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Beginning in the early nineteenth century there were massive waves
of immigration. These "new" immigants were largely from Italy, Russia,
and Ireland. There was a mixed reaction to these incomming foreigners.
While they provided industries with a cheap source of labor, Americans
were both afraid of, and hostile towards these new groups. They
differed from the "typical American" in language, customs, and
religion. Many individuals and industries alike played upon America's
fears of immigration to further their own goals. Leuchtenburg follows
this common theme from the beginning of World War I up untill the
election of 1928.
If there was one man who singlely used America's fear of immigrants
to advance his own political goals it was Attorney General Palmer. The
rise of Communism in Russia created a fear of its spread across Europe,
and to America. Palmer tied this fear to that of immigration. He
denounced labor unions, the Socialist party, and the Communist party in
America, as being infultrated with radicals who sought to overturn
America's political, economic, and social institutions. Palmer
exasperated this fear in Americans and then presented himself as the
country's savior, combatting the evils of Communism. He mainly centered
his attack on Russian immigrants. During the infamous Palmer raids
thousands of aliens were deported and even more were arrested on little
or no evidence. Their civil liberties were violated, they were not told
the reasons for their arrests, denied counsel, and not given fair
trials. What followed was an investigation of Palmer led by Louis Post
which overturned many of Palmer's actions. Palmer's cretability was
shattered after in a last minute attempt to gain the 1920 presidencial
nomination, he made predictions about a May Day radical uprising, the
nation perpared itself, but on May 1st 1920 all was peaceful. While the
raids had stopped, the hostilities towards immagrants still remained
prevelent.
Immigrants were used by organized industries as a source of cheap
labor. But as labor unions began to form and push for better pay,
shorter hours, and improved working conditions industries saw that it
was not as easy to exploit these immigrants as it had been before. Like
Palmer, they tied the American's hostilities towards immigrants to the
newly emerging fear of radicalism. When workers struck, industry
leaders turned public opinion agains them by labling the strikes as
attemps at radical uprising. As a result, workers were often left with
no other choice than to accept the terms of industry management.
The fight for prohabition was aided by America's antagonism for
immigrants. Protestants and "old-stock" Americans attempted to link
alchol with Catholic-Irish and Italian immigrants. They were viewed as
immoral and corrupt for their vice. Prohabition was a means of
counterattacking the evils of the urban cities and their immigrant
dwellers. In addition, the rise of the KKK was a direct result of the
hostilities harbored towards the immigrant population. Started by
native born, white, Protestants, the KKK was afraid of "the
encroachment of foreigners," expecially those who answered to a foreign
Pope as their religious authority. Playing upon these fears, the KKK
gained support and was it's members were able to politically control
parts of Ohio, Oklahoma, Texas, and much of Indiana.
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