Sumner added fire to an already explosive debate with his amendment to do away with the “whites only” clause of the naturalization law. On July 4, 1870 – 150 years ago this week – Republican Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts urged the U.S. Senate to take a radical step: to strike out the word “white”[…]
The migrants comprised war bands or tribes of 10,000 to 20,000 people during and after the decline of the Western Roman Empire. Introduction The Migration Period was a period that lasted from AD 375 (possibly as early as 300) to 568, during which there were widespread invasions of peoples within or into Europe, during and after[…]
Migrants found both opportunity and hardship in modernizing California. Introduction In the half-century between the Civil War and World War I, California became an integrated part of the expanding United States. The completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869 vastly increased the pace of urbanization, industrialization, and agricultural development. The state’s population exploded from 380,000[…]
When a party member was asked about its activities, he was supposed to reply, “I know nothing.” Introduction The Know Nothing movement was a nativist American political movement of the 1850s. It grew up as a popular reaction to fears that major cities were being overwhelmed by Irish Catholic immigrants whom they regarded as hostile[…]
Examining the experiences of exiles, returnees, and migrants and challenges faced by them. Abstract This article contributes to the assessment of the management of migrants at the end of the 16th century as part of the challenge, by both central and municipal authorities, for ending the civil war in the Spanish Low Countries. In particular,[…]
The Wasp meted out ridicule to a myriad of caricatured subjects, from senators and presidents to Chinese immigrants and Mormon polygamists. By Nicholas Sean Hall Introduction The West Coast was going down in flames. Or at least that was how The San Francisco Illustrated Wasp depicted the region to its readership of middle- and working-class[…]
The impact of restricitionist policies was tempered by the fact that migrants continued to enter the U.S. anyway. Each new stage in the Trump administration’s handling of refugees and immigrants, whether family separation, a Muslim ban, indiscriminate deportations, a requirement to first seek asylum elsewhere, or other “tough” policies enacted over the past three years,[…]
Following the Red Scare of 1919, widespread fear of radicalism fueled anti-foreign sentiment and exclusionist demands. Introduction Also known as the Johnson-Reid Act, the Immigration Act of 1924 ended further immigration from Japan, while restricting the number of immigrants to the U.S. from southern and eastern Europe. Echoing the phrase, “aliens ineligible for citizenship,” from[…]
One of the leisure activities some Chicagoans could enjoy was a day at the ballpark. Chicago in 1900: An Industrial, Immigrant City with a Strong Baseball Tradition In the early twentieth century, Chicago, along with a number of other American cities, experienced dramatic social dislocations caused by industrialization, an influx of European immigrants, and the[…]
For generations, a mysterious ethnic group was shunned, but new research sheds light on its Revolutionary War origins. By Dr. Glen Browder (above) and Terri Anne Ognibene (not pictured)Browder: Professor Emeritus of Political Science, Jacksonville State UniversityOgnibene: Spanish Teacher, Pope High School Sumter County is located in South Carolina’s midlands, about an hour and a[…]
Sephardic, German, and Eastern European immigrants each contributed to the formation of American Jewry. By Dr. Joellyn ZollmanJewish Historian Introduction America’s Jewish community is largely c, meaning it is made up of Jews who trace their ancestry to Germany and Eastern Europe. However, the first Jews to arrive in what would become the United States[…]
The artist uses her craft to represent and raise awareness of Asian-American history and identity. Jasmine Cho knows the power of a good cookie. “Cookies,” she says, “can make anything more palatable.” Including conversations about race and social justice in America. A baker based in Pittsburgh, Cho creates intricate, hand-drawn cookie portraits of Asian-American figures[…]
They were all about family and work. “And so you know the difficulty in becoming an American. It isn’t a sudden process. You get over it. But you don’t ever quite get over it. You carry it with you. That’s the great—and not so great—aspect of being or trying to be an assimilated American.” So[…]
Ancient Rome and its empire had the concept of asylum at its heart. Its legacy provided inspiration for centers of power around the world. Introduction The legacy of Ancient Rome has exerted a powerful influence on town halls and parliamentary buildings around the world, and especially Washington DC’s urban form and identity. With its classically[…]
In creating an icon, Washington Roebling and his kin realized dreams that Europe never could fulfill. By Erica Wagner The Brooklyn Bridge was truly an American project embodying a certain American ideal. And people celebrated that fact from the start. On May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge—after 14 years of construction—was opened at last. The[…]
There were moments in our history where both African-American freedom and Mexico’s independence were addressed in a positive way. By Dr. Michael HoganHistorian and Author Today, as we observe the dismay of Princeton students at their university’s legacy of slavery, and the Trump administration’s increasingly hostile attitude toward Mexico, it is important to recognize that[…]
What it was like at the main gateway to the U.S. in the early 20th century. Immigrants arrive in the U.S. today at thousands of entry points, by plane, boat, car, and foot. But for decades at the turn of the 20th century, the harbor at Ellis Island was the main gateway to America. The[…]
How siblings torn between two sides of the Pacific forged identities in the aftermath of war. I still remember them at the dining table after dinner each night in our Honolulu home. Three elegant sisters, styled out of Vogue magazine, their jet black hair in neat chignons and pixie haircuts, each savoring a cigarette and lingering over[…]
Exploring the subject of immigration in U.S. history with particular attention to the two and a half decades from 1890 to the start of World War I. Introduction Is the United States “a nation of immigrants,” a “land of opportunity,” and refuge for the world’s persecuted and poor? Is the country made stronger by its[…]
Maybe, maybe not, but it certainly didn’t do what it’s authors intended. Introduction For as long as America has proclaimed itself a welcoming country of immigrants, policies have been in place to keep specific classes of people out. Naturalized citizenship was limited to “free white persons” until the 1860s, and Asians, for instance, weren’t allowed[…]
A law designed to repair flaws in the fabric of American justice also created new ones. At a time when immigration has become a polarizing and toxic topic in our politics, it’s worth remembering that 50 years ago this week President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Immigration and Nationality Act into law at the foot[…]
In 1911, the Dillingham Commission set a half-century precedent for screening out ‘undesirable’ newcomers. The Dillingham Commission is today little known. But a century ago, it stood at the center of a transformation in immigration policy, exemplifying Americans’ simultaneous feelings of fascination and fear toward the millions of migrants who have made the United States[…]
An entrepreneur, hunter, woodsman, scientist, and artist — John James Audubon, famous for his epic The Birds of America, is a figure intimately associated with a certain idea of what it means to be American. And like many of the country’s icons, he was also an immigrant. The author reflects on Audubon’s complex relationship to[…]
A 16th-century folk art was her passport from Sicily to Upstate New York. By Kathleen GarrettActress The winter rains had subsided for the moment, but the coastal night air remained chilly and damp. My rent-controlled apartment, with its lack of insulation, mirrored the outside evening temperature, as I sat at my desk struggling to meet[…]
My great-great grandmother missed the gentle, green valleys of Germany, but our Jewish family needed a new start. When my great-great-grandmother set out for New Mexico territory in 1866, she spoke no English. Nor did she speak any Spanish. German was her native language; Yiddish as well. Julia Staab was a German Jew from a[…]
Outrage over the revolt that spurred the U.S. to deliver on a promise of the Revolution. The United States has a special history, and thus bears a unique stake, when it comes to the flight of foreign refugees, particularly those seeking sanctuary from oppression and violence. Political asylum has long been a defining element of[…]
Presuming that immigration was a boon to national security, U.S. borders remained mostly open for the first century of the nation’s existence. By Livia Gershon To many Americans today, immigration looks like a safety risk. Some debates over the issue pit idealistic, humanitarian support for more open borders against devotion to national security. But back when[…]
Lebanese factory workers in Lawrence, Massachusetts, 1890-1950. Originally published by North Carolina State University, August 2018, republished with embed permission for educational, non-commercial purposes.
Growing up American in India instilled in me a deep curiosity about foreign lands – including my own. I grew up in India from the age of 4 to 14. Every two years, my family traveled back to the States on “home leave.” Via Europe or through Hong Kong and Japan, we’d head across the[…]
Growing up in suburban Virginia, our Italian-American family relied on my grandmother to bring us the foods we craved from the Bronx. By Gina DePalma My grandmother’s visits from New York City always began with what I call The Great Unpacking, which took place on our dining room table the very second she crossed our[…]