “in Major Problems in American Immigration History, ed. Mae M Ngai and Jon Gjerde (Boston: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning, 2013),278
A woman by the name of Nicola Sacco and man by the name of Bartolomeo Vanzetti were accused of robbing a factory in Massachusetts. Later in a letter, Vanzetti wrote, “I am suffering because I am a radical and indeed I am a radical; I have suffered because I was Italian, and indeed I am an Italian. These young Italians both knew that they were not in the wrong they were just in a time when other races were not accepted in America. The Sacco-Vanzetti case, proved that “the outcome symbolized the nativist prejudices and stereotypes are haunted in the communities.” This Fundamentalist Revolt wasn’t against a single race. It was against all races. These ant-modernist wanted an end to all immigration of all
Daniel, Roger is a highly respected author and professor who has majored in the study of immigration in history and more specifically the progressive ear. He’s written remarkable works over the history of immigration in America, in his book Not like Us he opens a lenses about the hostile and violent conditions immigrants faced in the 1890’s through the 1924’s. Emphasizing that during the progressive area many immigrants felt as they were living in a regressing period of their life. While diversity of ethnicity and race gradually grew during this time it also sparked as a trigger for whites creating the flare up of nativism. Daniel’s underlines the different types of racial and ethnical discrimination that was given to individual immigrant
John Higham explains in "Racism Immigration Restriction" that in Americans at the turn of the century already had a dislike for the new immigrants and now with more entering America after World War I, the personal dislike intensified. He writes: "...the transformation of relative cultural differences into an absolute line of cleavage, which would redeem the northwestern Europeans from the charges once leveled at them and explain the present danger of immigration in terms of the change in its sources." (Doc 1) People believed these immigrants could not adapt to the "standardized" way of American living, as the Northwestern or Nordic immigrants did. These new immigrants' presence in America stirred up religious racist organizations such as the Ku Klux Klan.
Where the main themes are similar to those which were implied earlier. Americans did not like that there were non-English speaking minorities around. They feared multiculturalism in which immigrant’s minority identity could benefit them in such forms as welfare. They also held a belief that foreigners were a drain on America’s resources. “Weapons for those who wanted foreigners to assimilate: deportation, time limit on naturalization and adoption of the English language, suppression of the foreign-language press, internments, the denial of industrial employment to aliens” (Hingham, 2002). As time progresses we see that these tactics are used on all non-white immigrant minorities, including the one who were later considered
The political machine was supported by continuing immigration from 1800 to 1920, when more than eighteen million European immigrants flooded into the Untied States in search of economic opportunity and political and religious freedom. At first they came from Northern and Central Europe and then largely from Eastern and Southern Europe. (New Colossus , Pg. 1) New York alone reported that by June 30, 1899 immigrant arrivals from the Russian Empire were around 90,787. Arrivals, from the same year, from all countries of persons of German race were 29,682 and Hebrew arrivals were 60,764. (Changing the Character of Immigration, Pg. 1) Unfortunately, with such a large influx in population during a short amount of time and other variables such as immigrants being unable to speak English, inadequate affordable urban housing, and insufficient jobs a large amount of immigrants ended up in growing slums without the feeling of security or knowledge of how to find help, if there was any, from an unrepresentative government. These factors transformed incoming immigrants into easy prey for patronage from the political machine and sustained it by giving their votes. In the 1930’s mass immigration had stopped and representative government had begun, leading to a decline in patronage needed by then integrated immigrants and a decline in votes for the machine.
Fear is a great motivator in man. In the 1920s, immigrants were coming over to the United States in mass quantities. Most of these immigrants were from Southern or Eastern Europe, parts of Asia and Mexico. Because these groups differed in culture, race, and religion from the majority of White Americans, as the immigrant population increased, so did hostility and displeasure towards them. Italians made up 11.8%, or 550,460 immigrants between the years of 1920 and 1930 (Historical Statistics, 456). These people received an extraordinary amount of dislike as they differed from white America in so many ways. When people began immigrating to America at the rate of five thousand people a day after World War I, people started taking their opinions into the political arena as well as the social one. 1921 saw the first legislation passed in Congress that enacted immigration quotas. The first quota reduced the number of immigrants to 3% of their total population in the country based in the 1910 census. Xenophobia and hatred towards immigrants continued to increase in the following years, cumulating in the National Origins Act of 1924, or as it is commonly know, the Johnson Act. This act further restricted immigration to 2% of their United States population bases on the census of 1890. These acts both passed with an overwhelming majority voting for them. During this time, many social movements were taking place in America, such as the labor movement, the temperance movement, and the reactionary movements of many white protestant groups, and all were looking for public support. Often, these groups would try to unify people around a central idea in order to gain this backing...
The English immigrants are given a brief introduction as the first ethnic group to settle in America. The group has defined the culture and society throughout centuries of American history. The African Americans are viewed as a minority group that were introduced into the country as slaves. The author depicts the struggle endured by African Americans with special emphasis on the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement. The entry of Asian Americans evoked suspicion from other ethnic groups that started with the settlement of the Chinese. The Asian community faced several challenges such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, and the mistreatment of Americans of Japanese origin during World War II. The Chicanos were the largest group of Hispanic peoples to settle in the United States. They were perceived as a minority group. Initially they were inhabitants of Mexico, but after the Westward expansion found themselves being foreigners in their native land (...
Perea, Juan. Immigrants Out! The New Nativism and the Anti-Immigrant Impulse in the United States. New York or London: New York University Press, 1997. Print.
Crimes, violence, catastrophes and injustices are most common topics to find on the internet, television and other social media sites. Just recently, the Baltimore case and Nepal tragedy are the main focus. As what everyone expects, America is the Dreamland, a place of hope and justice, where freedom and equality are granted to everybody. In contrast to the expectations, America, just like any other countries, once had conflict with the “Natives”, which is known to be the Civil War that even time can’t even heal. Richard Wright’s Native Son thoroughly enhances the meaning, themes and purpose of the novel as a whole through Foster’s inferences that emphasizes the irony of Bigger as the “native son” but suffers tremendously from alienation. Through
In this perspective, Ichiro’s refusal of Mr. Carrick’s job offer seems to prove his ability to determine his role in America. However, Ichiro bases his choice on this no-no boy status, believing that he is not “American” enough to deserve the job; even in this scene, postwar America’s ideal of militant nationalism controls his opinions, causing him to refuse the job that he wanted (136). Thus, in its historical context, Okada’s novel repeatedly shows that communities and the relationships within them determine individual senses of national belonging, not necessarily one’s personal choices. Although minorities may not see militant nationalism as the only way to belong in America today, political polarization continues to make national belonging a matter of picking sides. By proving that inflexible political views slow social progression, through the concept of militant nationalism, Okada shows that discriminating against others based on personal views is self-detrimental. All citizens have a responsibility in creating a space where individuals have the agency to find national belonging and a self-identity. If such action is taken, each person will have the chance to establish their role in society and give back to their community, supporting it in times of crisis. In redefining American