Essay/Term paper: Imigration and discrimination in the 1920's

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Immigration

Beginning in the early nineteenth century there were massive waves of



immigration. These "new" immigants were largely from Italy, Russia, and



Ireland. There was a mixed reaction to these incomming foreigners. While



they provided industries with a cheap source of labor, Americans were both



afraid of, and hostile towards these new groups. They differed from the



"typical American" in language, customs, and religion. Many individuals and



industries alike played upon America's fears of immigration to further their



own goals. Leuchtenburg follows this common theme from the beginning of



World War I up untill the election of 1928.



If there was one man who singlely used America's fear of immigrants to



advance his own political goals it was Attorney General Palmer. The rise of



Communism in Russia created a fear of its spread across Europe, and to



America. Palmer tied this fear to that of immigration. He denounced labor



unions, the Socialist party, and the Communist party in America, as being



infultrated with radicals who sought to overturn America's political,



economic, and social institutions. Palmer exasperated this fear in Americans



and then presented himself as the country's savior, combatting the evils of



Communism. He mainly centered his attack on Russian immigrants. During the



infamous Palmer raids thousands of aliens were deported and even more were





arrested on little or no evidence. Their civil liberties were violated,



they were not told the reasons for their arrests, denied counsel, and not



given fair trials. What followed was an investigation of Palmer led by Louis



Post which overturned many of Palmer's actions. Palmer's cretability was



shattered after in a last minute attempt to gain the 1920 presidencial



nomination, he made predictions about a May Day radical uprising, the nation



perpared itself, but on May 1st 1920 all was peaceful. While the raids had



stopped, the hostilities towards immagrants still remained prevelent.



Immigrants were used by organized industries as a source of cheap labor.



But as labor unions began to form and push for better pay, shorter hours,



and improved working conditions industries saw that it was not as easy to



exploit these immigrants as it had been before. Like Palmer, they tied the



American's hostilities towards immigrants to the newly emerging fear of



radicalism. When workers struck, industry leaders turned public opinion



agains them by labling the strikes as attemps at radical uprising. As a



result, workers were often left with no other choice than to accept the



terms of industry management.



The fight for prohabition was aided by America's antagonism for immigrants.



Protestants and "old-stock" Americans attempted to link alchol with



Catholic-Irish and Italian immigrants. They were viewed as immoral and



corrupt for their vice. Prohabition was a means of counterattacking the



evils of the urban cities and their immigrant dwellers. In addition, the



rise of the KKK was a direct result of the hostilities harbored towards the



immigrant population. Started by native born, white, Protestants, the KKK



was afraid of "the encroachment of foreigners," expecially those who



answered to a foreign Pope as their religious authority. Playing upon these



fears, the KKK gained support and was it's members were able to politically



control parts of Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and much of Indiana.