Nativism in United States politics
The ideology of nativism - favoring native inhabitants, as opposed to immigrants - has been very common and contentious within American politics for centuries. Nativist movements have been around since even before American independence, and have targeted a wide variety of nationalities.
Historically, nativism was present even in colonial America. During that era, anti-German feelings, particularly towards the Pennsylvania Dutch, ran deep. Later on, when the U.S. became its own nation, the Federalist Party expressed opposition to the French Revolution, and also passed the 1798 anti-immigrant Alien and Sedition Acts. When immigration rates to the nation exploded in the 1840s and 1850s, nativism ran with a renewed fervor, with the word "nativism" itself coined by 1844, and the formation of the Know Nothing Party.
In the late 19th century, going into the early 20th, nativism began to reappear. Contemporary laws and treaties included the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, the 1907 Gentlemen's Agreement (preventing Japanese immigration), the 1921 Emergency Quota Act, and the 1924 Immigration Act. Nativists and labor unions also argued for literacy tests, arguing that it would stop illiterate immigrants from Southern or Eastern Europe.
In the 1970s, the immigration reductionism movement, which exists to this day, was formed. In the 2010s, the Tea Party Movement, which split off from the Republican Party, brought a new form of nativism. Also, Donald Trump introduced several nativist policies, such as the 2017 Trump travel ban, as well as the Trump wall.
Racially, American nativists have focused on a wide variety of ethnicities. Historically, targets have included Chinese-Americans, Japanese-Americans, German Americans, Irish Americans, and Hispanic Americans.
Background[edit]
Nativism[edit]
According to Merriam Webster, Nativism is defined as:
History[edit]
Colonial America[edit]
In the Pennsylvania Colony of British America, there existed widespread anti-German sentiment among Anglo-Americans. This sentiment was particularly directed towards the Pennsylvania Dutch or Pennsylvania Germans, who originated from the Palatinate region of Europe. Rooted deeply in cultural biases and economic rivalry, Anglo-Americans harbored suspicions and often scorned the language, traditions, and religious practices of the Palatines.
Benjamin Franklin articulated his grievances regarding the arrival of Palatine Germans in his work "Observations Concerning the Increase of Mankind" (1751), expressing concern over the influx of "Palatine boors" into their settlements. Franklin questioned the wisdom of allowing Pennsylvania, originally founded by the English, to become dominated by "aliens" who would eventually outnumber the English settlers, leading to a Germanization of the colony rather than the Anglicization of the newcomers. Franklin argued that these newcomers would resist adopting English language and customs, just as they could not change their "complexion".[4]
Early Republic[edit]
Nativism became a major issue in the late 1790s, when the Federalist Party expressed its strong opposition to the French Revolution. Federalists were especially troubled by Republican leader Albert Gallatin, an immigrant from Geneva, Switzerland. Fearing that he represented foreign interests, the Federalists had him expelled from the Senate on a technicality in 1794. They then began to build their nativist appeals.[5] They sought to strictly limit immigration, and to stretch the time to 14 years for citizenship. During the 1798 Quasi-War with France, the Federalists passed the Alien and Sedition Acts. They included the Alien Act, the Naturalization Act and the Sedition Act. The movement was led by Alexander Hamilton, despite his own status as an immigrant. Phillip Magness argues that "Hamilton's political career might legitimately be characterized as a sustained drift into nationalistic xenophobia."[6] Thomas Jefferson and James Madison led the opposition by drafting the Virginia and Kentucky Resolutions. The two laws against aliens were motivated by fears of a growing Irish radical presence in Philadelphia, where they supported Jefferson.[7] However, they were not actually enforced.[8] President John Adams annoyed his fellow Federalists by making peace with the Republic of France, and he also annoyed them by splitting his party in 1800. Jefferson was elected president, and he reversed most of the hostile legislation.[9]
1830–1860[edit]
The rate of immigration into the new nation was slow until 1840, when it suddenly expanded, with the arrival of a total of over 4 million Irish and German (and other) immigrants, men, women and children, from 1840–1860. Nativist movements immediately emerged.[10] The term "nativism" appeared by 1844: "Thousands were Naturalized expressly to oppose Nativism, and voted the Polk ticket mainly to that end."[11] Nativism gained its name from the "Native American" parties of the 1840s and 1850s. In this context "Native" does not mean Indigenous Americans or American Indians but rather those European descendants of the settlers of the original Thirteen Colonies. Nativists objected primarily to Irish Roman Catholics because of their loyalty to the Pope and also because of their supposed rejection of republicanism as an American ideal.[12]
Nativist movements included the Know Nothing or "American Party" of the 1850s, the Immigration Restriction League of the 1890s, and the anti-Asian movements in the Western states, resulting in the passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the signing of the "Gentlemen's Agreement of 1907", by which the government of Imperial Japan prevented Japanese nationals from emigrating to the United States. Labor unions were strong supporters of Chinese exclusion and limits on immigration, because they feared that immigrants would lower wages and make it harder for workers to organize themselves into unions.[13][14]
European targets[edit]
Anti-German[edit]
From the 1840s to the 1920s, German Americans were often distrusted because of their separatist social structure, their German-language schools, their attachment to their native tongue over English, and their neutrality during World War I.
The Bennett Law caused a political uproar in Wisconsin in 1890, as the state government passed a law that threatened to close down hundreds of German-language elementary schools. Catholic and Lutheran Germans rallied to defeat Governor William D. Hoard. Hoard attacked German American culture and religion: