Long Essay Questions

"The experience of the new immigrants in the late 19 th century was little different from the
experience of preceding groups of immigrants to the United States." Asses the validity of this
statement
Many different immigrant groups have come to the United States. There is a common
division that immigrants coming in the lathe 19th century and after are called new immigrants
had to deal with some degree of nativism, however there was quite a large difference in the
general reception of the groups.
The old immigrants prior to the late 19th century did have to deal with nativism. However
this really only applied to Irish and Catholics. These groups were hated by the British and
Protestants. These people were also generally poor and worked in unskilled labor. This made
poorer Americans angry because the Irish competed with them for jobs. The Iriecsh were also
able to effectively organize and quickly gained political power. This led to the rise of anti-Irish
groups like the Know Nothing Party. The Know Nothing Party sought to remove Irish influence
on politics.
The new immigrants also experienced a lot of nativism. The group of immigrants came
from southern and eastern Europe, and as such had to deal with some degree of racism. Almost
all of these immigrants were poor and unskilled, which meant they competed with working
Americans for work. The new immigrants were resisted by groups like the American Protective
Association or the APA. The APA was anti-Catholic and anti-foreign and even sought to
implement strict immigration controls. Americans were also afraid of the ideas that the new
immigrants were bringing to the United States such as communism, socialism, and anarchism.
The fear grew and grew and after the Russian Revolution and the US passed the Emergency
Quota Acts in the1920's. These acts placed strict immigration restriction on southern and eastern
Europe and this was the culmination of fear of the new immigration.
However there was a large difference in the general reception of old and new immigrants.
The old immigrants were mostly British, German, and Protestant. Except for the Irisih, most of
them had money or skills and were able to easily assimilate into the United States. The new
immigrants however, were almost all poor and unskilled and they found it harder to assimilate.
So while both old and new immigrants had to deal with nativism there was a significant change
in how widespread the anti-foreign sentiment was.
There definitely are similarities between the experiences of new and old immigrants.
Both were forced to overcome a degree of nativism and anti-foreignism. However the general
reception og the groups differed greatly. Most old immigrants were welcomed and assimilated
easily, but almost all of the new immigrants were disliked and had a much harder time
assimilating.