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Jewish immigration 1930's
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Jewish Involvement in Shaping American Immigration Policy, 1881- 1965: A Historical Review
This paper discusses Jewish involvement in shaping United States immigration policy. In addition to a periodic interest in fostering the immigration of co- religionists as a result of anti- Semitic movements, Jews have an interest in opposing the establishment of ethnically and culturally homogeneous societies in which they reside as minorities. Jews have been at the forefront in supporting movements aimed at altering the ethnic status quo in the United States in favor of immigration of non- European peoples. These activities have involved leadership in Congress, organizing and funding anti- restrictionist groups composed of Jews and gentiles, and originating intellectual movements opposed to evolutionary and biological perspectives in the social sciences.
Ethnic conflict is of obvious importance for understanding critical aspects of American history, and not only for understanding Black/ White ethnic conflict or the fate of Native Americans. Immigration policy is a paradigmatic example of conflict of interest between ethnic groups because immigration policy influences the future demographic composition of the nation. Ethnic groups unable to influence immigration policy in their own interests will eventually be displaced or reduced in relative numbers by groups able to accomplish this goal.
This paper discusses ethnic conflict between Jews and gentiles in the area of immigration policy. Immigration policy is, however, only one aspect of conflicts of interest between Jews and gentiles in America. The skirmishes between Jews and the gentile power structure beginning in the late nineteenth century always had strong overtones of anti- Semitism. These battles involved issues of Jewish upward mobility, quotas on Jewish representation in elite schools beginning in the nineteenth century and peaking in the 1920s and 1930s, the anti- Communist crusades in the post- World War II era, as well as the very powerful concern with the cultural influences of the major media extending from Henry Ford's writings in the 1920s to the Hollywood inquisitions of the McCarthy era and into the contemporary era. That anti- Semitism was involved in these issues can be seen from the fact that historians of Judaism (e. g., Sachar 1992, p. 620ff) feel compelled to include accounts of these events as important to the history of Jews in America, by the anti- Semitic pronouncements of many of the gentile participants, and by the self- conscious understanding of Jewish participants and observers.
The Jewish involvement in influencing immigration policy in the United States is especially noteworthy as an aspect of ethnic conflict.
Winter, J. (2002, Jan). The Death of American Antisemitism by Spencer Blakeslee. American Sociological Association. Retrieved Mar 2, 2014, from http://www.jstor.org/stable/3089419
Throughout the history of America, there has always been a influx of Jews from Europe. Even though Emma Lazarus wrote her poem after the massive immigration of German Jews to America, her poem can be used to describe the Jewish Immigrants. Many German Jews arrived in New York " tired ... poor... [and] yearning to breathe free." While New York City was still a hub for German Jewish immigrants, some had also moved to Atlanta and more Western states. Several of the German Jewish families who immigrated to America will forever have their names etched into her history, through their central role as entrepreneurs in America's expanding clothing industry. They began from humble careers and worked their way up the proverbial food chain. Once settled in, these German Jews knew they had to take advantage of their circumstances, past experiences and ability to "predict" the future in order to survive in the dog eat dog world of the Nineteenth Century. Although many of which did not have much startup capital, they managed to pay off their debts and move into the profit margin. For a job that can fabricate those results, many chose to become peddlers.
The immigration debate has been in the news a great deal recently. Most of the attention has been focused on the illegal immigrants entering our country from Mexico, mostly Hispanics and Latinos. Uncontrolled immigration is harmful to the United States. It harms the American worker and it harms the American economy. The open borders are a threat to national security because terrorists, smugglers, and drug dealers can also freely cross the border. These key facts cannot be ignored and outweigh the claims that race and ethnicity are part of the debate. Immigration should be restricted and a better I.D. system would help stabilize the immigration problem.
Pecan trees are also deciduous angiosperms. I believe it is safe to say that his pecan tree was not producing because it may have not been fully mature at the time that it was given a shot. Also, as a cattle farmer, or rancher, Joe probably owns hundreds if not thousands of acres of land for his cattle to roam. It is possible that Joe may have not come across the tree until it had just obtained characteristics of a pecan tree and was only a few years old and immature. Depending on the species, the pecan tree can produce crop at 6 years old but some, such as ‘Stuart,’ require more years. Another possibility is a low crop yield that was so small that Joe may not have even noticed the tree producing. Pecan trees have both male and female flowers so it has the ability to self-fertilize; however, its best crop production comes from being cross pollinated by wind or insects. If Joe doesn’t have another pecan tree in the area, this self-fertilization could have led to a low crop yield. Also, pecan trees have a severe problem with alternative bearing. This is when the tree produces a fruit one or two years but not the next. This is because the trees do not have enough carbohydrate reserves to use in crop production for the following season. Finally, another possible scenario is that the pecans were eaten by other organisms before Joe could get to the tree. Crows, other birds, and squirrels consume a lot of pecans. They could have eaten the entire crop before Joe even noticed. This would be more of a possibility of Joe not noticing the crop if the tree was producing a low crop yield and that low yield was being consumed by
Boroff, David. "A Little Milk, a Little Honey: Jewish Immigrants in America." 1966. Oates. 87-97.
Hill, Grant D. "Pecan Food Potential in Prehistoric North America." Economic Botany55.1 (2000): 103-12. Print.
New York: William Morrow. Lipsett, S. M. & Co., P.A. and Ladd, E. C. (1971) The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secon "Jewish Academics in the United States: Their Achievements, Culture and Politics." American Jewish Yearbook -. Cited for Zuckerman, Harriet (1977).
Anderson, P.C., and T.E. Crocker. "The Pecan Tree." Solutions for Your Life: University of Florida IFAS Extension (2004). Web. 18 Apr. 2012.
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. 103. 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 them 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....
If one were to ask a New York resident in the 1950’s how many people he or she would expect to be living in New York sixty years from now, he would most likely not say 20 million. Among those 20 million, it is even more unfathomable that an estimated 1.7 million Jews reside within New York City, making New York home to over a quarter of the Jews living in America today . Amongst those Jews however, how many of them consider themselves religious? Seeing that only an estimated 10 percent of Jews today classify themselves as observant, how and when did this substantial dispersion occur? The period post World War II in America presents the many different factors and pressures for Jews arriving in America during this time. Although many Jews believed America would be the best place to preserve and rebuild Jewish presence in the world, the democracy and economic opportunity resulted in adverse effects on many Jews. The rate of acculturation and assimilation for many of these Jews proved to be too strong, causing an emergence of two types of Jews during this time period. Pressures including the shift to suburbanization, secular education into professional careers, covert discrimination in the labor market and the compelling American culture, ultimately caused the emergence of the passive and often embarrassed ‘American Jew’; the active ‘Jewish American’ or distinctly ‘Jewish’ citizen, avertedly, makes Judaism an engaging active component of who and what they are amidst this new American culture.
During the years of the war, America’s immigration policy and the restriction of Jewish immigrants was very apparent. The January 1943 Telegram Confirming Reports of Mass Executions of Jews in Poland talks about the Immigration Reform Act of 1924 and how it passed tight quotas on immigration. In 1924, the Unites States passed the Immigration Reform act. This act granted as little as two percent of the immigrating population a visa they needed to enter the U.S. Getting a visa could mean life or death for many immigrants. Instead of America helping the Jews escape Germany and Hitler, they blocked them out with more strict immigration policies. President Franklin D. Roosevelt and other officials warned that stricter controls on immigration were needed to prevent foreign threats from invading our nation. But innocent Jews trying to escape death don’t seem that harmful to most people. They also refused to, “ raise their immigration quotas in order to accept large numbers of refugees” (Lichtheim and Riegne 1). Because of this, many European Jews were not expected into America and in return harshly affected by Adolf Hitler and the Nazis. Some even died a horrible deaths in concentration camps just because America was afraid of giving out too many visas. Because of actions like these, the Jews were turned down in their time of need, especially when they
The arrival of immigrants to the United States is often associated with fear. Immigrants are vulnerable to attacks if they are cast as threats to the way of American life. A deeper look into immigration policies reveals that immigrant restrictions are seated in racialized notions. Immigrants before the founding of the nation came for the opportunities of a better life. The immigrants who would continue to come thereafter came for much the same reasons. But government policies demonstrate repeated attempts to block the immigration of undesirable immigrant communities.
Fornos, Werner. "No vacancy." The Humanist July-Aug. 1998: 15+. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 May 2012.
Croll, J. 2005. Body image and adolescents. [e-book] Guidelines for Adolescent Nutrition Services. http://www.epi.umn.edu/let/pubs/adol_book.shtm [Accessed: 10 April 2014].
...an countries. These immigrants brought with them Jewish, cultural heritages and traditions which were very different from those existing in Israel at the time. This Western-oriented culture demanded acknowledgement to its morals and values, causing a huge conflict which caused a misfortune to the newcomers of the state. Immigration had a negative effect on the traditional communital aspects and interpersonal relations. Original and understood values which had provided the infrastructure for community consensus were vastly weakened. Family roles were destroyed and past experience provided no representation for current needs and wants. Cooperative activity became very difficult. Old Fashioned leadership which had relied on the traditional frameworks of society was also declared void in the new situations that had seceded the vast amounts of immigration (Home).