Immigration Waves in US History
• antebellum, 1840-1860—largely northern European, especially England, Ireland and Germany—approx. 4.5 million
• late 19th-early 20th century, 1900-1920—largely Southern and Eastern European, including Polish and Russian Jews, Italian, Greek—approx. 14.5 million
• also Asian immigrants in the late 19th-early 20th century, in much fewer numbers (for example, Chinese immigrants built US railroads)
Naturalization Law and Race in US History
• 1790 - Congress limits naturalization to white persons
• 1870 - Congress adds African Americans (naturalization limited to “free white persons” and “persons of African descent”)
• 1952 - racial prerequisite for naturalization eliminated
Immigration Act of 1924 (The Johnson-Reed Act)
• Based ceilings on the number of immigrants from any particular nation on 2 percent of each nationality recorded in the 1890 census
• Was directed against immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe who arrived in large numbers after 1890
• Barred all immigrants ineligible for citizenship on racial grounds, including all south and east Asians (including Indians, Japanese, and Chinese)
Immigration Act of 1924 > Annual Immigration Quotas
• Germany - 51,227
• Great Britain - 34,007
• Ireland - 28,567
• Italy - 3,845
• Hungary - 473
• Greece - 100
• Egypt - 100
Immigration Act of 1924 > Mae Ngai’s article
• What is the main argument of the article?
• Does the author present sufficient evidence to support her argument?
• What author’s insights did you find the most original and useful?
• In what ways do you think the author might have done things differently?
• Ngai says that the law “constructed race.” What does she mean?
• What role statistics and the Census played in the development of this legislation?
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