Immigration as a Movement of Social Upheaval and Progress in America
The glory days for immigration occurred in the period following the Civil War, and especially during the so-called Gilded Age when American business owners welcomed the influx of new laborers necessary both for the emerging industrial revolution and to aid in the expansion westward. The effect of immigrant labor upon the growth of America was felt from Chinese railroad workers, to European immigrants settling farms along the way, to building commerce as the American economy became truly continental by spreading to the Pacific Ocean. One unfortunate result of the coalescing of poor, devalued ethnic groups within ghettoes of the larger cities was easily manipulated voter blocs that led to corruption and exploitation. Overall, however, the effect of immigration during this period can only be considered positive since without the influx of cheap labor from other countries, America could not have kept pace with the great European economic powers of the time. Thanks to the immigration to America from countries as diverse as Ireland, Poland and China, the United States went from an agriculture-based economy to an industrial economy is record time.
Ethnic devaluation of the so-called protestant, Anglo-Saxon milieu of America was, not surprisingly, eventually dealt with by several policies aimed not only at restricting immigration, but also at attempting to preserve the WASP-ishness of American culture. Between 1907 and 1929 no less than four different acts of legislation passed with the intent to put a clampdown on the inmmigration of specific undesirables were passed. This legislation-either taken individually or in concert with each other-can rightly be regarded as an attempt to coerce Anglo-Saxon assimilation since most of the restrictions were aimed at immigrants from either Asia or southern and eastern Europe. The ravages brought to each of those regions by World War II resulted in a brand new massive outpouring of immigrants looking to America for a new start. Although for a time it appeared that once and for all immigration restriction was finally seen to be the most anti-American of all social movements, even this round of immigration was met with new legislation.
The most significant immigration legislation since the end of World War II-to this point at any rate-was certainly the Immigration Act of 1965, which resulted in the largest influx of immigrants into America since the 19th century. Since its passage, America has managed to accomplish the seemingly paradoxical notiong of moving closer than ever toward its mythic ideal of being true melting pot while also perfecting the art of assimilating foreign cultures into a homogenous idea of Protestant Anglo-Saxon Americanism. Just like those immigrants who effectively built the way westward during the era of American expansionism brought on by industralization, this new breed of immigrants staked out niches in the economy that were left vacant by the rise of manufacturing. A funny thing happened during the move away from industralization and toward technological innovation, however; with the outsourcing of those manufacturing jobs, those same immigrants that took up the mantle left behind by first- for second-generation Americans have now become the target for displaced Americans.
Immigration has had an impact upon American culture, politics, morality, religion, and economics unlike any other single social movement. It is not stretching the point to assert that whatever America is today, it is in large part because of the effect of immigration. The ultimate irony is the current overarching social movement to restrict immigrant to the point of actually building a wall along the border; a movement supported by an overwhelming number of ancestors of�immigrants.
