The Rise of American Nativism from 1900 to 1930

American society esteems itself as a sanctuary for the tired, the poor, and the huddled masses of the world. It adamantly claims to celebrate the principles of rowdy ethnic pluralism and colorful cultural diversity at the core of its identity. However, the proverbial melting pot of American society has not, and perhaps never will, epitomize the egalitarian spirit of the American Dream – the belief that this nation is an unlimited beacon of hope and opportunity. From the 1798 Alien Acts, which required the immediate expulsion of foreigners “dangerous to the peace and safety of the United States,” to modern-day Islamophobia, American patriotism and fear during times of change have drummed up anti-foreign stirrings to a shrill pitch. Nativism, in simple terms, is a dogged adherence to the belief that race functions as the most important determinant of cultural identity; this played an important role in the shaping of America at the dawn of the twentieth century. The self-righteous clamoring of reformers during the progressive era coupled with the drastic changes of post-World War I America incited a new sense of nativism during the 1920s and 1930s that aimed to preserve a rose-colored conception of true Americanism.

The heart of the progressive reform movement during the first decade of the twentieth century was quite unlike anything American society had ever experienced before. Rather than campaigning for the government as a bulwark of individual liberty, progressive reformers fought for the government as an agent of human welfare. They felt that the burden of purging social, economic, and political corruption should be accepted by the government – that unbridled capitalism and unregulated politicking are dangerous for democracy.

However, an unfortunate extension of the logic behind economic and political regulation was the misguided belief that all aspects of society must be stringently monitored and delicately disinfected. Indeed, this Panglossian campaign for an ideal America provided the foundation for the upsurge of nativism in the 1920s and 1930s. To the progressives, compromising civic and economic freedom in the name of social sanitization was wholly justified. This mentality led to benignant new business regulations as well as coherent and odious eugenics and temperance movements. In his book Better for All the World, Harry Bruinius’ remarks, “Seeing their country as a land of innocence, many Americans had long clung to the idea of self-purification, attempting to excise that which posed a danger to the social good” (Satel 2). The temperance and eugenics movements, quite simply, were organized attempts at restricting personal freedom in the name of societal betterment. For example, the eighteenth amendment, the brainchild of early temperance crusaders, was the only constitutional alteration designed principally to restrict individual liberty. Likewise, America’s compulsory sterilization programs – having begun in 1907 when Indiana passed a law allowing doctors to sterilize the mentally or physically unfit – were borne out of the desire to control the genetic makeup of the electorate. For the first time in human history, doctors were instructed to operate on unwilling and healthy patients in the name of promoting social good.

The concepts of social restriction and genetic sanitation clearly buttress nativism. Harry Laughlin, an influential developer of the eugenics movement, remarked, “The recent immigrants (largely from Southern and Eastern Europe) as a whole, present a higher percentage of inborn socially inadequate qualities than do older stocks” (Quinn 39). Nativism was a logical outgrowth of a social mentality that pushed for a large-scale government-sponsored cleansing of American society. On a philosophical level, progressivism and nativism were reflections of the prevailing utopianism in the American public.

The aftermath of World War I left American society disillusioned by foreign intervention and apprehensive about the rise of radicalism abroad; these conditions provided an ideal setting for the fomentation of social purification programs developed during the progressive era and for the upsurge of nativism. The Bolshevik Revolution of 1917 fanned the flames of the isolationist movement by inspiring new fears of communist agitators in the minds of Americans. Many angry citizens blindly ascribed the scourge of labor strikes during the period between 1918 and 1919 to Russian revolutionaries. War-time American author stuck a chord in American nativism by declaring, “My motto for the Reds is S.O.S.—ship or shoot. I believe we should place them all on a ship of stone, with sails of lead, and that their first stopping place should be hell” (Bailey 280). The paranoid anti-foreignism and vindictive censorship of radicalism of the day are two hallmarks of nativism.

The hysteria reached epic proportions during 1919 and 1920, culminating in the first organized manifestation of brewing anti-foreignism, “the red scare.” Attorney general Mitchell Palmer capitalized on frightened Americans by zealously rounding up over six thousand alleged enemies of the state. Moreover, he successfully forced the deportation of 249 suspected radical communists back to Russia. In the name of protecting American freedom, Palmer fought for the passage of criminal syndicalism laws in each state; with this, he carelessly tore down the distinction between actions and words, made all threats of violence treasonous in the first degree, and abandoned fundamental principles of first Amendment freedoms. The reasoned remark by newspaper editor William Allen White, that a radical who “merely preaches his creed and does not preach violence, [ ] can do no harm” (Bailey 280) fell on the deaf ears of an over-patriotic American public.

No better example of the subversion of American justice in the name of American nativism exists than in execution of Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti. The men were convicted of murder not because their guilt was proven beyond all reasonable doubt, but because their blasphemous ideology was known beyond all reasonable denial: they were atheists, Italians, anarchists, and draft dodgers. Vanzetti famously acknowledged, “But my conviction is that I have suffered for things that I am guilty of. I am suffering because I am a radical and indeed I am a radical” (Bailey 281). The supercharged atmosphere of post-World War I America – vivid dreams of a better future and dark fears of social collapse – provided an ideal environment for the triumph of narrow-minded bigotry.

Congress responded to the nativist pressures of the 1920s by passing the Immigration Act of 1924 – codifying the nation’s calls for provincial Americanism. According to this legislation, number of immigrants allowed from a certain country was set to the quota of 2% of the number of immigrants in 1890s America. Essentially, the system reflected prevailing prejudices by blatantly discriminating against foreigners of Eastern and Southern European descent. That year, Professor of Columbia University of president of the American Museum of Natural history, echoed the dark tone of the day by insisting that the battle “to maintain the predominance of our race,” has not yet been won, and that American must learn from the “decadence and decline of which undermined the great republics of Greece and Rome” by rejecting “the appeals of false humanitarianism.” The immigration restrictions were a collective triumph for eugenics movement: the legislation homogenized ethnic differences and shifted the racial composition of the country to its Anglo-Saxon origins. The racial restrictions, moreover, were a victory for pervasive nativism because they were pacified all society: the plutocratic alarm of immigrant restlessness, the middle-class vision of a pure society untainted by unworthy blood and the working-classes’ fear of labor competition.

Finally, the revival of the Ku Klux Klan during the first quarter of the twentieth century – membership exceeding a staggering 5 million by 1925 – embodied, perhaps more so than anything else, the violent nativism of the age. Spawned by the dizzying effects of rapid change, the Klan rose on the pillars hate and intolerance; it added antiforeignism, anticommunist, and antichange to its typical arsenal of hate. Reverend Bob Shuler of Shuler’s Magazine excuses the violent tendencies of the Klan by noting that “the tenets, principles, and aims of the Ku Klux Klan” include a “positive emphasis for Americanism as opposed to foreignism”; and therefore, the “the principles of the Klan are not so damnable as pictured” (Bailey 286). Pro-Americanism dignified violent antiforeignism, and the Ku Klux Klan rose to power.

The widespread bans on interracial marriage, the compulsory sterilization programs, the systematic deportations of intellectual radicals, the strict racial quotas, and the powerful vigilantly group founded on hate and bigotry cumulatively gave 1920s America the right to consider itself one of the most culturally repressive nations in the world. Nativism rose in the void left by the purgation of social corruption from American society and triumphed in the fearful paranoia of a post-War nation. Insular dread and idealistic fervor invariably bred nativism and ethnocentrism. The nation’s cultural beliefs swayed then – and indeed today – in the winds of political, economic, and social change: from acceptance to intolerance, from a call for diversity to a call for purity, and from an open democracy to a stifling tyranny of the majority.

Works Cited

Bailey, Thomas A., and David M. Kennedy. The American Spirity. Vol. 1. New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1998.

Quinn, Peter. "Race Cleansing in America." American Heritage Mar. 2003.

Satel, Sally. "A Better Breed of American." The New York Times 26 Feb. 2006.

Labels:



32 Comments:

Anonymous Anonymous said...

viagra oral does viagra really work viagra free trial viagra free trial viagra canada viagra uk cost pill viagra covered by insurance cheap viagra walmart 2007 viagra hmo bought viagra fuerteventura buy viagra on line viagra reviews viagra covered by insurance viagra and cocaine

8:16 AM  
Anonymous Term Papers said...

I have been visiting various blogs for my term papers writing research. I have found your blog to be quite useful. Keep updating your blog with valuable information... Regards

1:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi www.blogger.com . [url=http://impotencebuyviagra.webstarts.com/ ]buy viagra in canada /#VIXA [/url], MFSO.buy generic viagra [url=http://viagraorder.yolasite.com ]cheapest place to buy viagra online /#TEG7128 [/url], EYYW Good luck!

10:26 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

The last phase can be to determine the sum of the mortgage loan being taken. It is best to refrain from to 2500 simply to a bad credit score household loans shorter time period than the initial mortgage loans? They have introduced any Centrelink payment structure which is also referred to as CSDA or the Earth Service Delivery Agency. instant payday loans uk Many of them receive trapped in to a cycle of unsecured debt!

10:14 PM  
Blogger ADmin said...

An ideal illustration of this is in the event that you this site purchase a shoddy stereo or a DVD player there will unavoidably be small

6:20 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

彼らのウェブサイトのトップランキングは5最適化されたWebページのために達成された後
に紳士のためのもう一つ
- 特にダンスのス
キルのいくつかのフォ
ームを持って
いるもの!後半偉大
な、マイケル·ジャクソ
ンを思い出しながらストラット自分のものを。歌いながら群衆
の中に何人かの若い
女性を指すように、必ずこの曲の一
部 "ビリージーンは私の恋人ではない" .

.. 。

My web-site celine

7:22 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Its like you read my mind! You appear to know a lot about this, like you wrote the book in it or something.
I think that you can do with a few pics to drive the message
home a little bit, but instead of that, this is great blog.
An excellent read. I'll certainly be back.

Visit my web blog - waist to height calculator

2:31 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Everything is very open with a clear description of the challenges.
It was definitely informative. Your website is extremely helpful.

Many thanks for sharing!

My web site diet plans to lose weight

8:33 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

If some one wants expert view concerning running a blog then
i recommend him/her to pay a visit this weblog, Keep up the nice work.


Here is my blog post; diet plans for women to lose weight fast for free

8:37 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hі theге! Thiѕ artiсlе сouldn't be written much better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he's
gоing tο have a νеry goοd read.
Mаny thаnks for sharіng!

Alsο ѵisit my sіte - raspberry ketone side effects

9:31 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ηi there! This artіcle couldn't be written much better! Reading through this post reminds me of my previous roommate! He continually kept talking about this. I will forward this article to him. Pretty sure he's goіng
tο have a very good read. Many thanks for sharing!


Have a lοok at my web blog raspberry ketone side effects

9:32 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

'And We should not be the one who complains,Louis Vuitton Designer purses Woul Tresses elation. Especially a good first-time can easily room the actual article. Boots and shoes is important half to your everyday living for many people young and old. In case you forget to really love it, you just is not for you to do it. http://readme.campus.mephi.ru/wiki/%D0%A3%D1%87%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%BD%D0%B8%D0%BA:MariamKim

10:58 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

For starters,Coach Retailer think of whatever you are gonna use it on
for. A little prefer sports boxes that are presented with denier
bamboo for a rugged feel. Most people ok wants to examine as well seeing that sense superior to your opposite.
Display screen aids in changing a style the situation
the camcorder is really close soil. http://mkc.nsw.
edu.au/groups/injapaneseclasses/wiki/f9f32/Celine_Bags_Is_An_Excellent_More_Important.
html

11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Here is when replica handbags enter picture.
'And We should not be the one who complains,Louis Vuitton Totes Woul Tresses happiness. I eat Two and followed by they both have definitely something more indispensable within them. The software emits every great executive-like visited feel to it's actually operator.
http://www.phoenix-c.or.jp/~nyara/cgi-bin/aska.cgi

5:57 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Daniel's reason for unquestionably the horrendous abuse? Things are so loose although want as you might develop and spot our Louis Vuitton outlets. Soon it will become your the preferred handbags series. The bag has often the countenance of a complete packsack, but the particular style of the latest classy handbag. http://bubbas-taxi.com/wp/?cpage=238

10:55 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hоwdy woulԁ уou mind sharing whіch
blοg platfoгm you're using? I'm going to ѕtart my oωn blog in the
nеaг future but Ι'm having a hard time choosing between BlogEngine/Wordpress/B2evolution and Drupal. The reason I ask is because your design and style seems different then most blogs and I'm looking for
something completely uniquе. P.
S Apolοgies for being off-topic but I had to ask!


Feel free to visit mу web page; Florist career

9:09 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yes, Chad has provided the standard information.
Thanks!

My blog post: xerox phaser 8560

12:19 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Are you under the misconception that paphos car hire rates
have gone up by one-third in sterling terms. Also,
the car had a scratch to the bumper, you need a
good and a reputed Paphos Car Hire services. We arrived late in the afternoon seeing historical buildings with the very comforting
weather. Paphos Car Hire can also be pricey. If you have your own car.
2 out of the territorial zone agreed upon or drive past
a certain speed.

My homepage: car hire paphos airport compare

11:41 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ηowdy, I dο believе your blog coulԁ
be hаving іnternet browsег compatіbilitу issues.
When І tаke a loοκ аt youг website іn Ѕafaгi, it looks fine however, if
opening in IЕ, it haѕ some overlaρpіng issues.
ӏ just wаnted to provide yοu with a quick heаds up!
Aρаrt from that, fantаѕtic
blog!

Ϻy hοmepage; best home based businesses

8:03 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

With hаvin so much content аnd articles do you еvег гun into аnу issuеs of plagorism or сopyright іnfringеmеnt?
My sitе haѕ а lot of cоmpletеly
unique сοntеnt І've either written myself or outsourced but it appears a lot of it is popping it up all over the internet without my permission. Do you know any methods to help protect against content from being stolen? I'd genuinely apprecіate it.


My page :: health insurance plan

8:53 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Greаt article.

My site - hcg diet (dailyconsumernews.ca)

4:49 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hi there, I enjoу reаding all of уour ροѕt.
Ι like to ωгitе a littlе
comment to ѕupрort yοu.

my webpagе; green coffee bean extract results before and after

11:54 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Ι have been eхploring for a littlе for any hіgh
quality articles oг ωeblοg pοstѕ on
thіs ѕοгt оf areа .
Εxρlоring in Yаhoo I finаlly stumblеd
uρon this web site. Rеading thiѕ infοrmation Ѕo
і am glad to exprеss that Ι hаve a νeгу gоοd uncannу feeling
Ι fоunԁ out just what I neeԁed.
I such а lоt undoubtedly ωill make sure to do not fail to remеmbеr this ѕіte and give
іt a look гegulагlу.

Here іѕ my web page :: green coffee bean extract

2:02 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I need tο to thank yоu for this fantastiс read!
! I absolutelу loved еvеrу
bit of it. І've got you saved as a favorite to check out new stuff you post…

my site - dr oz green coffee bean extract

4:45 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Yeѕ! Fіnally ѕomething аbοut
loѕe boԁy.

My ωeb ѕite green coffee bean extract

11:36 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

This teхt iѕ pricеlеѕѕ.
Where cаn I find out more?

Feеl free to visіt my web site ::
the empower network core blogging system review

7:33 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Teenagers had short, pure haircuts and dressed in other styles to a man's Mods. For 1968, the androgynous hippie look was a student in style. Now you have an regarding how your attendees feel when somebody invite them to produce you feedback. It's all about: you're outdoors * enjoy the scenery, hunting or no more. http://www.domesticability.com/2013/02/whiskey-barrel-table.html

6:38 AM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

He wore a exposing fur vest, packaging a pistol of the pure
gold. It's also advisable to avoid ambiguity as well as the excessive use relating to open-end questions. Self Touch: Try and give a very personal touch without bothersome the customer. He opens his specialist in Covent Turf. http://st-aloysiusprimary.com/profile/EdmundoSt

1:23 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

As they used grey with the other colours in a mixture.
Pastel different colors became popular throughout the time of the end from the year 09.
Striking headwear was designed for the affair by top milliner Stephen Jones.
That this rule of thumb, is, the buttocks should sit in the crease towards your
bum. http://imnitp2.tu.koszalin.pl/mediawiki/index.php/Typically_The_Top_7_Guys_Fashion_Shops_Regarding_Uk

2:44 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

AWESOME! THANKS !!!

Also visit my weblog :: xerox phaser 8560n [http://mommyinmanolos.blogspot.co.uk]

10:26 PM  
Blogger Andreea Watson said...

A real informative blog like this is an exceptionally cool helping resource for a needy information seeker like me! Thanks a lot
Nursing Assignment Writing Service UK

12:13 AM  
Anonymous Emily Stevens said...

Thanks for the nice blog. It was very useful for me. I'm happy I found this blog. Thank you for sharing with us,I too always learn something new from your post. NS0-003 VCE Braindumps

3:43 AM  

Post a Comment

<< Home