The late nineteenth century brought immense change for the United States. Edmund Burke described this time period as a time where “Every day is a day of crisis”, as the expansion of an urban industrial economy created nurtured economic interdependence which threatened the development and wellbeing of most Americans (Tichenor, 114). As the twentieth-century began the ideology of nativists grew stronger in the desire for immigration restrictions and saw immigration
reform as the preeminent Progressive cause (Tichenor, 114). While the nativists desired to implement immigration restrictions, other interests groups developed and pushed to have their issues addressed during the Progressive Era.
Furthermore, the Progressive Era brought ideological change, as Americans sought to resolve pending social and political issues by implementing various movements and political interventions. For the nativists, the most important issue looming
over American’s heads was the issue of immigration. Therefore, they began to forge alliances with various social control Progressives, organized labor unions and Southern conservatives (Tichenor, 115). During this time, those believing and
actively lobbying for restrictions on immigration were known as Progressive Era restrictionists.
While many nativists were lobbying for restricionist policies, many Republicans were attempting to divert immigration restriction movements. House Speaker Joseph Gurney Cannon, for example, used his Speakership powers to derail restictionist policy proposals from 1903 until 1910 (Tichenor, 116). Throughout the Progressive Era, research and social-scientific expertise developed and generated a notion of legitimacy, as various research groups began looking for factual information to support policies for restricting immigration. Throughout this time, nativist ideology gained momentum in the United States. Moreover, the First World War helped further develop fears of mass European immigration.
Exemplifying the fears of Americans, the German-American Alliance dismayed the American public when they supported peace with Germany, helping to perpetuate fears of the large foreign born population in the United States (Tichenor, 139).
Through the fears of immigration and foreign born citizens, the United States developed a new implementation of Americanization and assimilation. President Roosevelt stated, a strong defense against outside aggression required
vigilance with military matters as well as in social lives (Tichenor, 139). Various committees and organizations began to help immigrants blend into the American culture and become easily assimilated into the population. Civil League for Immigrants, Young Men’s and Young Women’s Christian Associations, various women’s clubs and National Americanization Committee, for example, began to help immigrants by teaching them English and helping them to develop factory skills to be better prepared for work as laborers (Tichenor, 139).
Though many interest groups helped to assimilate immigrants into the American population, the war brought with it the perpetuated fears of eastern and central European immigrants. The 1920 Presidential election ushered in an ideological
Shift in the White House. Warren G. Harding believed in nationalism as the backbone of America. With Harding winning the Presidency, there was nothing standing in the way of legislative policies restricting immigration. The Quota Act of 1921 limited the total number of immigrants to 355,000 per year. The fears that European immigrants would not be able to assimilate into the population were overwhelming, following WWI, ultimately leading to the Red Scare and the Immigration Act of 1924. Furthering the fears of mass immigration, between 1920 and 1929, on average, 25,000 Mexican immigrants entered the United States per year (Gutierrez, 69). The mass influx of Mexican immigrants led Mexican Americans to believe that their initial concerns about them had been justified, as they believed their jobs would be taken and wages would be lowered due to the growth of labor resources. Unfortunately, the enormous amount of immigrants flowing into the United States from Mexico helped to push the resurgence of anti-Mexican sentiments within the United States and ultimately helped to propel the restrictionist ideology of immigration.
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