The U.S. is a land of immigrants, probably the leading nation of immigration across the globe. The U.S. authorities have generally responded favorably to immigration using the Latin phrase “E Pluribus Unum” (“From many, one”) as their motto (Martin par. 1). This has led to the situation when most U.S. citizens are able to share about their forebears who one day left a remote country in order to start a new life in America. Yet, the U.S. immigration policy has not been stable over the years. MAIN CLAIM: The 1920s were the time when immigration in the U.S. was weak among most groups of immigrants except for Hispanics and Northern Europeans from Protestant countries because of the impact of the Ku Klux Klan policy and Congress quotas restricting the numbers of arriving newcomers.
The revival of Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s was a impactful factor in restricting immigration. Originally, Ku Klux Klan was a racist organization which emerged after the end of the Civil War with the aim of terrorizing African Americans as well as their white supporters. Even though in 1870, it disbanded, a businessman from Atlanta William J. Simmons revived it in 1915 in a cross-burning ceremony held on Stone Mountain in Georgia (Drowne & Huber 10). The new Klan was preaching that the supremacy of the white population had come under assault in America and that the diversified culture undermined the prominence of native-born white Protestants. The organization targeted African Americans, immigrants, Catholics, communists, Jews, and union leaders, whom they believed to pose threat to white communities. By 1924, which was the height of its power, Ku Klux Klan had had 2 million members across the nation, of whom many were small businessmen from the cities or recent migrants from rural areas. The Klan, in particular, was dominant in the political settings of Oklahoma, Colorado, Indiana, and Texas, were the percentage of population involved in it reached 10% (Drowne & Huber 10). It was that year that President Coolidge issued a declaration that America must be kept American and gave his support to the legislation that made it harder for foreign-born people to become U.S. residents (Drowne & Huber 8). The government gave stark support to the demands of Klansmen because they were afraid of race riots and violent protests initiated by Klansmen, who made African Americans, Jews, Catholics, as well as immigrants scapegoats for lack of jobs or economic prosperity (Drowne & Huber 12).
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"Immigration in the United States in the 1920s".
Next, the weak nature of immigration in the 1920 was the result of the quotas established by Congress, which got reflected in the Quota Act of 1921 and Immigration Act of 1924, which came into history as the National Origins Act. First, fueled by strong anti-foreign resentment and repeated demands for “One Hundred Percent Americanism,” the authorities decided to clamp down on immigration drastically. The Quota Act, which was passed in 1921, capped the overall annual number of immigrants who were allowed to enter the country to 385, 000 (Drowne & Huber 8). In three years, Congress passed another piece of legislation, the National Origins Act, which reduced the annual ceiling of immigrants to 165, 000. It was less than 20% of the level of immigration prior to World War 2. Apart from restricting the overall number of immigrants accepted annually, the law provided for the allocation of immigration visas on the ground of the country of origin. Interestingly, immigrants from the Western hemisphere were exempted from the policy. In particular, Hispanic immigration went on the rise, since the U.S. authorities placed no restrictions on it. Likewise, immigrants from Northern European, majorly Protestant states were preferred. As to Asian immigration, it got utterly prohibited during the time period. To make matters worse, in 1929, Congress further restricted yearly immigration to the country to mere 150, 000 people (Drowne & Huber 8).
At the same time, the immigration of Hispanics to the United States in the 1920 was rather strong. Fueled by the unstable situation after the Mexican Revolution and promoted by the U.S. labor recruiters, Mexican Americans left their native country for the industrialized Midwest and quickly developing Southwest. Specifically, as many as 660,000 of them relocated to the U.S. during the 1920s. The reason for this encouragement of immigration was labor shortages in agriculture and industry resulting from reduced flow of immigrants from Europe. In fact, the immigration of Hispanics came as a wish of the U.S. government to enhance the nation’s prosperity in the 1920s (Cafferty & Engstrom 38).
In summary, the immigration of the 1920s differed from previous immigration patterns to the U.S. Fueled by strong white supremacist sentiments, which placed white Protestant identity at the core of the American nation as well as by fears of losing jobs to immigrants, the U.S. government passed several laws that considerably restricted the number of immigrants who entered the country yearly. Immigrants along with Jews, Catholics, and African Americans were viewed as scapegoats for lack of economic prosperity in the early 1920s. The power of Ku Klux Klan and recurring race riots led to the government’s support of the anti-immigrant stance, which made it hard for immigrants to get residence in the U.S. The two groups of immigrants that were exempt from the restriction on immigration were Europeans from Northern European Protestant states and Hispanics, who were viewed as desired workforce in the industrial Midwest and quickly developing Southwest.
- Cafferty, Pastora & David Engstrom. Hispanics in the United States: An Agenda for the Twenty-First Century. Transaction Publishers, 2000.
- Drowne, Kathleen & Patrick Huber. The 1920s. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004.
- Martin, Philip. “U.S. Immigration.” Immigration and Asylum from 1900 to Present, edited by Matthew J. Gibney, and Randall Hansen, ABC-CLIO, 1st edition, 2005. Credo Reference, https://search.credoreference.com
