US Immigration and the Red Scare Practice Flashcards

Vocabulary-style flashcards covering the key terms, events, and legislation surrounding early 20th-century US immigration and the Red Scare.

Melting Pot

The concept of people from different countries 'blending' together to form a common culture.

Open Door Policy

A policy of accepting immigrants from various countries to make immigration as easy as possible.

Push factors

Reasons that make people want to leave their own countries, such as escaping poverty or political and economic persecution.

Pull factors

Factors that attract people to the USA, such as the promise of religious tolerance, plentiful land, and the hope of creating a better life.

Ellis Island

The location near New York where more than 70% of immigrants arrived; it saw as many as 5,000 people a day during busiest periods.

WASP

An acronym for White Anglo-Saxon Protestant, the group from which most early immigrants had tended to come.

Red Scare

A period of concern regarding the spread of communist and socialist ideas, fueled by the Bolshevik Revolution and domestic bombings.

Xenophobia

The dislike of, or prejudice against, people from other countries.

Communism

A system where property is owned by the community.

Bolshevik Revolution

A revolution that occurred in Russia in October 1917, causing many Americans to fear that communist and anarchist ideas would spread.

A. Mitchell Palmer

The United States Attorney General who organized attacks against left-wing organisations and spread rumours that there were 150,000 communists in the country.

Palmer Raids

A series of arrests of thousands of suspected Communists (as many as 6,000) who were held in prison without a hearing; many were later deported.

Literacy Test (1917)

A law that required a series of reading and writing tests for entry; many poorer immigrants failed due to a lack of education and were refused entry.

The Emergency Quota Act (1921)

A law that restricted immigrants to 357,000 per year and set a quota of 3% of the total population of any overseas group already in the USA in 1910.

The National Origins Act (1924)

A law that cut the immigration quota to 2% of the population of that group in the USA as of 1890.

Immigration Act (1929)

A law that made the 1924 quotas permanent and restricted total immigration to 150,000 per year.

Sacco and Vanzetti

Two Italian immigrants arrested in May 1920 for armed robbery and murder; they were found guilty and executed despite conflicting evidence and 107 defense witnesses.

Judge Webster Thayer

The judge during the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti who was openly prejudiced against the two men.

Celestino Madeiros

The man who admitted to committing the crime for which Sacco and Vanzetti were ultimately executed in August 1927.

Wall Street Bombing (September 1920)

An explosion that killed 38 people, further fueling the Red Scare and fears that communism threatened the American way of life.