Gilded Age Immigration

Most nativists of the late 1800's would most likely have supported the...

• creation of settlement houses to aid new immigrants
• passage of the Chinese Exclusion Act
• continuation of the contract labor system
• assimilation of Native American Indians into mainstream culture

Speaker A: A literacy test as a requirement for immigration to the United States is reasonable. Great numbers of uneducated workers take jobs and good wages from our workers.
Speaker B: Requiring literacy of immigrants is unfair. It will keep people out because they lacked the opportunity to gain an education.
Speaker C: A literacy test will allow more people from northern and western Europe to enter. They are similar to the majority of the United States population.
Speaker D: Literacy is not an issue. The real purpose of this law is to discriminate against immigrants from certain parts of the world.
Supporters of literacy tests to restrict immigration would most likely favor the views of which Speakers?

• Speaker A and C
• Speaker B and C
• Speaker B and D
• Speaker A and B

The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Gentlemen's Agreement with Japan in 1907 both illustrate...

• the role of nativism in the development of United States policies
•  imperialist attitudes in foreign affairs
• restrictive trading policies toward Asian nations
•  the influence of big business on foreign policy

A major cause of antagonism toward the “new immigrants” who came to the United States after 1880 was the belief that they...

• were better educated than native-born Americans
• had a higher standard of living than most Americans
• adapted easily to American culture
• competed with Americans for jobs as unskilled laborers

During the late 1800's, an open immigration policy was most strongly supported by...

• abolitionists
• yellow journalists
• conservationists
• industrialists

Base your answer to the following question on the poem excerpt below and on your knowledge of social studies.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
— Emma Lazarus, "The New Colossus," 1883 
Which attitude about immigration is reflected in this poem, which is inscribed on the Statue of Liberty?

• People from all nations should be welcomed.
•  Educated professionals should be given preference.
•  Educated professionals should be given preference.
• The influx of unskilled people should be restricted.

In the 1890's, calls for limiting immigration were largely the result of...

• nativist reactions toward southern and eastern Europeans
• a desire to achieve cultural pluralism
• the influence of industrialists
• the adoption of a constitutional amendment

Base your answer to question on the poem below and on your knowledge of social studies.
"Given me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.  Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door"
– Emma Lazaru
An American who holds the ideals expressed by the poem would most likely favor...

• allowing only highly educated immigrants to enter the United States
•  using troops to stop immigration from Mexico
•  penalizing businesses that hire illegal immigrants
• maintaining a policy of open immigration

Base your answer to question on the poem below and on your knowledge of social studies.
That the master of any vessel who shall knowingly bring within the United States on such vessel, and land or permit to be landed, any Chinese laborer, from any foreign port or place, shall be deemed guilty of a misdemeanor, and on conviction thereof shall be punished by a fine of not more than five hundred dollars for each and every such Chinese laborer so brought, and may be also imprisoned for a term not exceeding one year.
– Section 2, Chinese Exclusion Act, 1882
Passage of this legislation was mainly a response to...

•  economic and race-based opposition to immigrants in the western United States
•  demands by businesses for additional workers
• efforts of the American Federation of Labor to recruit skilled workers
•  pressure frorn railroads to limit competition in shipping

Which statement is a valid generalization about immigration to the United States?

• Asian immigration was encouraged throughout the 20th century.This answer is incorrect.
  
• Few restrictions on European immigration existed before the 1920s.
• The original Constitution strictly limited immigration.
•  Federal immigration policies have not changed since 1900.