Race and Immigration in Early 20th Century America

Paper Summary:

This paper examines how, during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a national debate regarding the immigration of several ethnic groups to the United States led to two major legal decisions, Thind v. United States (1923) which attempted to clarify the "Meaning of White," and the Immigration Act of 1924. Thind, a native inhabitant of India, was found ineligible for American citizenship because his physical appearance was "distinctively different" from what was defined as being white. The writer explains that this and many other racially-biased opinions were further propagated and supported by the Immigration Act of 1924. The paper concludes that, although the act was revised in 1952, it nonetheless strengthened purely racially-based viewpoints on people from different cultures and on immigration into the United States.

From the Paper:

"In essence, the racial/immigration debate in American society in the early days of the 20th century centered on one very simple question--what exactly is an American? With the first question, part of the answer appears to revolve around labor and employment, for in 1908, Samuel Gompers, one of the founders and original leaders of the AFL (American Federation of Labor) points out that white Americans were losing thousands of jobs to Asians, especially the Chinese and those whom he calls "Mongolian." Gomper's main argument is that "Mongolians" have made it nearly impossible for white Americans to obtain jobs involving menial labor, such as working in a factory or some other type of industry that manufactures household goods and clothing."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Bradley, Harold Whitman. (1975). The United States From 1865. New York: Charles Scribner's Sons.
• Gjerde, Jon. (1998). Major Problems in American Immigration and Ethnic History. New York: Houghton-Mifflin Publishers.
• "The Immigration Act of 1924 (the Johnson-Reed Act)." 2008. US Department of State. Internet. Retrieved July 28, 2008 from http://www.state.gov/r/pa/ho/time/id/87718.htm.
• "United States v. Bhagat Singh Thind." (2005). NationMaster.com. Internet. Retrieved July 28, 2008 from http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/United-States-v.-Bhagat-Singh-Thind.

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