Term paper on Opposition to Immigration in the 1920s

Opposition to Immigration in the 1920s

World War I stopped the flood of immigrants to the United States , but the influx of these newcomers, principally from southern and eastern Europe , then rebounded, reaching 800,000 in 1921. Writers such as Madison Grant fanned the flames of prejudice, as did Henry Ford, who published the fraudulent Protocols of the Elders of Zion in the early 1920s. The notoriety of Italian and Jewish gangsters also fueled prejudice. Congress enacted the Emergency Immigration Act of 1921, which restricted immigration, and the National Origins Act of 1924, which by 1929 was to set yearly immigration at 150,000 and discriminated against southern and eastern Europeans.

Suggestions for Term Papers

1. Why was anti-immigration legislation enacted during the 1920s?

2. How effective was Henry Ford in promoting antisemitism?

3. Compare the arguments for and against immigration restriction in the 1920s and today.

4. What was the reaction to Latino immigrants during the 1920s?

5. Compare the immigration restriction laws of the 1920s with current ones.

REFERENCE SOURCES

Atlas of American Migration . Stephen A. Flanders. New York : Facts on File, 1998. Important new resource tool that presents all aspects of immigration history and treats political developments, treaties, legislation, and court cases.

Dictionary of American Immigration History . Francesco Cordasco. Blue Ridge Summit , PA : Scarecrow, 1990. Well-conceived and easy-to-use informative compilation of facts regarding the history of immigration in the United States .

The Immigrant Experience: An Annotated Bibliography . Paul D. Mageli. Lanham , MD : Scarecrow, 1991. An introduction to and overview of the entire immigrant situation. Indexed with full annotations.

The Immigration History Research Center : A Guide to Collections . Suzanna Moody and Joe Wurl, comps., and eds. Westport , CT : Greenwood , 1991. An excellent listing of resources at this center at the University of Minnesota regarding immigrants and the immigration of southern, eastern, and central Europeans.

United States Immigration . E. Willard Miller and Ruby M. Miller. Santa Barbara , CA : ABC-CLIO, 1996. Primarily treats contemporary issues; the introductory essay, chronology, and treatment provide perspective of historical influences.

GENERAL SOURCES

Coan, Peter M. Ellis Island Interviews: In Their Own Words . New York : Facts on File, 1997. Oral histories of 130 people from all socioeconomic and ethnic backgrounds; descriptions of their dreams and their obstacles.

D’Innocenzo, Michael, and Josef P. Sirefman. Immigration and Ethnicity:

Simon, Rita James. In the Golden Land : A Century of Russian and Soviet Jewish Immigration in America . Westport , CT : Praeger, 1997. Brief examination of the historical conditions surrounding the immigration of Russian and Soviet Jewry to the United States .

Wieder, Alan. Immigration, the Public School, and the 20th Century American Ethos: The Jewish Immigrant as a Case Study . Lanham , MD : University Press of America , 1985. Brief and informative examination of the role of the school in the cultural assimilation of Jewish immigrants.

BIOGRAPHICAL SOURCES

Warren, Donald. Radio Priest: Charles Coughlin, the Father of Hate Radio . New York : Free Press, 1996. Detailed biography of Father Coughlin, the right-wing extremist who embarrassed the Catholic church with his anti-Jewish broadcasts during the 1920s and 1930s.

AUDIOVISUAL SOURCES

Immigration and Cultural Change . Wynewood , PA : Schlessinger Video/ Library Video Company, 1996. Videocassette. Number 12 of the twenty-volume set, United States History. Approximately 40 minutes. Informed treatment of immigration history with coverage of ethnic diversity and intolerance dating from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882.

WORLD WIDE WEB

Barnfield, Graham. ‘‘Addressing Estrangement: Federal Arts Patronage and National Identity Under the New Deal.” Communications Studies . Updated September 1996. http://www.shu.ac.uk/schools/cs/commstud/thirties/newdeal/intro.htm In setting the stage for the impact of New Deal legislation of the 1930s, part I examines the political fall-out of the National Origins Act and ethnic divisiveness of the 1920s.