Nativism

Nativism and Immigration in the

19th CenturyBy Ria

What is nativism?Nativism is essentially defined as anti-immigration.

It’s when the inhabitants of an area favor their own interests as opposed to the interests of newcomers or immigrants.

Beginnings of Nativism…Nativism was first noted when Benjamin Franklin displayed hostility toward Germans in colonial Pennsylvania.

The concept became especially controversial in 1789 when the Alien and Sedition Acts were passed.

Order of Star Spangled Banner

As the Irish Catholic population grew in the 1830s and 1850s, Nativist outbursts became prominent.

In 1849 Charles B. Allen founded a secret Nativist society called the Order of Star Spangled Banner.

Formation of the American Party

In 1852 the Nativists went public as they formed the American Party.

This party was especially hostile to Catholics and campaigned for laws to require longer wait time between immigration and naturalization…these laws never passed.

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Anti-German Nativism

From the 1840s onward, German Americans were distrusted due to their social structure, opposition to prohibition, and attachment to their native tongue over English.

As a result, the Bennett Law was passed in 1890 which caused serious political turmoil in Wisconsin.

Anti-Chinese Nativism

In the 1870s Irish American immigrants attacked Chinese immigrants in the western states, driving them out of smaller towns.

Dennis Kearney led a mass movement in San Francisco in 1877 that threatened to harm railroad owners if they hired any people who were Chinese.

Anti-Chinese Nativism…cont’d

Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first of many nativist acts of Congress to limit the flow of immigrants into the U.S.

Ironically, the exclusion of the Chinese caused the western railroads to begin importing Mexican railroad workers in greater numbers ("traqueros").