Module 4 - Cities, Immigrants, and The Nation

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the belief that only a person's own culture is “truly American”

Significance: Fueled restrictions on immigration and discrimination.

Immigration Act of 1891:

Created U.S. Bureau of Immigration; set up inspections at Ellis and Angel island and exclusions. 

Significance: Marked start of a national immigration policy.

Assimilation

Reformers said that immigrants needed to assimilate into American culture and show loyalty to the United States. Offered english classes to adults, encouraged schools to teach children more about America and adopt the pledge of allegiance (francis bellamy)

Israel Zangwill – The Melting-Pot (1908):

A metaphor for assimilation — the idea that immigrants from different backgrounds would “melt” together and form one unified American culture.