Curated OER
History Matters: Protestant Paranoia
Site contains text concerning the APA and the Secret Oath taken to belong to the Association and explains why the group was formed.
Curated OER
History Matters: Shut the Door: A Senator Speaks for Immigration Restriction
Read the speech by a senator from South Carolina who used racist theories to support his argument for the Immigration Act of 1924. He was not alone in the Senate inhis support for restrictive immigration policies.
Curated OER
History Matters: An Un American Bill: A Congressman Denounces Immigration Quotas
The rise of anti-immigration feeling after World War I resulted in legislation limiting the number of immigrants from various areas of of the world. Read the speech by a Congressman decrying the immigration quotas by giving examples of...
Curated OER
History Matters: Japan Responds to Japanese Exclusion
An editorial from the Japan Times and Mail denounced the the U.S. Senate's inclusion of the National Origins Act within the Immigration Act of 1924 that limited the immigration of Japanese to the United States. Read the background of the...
Davidson College
Prima: Supreme Court's Response to Nativism in the 1920s
This article from a scholarly magazine from Davidson College outlines the legislation proposed and often passed that reflected nativist tenets, especially in state legislatures. Read how decisions of the Supreme Court found most of this...
Mount Holyoke College
Mt. Hoyoke College: Chinese Exclusion Act
Provides full length, section-by-section text of the Chinese Exclusion Act, passed by the 47th U.S. Congress in 1882.
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Eugenics Archive: Eugenics Popularization
This article explains how the idea of eugenics, based on poor science, became popular in the 1920s as a reaction against immigration and African Americans.
Other
Contagion: The Spread of Eugenics Throughout American Popular Culture in the 20s
A comprehensive look at the theory of eugenics, the pseudo-scientific idea that fed into the nativists' search for the "superior" American. This article explains how companies used this theory to sell their products.
Other
For Many, One: The Kkk in the 1920s
This is an in-depth look at the Ku Klux Klan in the United States in the 1920s. Find out why there was a resurgence of this hateful group, read about their philosophy, and how their views were influenced by the events of the Jazz Age.
University of California
History Project: Debate Over the California Constitutional Convention, 1878 1879
Lesson on immigration, conflict and nativism in which students examine primary source documents to evaluate public policy and attitudes towards Chinese immigrants in California, 1878-1879.
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Coming to America: The Era of Mass Immigration
From 1865 to 1914, up to 25 million people immigrated to the United States. This tutorial examines their reasons for coming, where they came from, the Ellis Island processing center, and how they adapted to their new country. The...
CPALMS
Florida State University Cpalms: Florida Students: Postwar Blues and Reds
This tutorial looks at post-World War I America and the disturbing events that took place in 1919 and 1920, for example, racial discrimination, the KKK, backlash against immigrants, the Red Scare, etc. A PDF file of the tutorial is...
OpenStax
Open Stax: Jazz Age: Redefining the Nation 1919 1929: Transformation and Backlash
Examines the role nativism played in 1920s America, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, the disconnect between urban and rural lifestyles and values, and the fractious debate over evolution that was highlighted in the Scopes trial.
Scholastic
Scholastic: Nativism
Scholastic gives both a general definition of nativism and also in reference to the 19th century United States. It gives examples and explanations of why nativism developed in the 19th century United States.
Curated OER
History Matters: Get the Rope! Anti German Violence in World War I Era Wisconsin
Read this harrowing account of a German-American farmer whose nativist neighbors suspected his alliegiance to the United States after the country entered the war against Germany in World War I.
University of Maryland
Umbc Center for History Education: Reshaping American Society
Using this history lab, students will examine the impact immigration had on urbanization and the reform movements of the time, as well as the addressing the backlash to immigration by understanding nativism.
Department of Defense
Do Dea: Ap Us History: Unit 6: Becoming a Modern Nation
This extensive learning module examines the role of large-scale industrialization, urbanization, and mass migrations in creating new demands on government and social organizations to design reforms, and looks at the global and domestic...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: Toolbox Library: People: Assimilation and the Crucible of the City: Exclusion
This lesson examines government reports that urged restrictions on immigration to America at the turn of the nineteenth century.
History Link
History Link: Anti Catholic American Protective Assc. Takes Control
An article about the American Protective Association, an anti-Catholic political organization, taking over the Seattle School Board.
Harp Week
Harp Week: The Presidential Elections: 1880 Cartoon List
This fabulous site compiles political cartoons from Harper's Weekly for the campaing of 1880. The cartoons are drawn by Thomas Nast, and each cartoon is thoroughly explained. A great resource.
Digital History
Digital History: The Roaring Twenties [Pdf]
Read this comprehensive look at the Roaring Twenties, or Jazz Age. Read about Prohibition and its ramifications, women's gains, entertainment, and literature. Also find out about the resurgence of racial unrest and violence. A very good...
National Humanities Center
National Humanities Center: America in Class: America in the 1920s: Native & Foreign
The National Humanities Center presents collections of primary resources compatible with the Common Core State Standards - historical documents, literary texts, and works of art - thematically organized with notes and discussion...
University of Groningen
American History: Outlines: Whigs, Democrats and "Know Nothings"
Jackson's political opponents, united by little more than a common opposition to him, eventually coalesced into a common party called the Whigs, a British term signifying opposition to Jackson's "monarchial rule." Although they organized...
Digital History
Digital History: American Catholics
The American Catholic church expanded rapidly due to the immigration of the Irish and Germans. Read about the prejudice against the church based mainly on the backlash to the immigration of "others." See also how the Catholic church took...