Black Folder- Immigration and the red scare (chapter 6) Flashcards
Why did many people in the USA oppose immigration?
The red scare Ww1 Isolationism WASPS Quality of immigrants Employment issues
Why did many people in the usa oppose immigration? (The red scare)
Many Americans feared that immigrants would bring with them dangerous political beliefs especially communism.
Why did many people in the usa oppose immigration? (WW1)
The American involvement in the First World War fuelled anti- German feelings and it encouraged people to support the restrictions on immigration. In some schools they banned the German language.
Why did many people in the usa oppose immigration? (Isolationism)
Most Americans did not want to be dragged into another major war. They wanted to remain isolated from the other countries, because they blamed them (especially European counties) for the war
Why did many people in the usa oppose immigration? (WASPS)
For many Americans in the 1920s the ideal citizen was a ‘WASP’- white anglos Saxon Protestant. Asian immigrants were not white and many recent European immigrants were catholic, Greek, orthodox or Jewish.
Why did many people in the usa oppose immigration? (Quality of immigrants)
Many of the new immigrants were poor labourers with little formal education. Ghettos began to spring up in the big northern cities. They were often dangerous places riven with drunks and violence.
Why did many people in the usa oppose immigration? (Employment issues)
By 1900 there was not much land available and as industry became mechanised the need for workers declined. Many Americans believed that the quality of immigrants were declining. And more established immigrants tended to look down on the more recent immigrants from Eastern Europe.
What is meant by the term ‘red scare’
The belief that some immigrants had like communism which Americans were very against.
Why was the quality of immigrants a concern?
They were portly educated
Ghettos began to form
Dangerous
What happened in Russia in 1917?
The Bolshevik revolution led to the establishment of a communist government.
What else heightened the red scare
400,000 us workers going on strike in 1919. They stroked because of low payment and poor working conditions
Wave of immigration
1900-1914
13 million new immigrants arrived, from Italy, Ireland, Greece and many other countries. Resentment built up against these people.
What was the Sacco and Vanzetti case
The men were executed by electric chair on August 24 1927
Charged with false murder
Person who got shot described the robbers as ‘olive skinned’
Real crime was that they were foreign and left wing
Why didn’t they like immigrants
They spoke very different languages and they were often of different religions- catholic or Jewish rather than Protestant.
What year were immigrants forced to take a literacy test to enter the USA
1917
