Since the creation of the United States, immigrants from all over the world have come to the nation seeking better lives for themselves and their families. Attitudes towards immigrants, however, have ranged since the formation of the nation, with immigrants being welcomed when there has been a need for cheap labor, such as building the railroads, but hardened against foreigners during economic downturns when people have tended to blame their lack of economic opportunities on immigrants taking their jobs. This was the case during the parts of the period of 1880 through the 1890s; this paper will discuss the reasons for the drop in immigration numbers in the United States from 1893-94.
In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed, the first time a law had been enacted restricting immigration to the new nation. Chinese immigrants had come to the United States and virtually built the national railroad system, but when unemployment and low wages became a national problem, the issue was blamed on the Chinese. In response, the Exclusion Act was enacted, and forbid Chinese from entering the United States for the next 10 years, and also prevented Chinese already living in the states from becoming citizens. The law was extended again when it expired, and was only repealed during the middle of the 20th century. The result was a decline in immigration of Chinese citizens, the first of many responses to what was perceived as a problem caused by a sort of invasion of foreigners.
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"Immigration in the United States in 1893".
Another movement aimed at cutting down on the number of immigrants entering the United States was the formation of the Immigration Restriction League in 1894. This group called for a requirement of literacy as a way to reduce immigration into the United States. This group was formed as a result of anxiety about the large numbers of immigrants entering the country in the 1880s and 1890s, and was based on its members losing confidence in the ability of the nation to help newcomers successfully become integrated into political, social, and cultural life in the nation (Immigration Restriction League, 2014.) The League also assumed that there was a connection between immigration and the growing socioeconomic difficulties experienced in urban areas following the transformations caused by industrialization. There was an increase in problems such as overcrowded tenements, delinquency, crime, poverty, labor unrest and violence (Immigration Restriction League, 2014.)
Groups determined to restrict immigration also made a distinction between the immigrants from England, Ireland and Germany, which they considered “old immigrants” and people who were arriving from Italy as well as Eastern Europe. The claim was that those people who came more recently were undesirable because they were innately lacking the ability to engage in self-government or to take on the values of people in the United States. Many of the people associated with the League eventually became part of the eugenics movement, another anti-immigrant group that used pseudoscience to categorize and rank citizens from different ethnic and racial groups. Eventually, although the Immigration Restriction League was founded in Boston, its beliefs extended to other large cities, where they were able to successfully recruit new members. They continued to attempt to warn the public about the dangers associated with the influx of immigrants, and they were also involved in hiring lobbyists to influence members of Congress to support their literacy bill. All of the anti-immigrant sentiment during these years had the impact of reducing the number of people traveling to and settling in the United States, because there were so many barriers constructed to keep their numbers out that they successfully caused a decline in immigration. The resistance to different groups of people being allowed access to the United States continues into modern times, although the focus currently is on Mexicans and other people who are viewed as “taking American jobs”.
- Immigration Restriction League. (2014). Retrieved from Harvard University Library Open Collections Program: http://ocp.hul.harvard.edu/
