IMMIGRATION ACTS OF 1921 AND 1924

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IMMIGRATION ACTS OF 1921 AND 1924
BY CHARLOTTE, RHIAN AND KATx2
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Background to Immigration- pre 1921
America is a land of immigrants, all with
different cultures and religions which they were
determined to hold onto. The first settlers in
the US originated from England, Scotland, Wales,
Ireland and Germany and from 1820 onwards the
stream of immigrants into the US was relatively
constant. The people were happy to receive the
cheap labour that was coming into the country.
However, by 1920 the population of America was
divided between the original settlers from
Britain and Germany and the new immigrants, who
were migrating from Eastern Europe and further a
field. These immigrants werent as gratefully
received as they had limited skills, were
unwavering from their own cultures and didnt
want to integrate into society. This led to
discrimination between the 2 main groups of White
Anglo Saxon Protestants and the new immigrants.
Many Americans blamed the immigrants for the
violence and corruption occurring in the main
cities as the majority of the population was
immigrants from countries like Italy and Poland.
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Most immigrants settled near their port of entry
in large cities such as New York and Seattle.
Immigrants mainly settle on the West Coast of the
US and only 2 of the entire immigrant population
went to the south. Jean de Crèvecour puts
forward a good analogy in immigration to the
US. Men and women can arrive in America from any
part of the world and receive a new identity.
From then on they will be called Americans. The
idea of a melting pot which anyone could join
was successful to a point in the US but by the
1920s, a series of immigration acts were put into
place to control immigration and to particularly
control WHO was entering the US. These were the
Quota Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of
1924.
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Immigration Statistics
IMMIGRATION STATISTICS
The bottom graph clearly demonstrates the sharp
decrease in the total immigration figures after
the legislation of the various acts that aimed to
restrict it.
As the above chart shows, much of the immigrants
came from Eastern European countries. For this
reason, both the 1921 and 1924 Acts aimed to
restrict the number of immigrants from such
destinations
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The Quota Act of 1921
THE QUOTA ACT OF 1921

• In the United States, the Emergency Quota Act of
  May 19, 1921 limited the annual number of
  immigrants who could be admitted from any country
  to 3 of the number of persons from that country
  living in the United States in 1910, according to
  Census figures, that was 357,802 people.
• Of that number just over half was allocated for
  northern and western Europeans, and the remainder
  for eastern and southern Europeans, a 75
  reduction from prior years.
• The act applied to Italians, Poles (Catholics)
  and Russian Jews.
• Restrictions were also placed on those who were
  illiterate and unskilled, whilst those who were
  professionals such as teachers, nurses or
  doctors, were given entry irrespective of their
  origins.
• Came during a period of isolationism, when a
  country doesnt form alliances with our powers.
  This concept had been a popular one for the USA
  during the Great War.

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Affects of the Quota Act

• Immigration pre-1921 was not an entirely alien
  process. As the graph shows, as early as 1870 the
  foreign born population was steadily increasing
  just as the number of foreign immigrants was
  growing.
• As the graph shows, the total foreign born
  population then decreased steadily after the 1921
  and 1924 immigration acts were passed through
  Congress.

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Support for the Quota Act

• Many Americans were unhappy with the Immigration
  Act of 1921 because they felt that it still
  admitted too many of the "wrong" kinds of
  foreigners.  To some extent, this attitude was a
  product of the times. 
• The most extreme position was taken by the Ku
  Klux Klan.  The Klan was anti-black,
  anti-Catholic, anti-Jewish. They were against
  anybody who wasnt white, Anglo Saxon or
  Protestant. With this in mind, it is no surprise
  that they lent their support to both Immigration
  Acts in the hope of restricting the influx of
  foreigners that would simply distance them from
  their aim of 100 Americanism.

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The National Origins Act

• The United States Immigration Act of 1924, also
  known as the National Origins Act or the
  Johnson-Reed Act, limited the number of
  immigrants who could be admitted from any country
  to 2 of the total number of people from that
  country who were already living in the United
  States in 1890. It outdated the 1921 Emergency
  Quota Act. The law was aimed at further
  restricting the Southern and Eastern Europeans
  who had begun to enter the country in large
  numbers beginning in the 1890s, as well as East
  Asians and Asian Indians, who were prohibited
  from immigrating entirely, this caused problems
  with the Chinese and Japanese already living in
  America. It set no limits on immigration from
  Latin America.
• It was greatly supported by congress, with only 6
  opposing votes in the Senate, this was because
  the majority of senators were white Anglo-Saxon
  protestants, so they wanted to preserve a white,
  protestant America. Some of its strongest
  supporters were influenced by Madison Grant.
  Grant was believer in the racial hygiene theory.
  His data showed that the founding Northern
  European races were superior, however it is now
  believed by many scientists that the data is
  defective

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• With the annoyance of the 1924 quota, only 4,000
  per year were allowed. At the same time, the
  annual quota for Germany was over 57,000. 86 of
  the 165,000 permitted entries were from the
  British Isles, France, Germany, and other
  Northern European countries.
• The act was very effective for example from
  1900-1910 about 200 000 Italians immigrated every
  year, but with the 1924 immigration act, only 4
  000 per year were allowed into America.

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Summary

• 1921 immigration quota act
• As a result of this act the numbers of
  immigrants now allowed into America was being
  controlled, this was now to be proportional to
  the number of people already in America but of
  the same nationality since 1910.
• 1924 national origins act
• As a result of this act the number of
  immigrants being allowed into America was reduced
  to 2 of the 1890 census. However particular
  nationalities had a higher intake such as English
  and Irish as there had been more of these groups
  in America during 1890.
• By 1929
• At this time America were only letting in
  150 000 immigrants a year. But these numbers were
  not to include Asians and 85 of the places ere
  to be allocated to northern and western
  Europeans. This idea was put in place to lower
  the numbers of immigrants from southern and
  eastern Europe, china and Japan. A year later
  there was hardly any immigrants coming to America
  from these parts.

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• The following quote is from a senator in 1921
  explaining why he felt there should be more
  restrictions placed on Americas immigrant
  intake
• The steamship companies haul them over to
  America, and as soon as they step off the decks
  of their ships the problem of the steamship
  companies is settled, but our problem has begun-
  bolshevism, red archery, black-handers and
  kidnappers, challenging the authority and
  integrity of our flag
• Thousands come here who never take the oath
  to support our constitution and to become
  citizens of the United Sates. They pay allegiance
  to some other country while they live upon the
  substance of our own. They fill places that
  belong to the loyal wage-earning citizens of
  America They are of no service whatever to our
  people. They constitute a menace and a danger to
  us every day

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The End