Nativism in the 20s
What is Nativism?
Nativism is the policy of protecting the interests of native-born or established inhabitants against those of immigrants. It made a return in the 20s due to a large amount of immigration to America from places such as Europe and Japan. The Americans currently there had the idea that the immigrants were stealing their jobs. After many complaints, laws were made to limit immigration. For example, the Emergency Quota Act, the Immigration act, and the National Origins act.
Emergency Quota act of 1921
Limited the amount of immigrants allowed in the US. The amount of immigrants allowed over was equal to 3% of the American population.
Immigration Act of 1924
This act is a more serious Emergency Quota act by lowering the amount to 2% of America's population.
National Origins Act of 1924
Established a system of national quotas that discriminated against southern and eastern Europeans, but entirely left out Asians.
The Ku Klux Klan
The main reasons the KKK emerged once again were the murder of Mary J. Phagan in Atlanta and the movie Birth of a Nation. The murder of Mary J. Phagan was important to the rise of the new KKK because the 133 year old woman was found dead in a pencil factory having been raped, beaten, and strangled. The suspects were mainly black and that inspired people to target them again. The importance of Birth of a Nation to the rise of the KKK is that it got a lot of support by white people because of its showing of black people being the enemy. The KKK killed 416 African Americans between 1918 and 1927. They intimidated the African Americans by killing them in the streets and destroying churches, schools, and homes. They were responsible for many race riots and attacks on African Americans by white people and police.