Should "old" Americans decide who gets to be a "new" American?

During the early 1800s, ships loaded with immigrants began landing on the shores of the United States in great numbers. That worried Americans who didn't want to share everything they had worked for and fought for. Their philosophy, called Nativism, held that people who already live in the United States should have greater rights and freedoms than immigrants new to the country. The first great debate on immigration focused on the fairness of Nativism ...

Who is a Native?

The inhabitants of the original 13 colonies were made up of different ethnic groups, but for the most part they came to think of themselves as being English. When the colonists were denied the benefits and freedoms enjoyed by citizens of England, they began to think of themselves as something else: Americans. After defeating the English in the Revolutionary War, Americans began to develop a strong national identity — and with it came a suspicion of newcomers.

In 1798, President John Adams took the first federal action against immigration with the Alien and Sedition Acts. "The tendency of the thing is injurious, unless the newcomers are more civilized and more virtuous, and have ... the same ideas and feeling about government."

Make Your Case

These new laws increased the time it took immigrants to become citizens from five years to 14. They gave the government power to arrest or deport immigrants considered to be "dangerous to the peace and safety" of the country. The passage of these laws also marked the beginning of carefully recorded immigration statistics.

A Question of Religion

In the years that followed, Americans turned a suspicious eye toward other immigrant groups, particularly those who followed the Catholic faith. During the 1820s, large numbers of newcomers started arriving from Germany and Ireland. Their labor was critical to the success of large projects being undertaken across the country. A high percentage of the German and Irish immigrants were Catholics. Many Americans believed that Catholics were faithful only to their spiritual leader in Rome, the Pope. Nativists used this rationale as part of their argument to keep Catholics out of the country.

By the 1850s, Nativism had become a powerful force in American politics. Most notable was the Know-Nothing Party, which worked to limit citizenship and restrict the rights of newcomers. The party was made up of middleclass American males, most of whom were Protestant and had descended from English colonists. The Know-Nothings and groups like them enjoyed great power for several years, and were behind much of the violence aimed at new Americans.

In 1855, the Know-Nothings supported Levi Boone for Mayor of Chicago. Boone won the election and immediately banned immigrants from holding any city jobs. But the Know-Nothings faced opposition. In fact, the group was eventually stopped from spreading its influence across Illinois by a 46-year-old state legislator named Abraham Lincoln. The Nativist movement began to crumble soon after.

The Nativist movement may have collapsed, but its impact it still felt today. Sometimes it seems as if each immigrant group that comes to America feels a little superior to the groups that arrive right after them. Why might some form of Nativism be with us today?

Can the U.S. pass a law aimed at people from one country?

By the late 1800s, the nature of immigration in the United States was starting to change. For nearly a century, the nation's "open door" policy toward newcomers had turned out to be its greatest strength. However, as the American West opened up in the 1850s and 1860s, concern grew among many business and political leaders that the "wrong" type of immigrant was entering the country. As newcomers from Asia began to arrive in America in large numbers, a new immigration debate began ...

From the Far East to the American West

The discovery of gold in California in the late 1840s started the Gold Rush. Pioneers, prospectors, and homesteaders flocked to the region in the 1850s and 1860s to stake their claims and seek their fortunes. Towns and cities sprang up on the west coast, and the building of the nation's transcontinental railroad began. Crossing the rugged U.S. terrain created a great demand for workers. The U.S. alone could not fill this demand. China could help.

As is so often the case with new immigrant groups, the Chinese people were facing challenges at home. Their population was growing rapidly and the country was in the midst of a bloody civil war. These factors convinced many young men to explore other parts of the world. More than a quarter-million Chinese residents came to the American West and found jobs related to the railroad. Some worked for a few years, saved their money, and returned home. More often, they put down roots in the U.S. Some had no choice — in order to pay for the trip to America, they had to work for many years as laborers at a dollar or two a week.

Almost from the start, the Chinese in America faced hostility and prejudice. They competed with gold and silver prospectors, often taking claims that had been abandoned and finding ways to make them profitable. American workers believed the Chinese were stealing jobs from them because they were willing to work hard for a lower wage. In some western cities — including Los Angeles and San Francisco — anti-Chinese riots led to murders. Some states tried to bar Chinese immigration. However, a treaty between the U.S. and China, signed in 1868, guaranteed free immigration in both directions.

In 1875, Congress passed new legislation called the Page Act. It barred entry into the United States for immigrants who were coming to the country as forced labor. It also targeted those who were convicts in their own country.

Although the Page Act did not single out Chinese immigrants, it was aimed directly at them. In 1880, further steps were taken to limit Chinese immigration when the 1868 treaty was renegotiated to greatly favor the U.S. Finally, in 1882, Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act. It barred entry to all Chinese laborers. This turned a wave of immigration from that country into a tiny trickle. Two years later, the law was extended to bar Chinese-Americans who had returned to their homeland to conduct business or make family visits. Later changes to the Chinese Exclusion Act required Chinese Americans to carry identification proving their U.S. residency. Without these papers, they could be arrested and deported.

The Chinese Exclusion Act was the first federal law preventing one specific group from entering the U.S. It was enacted under intense pressure from American workers. They feared competition...