Chosen Answer:
In was an early attempt by existing Americans to limit the immigration of people they thought were undesirable into the country. In this case the Chinese flooding into California to seek gold and/or work on the railroad being constructed across the continent at the time. It was expanded into a quota system for ALL immigrants in the wake of WW I to control the flow of immigration. The Chinese were not the only–or even the first–ethnic group viewed with disfavor by the “old settlers.” Ben Franklin had a famous rant against the German immigrants in the 1750s that, if you substitute the word “Latino” for “German” could have been written by a current red-neck. The Scots-Irish, Bog-Irish, Italian, Japanese, Poles, East European (Jews), first Mexican wave, and many other ethnic groups have similarly discriminated against at one time or another in our history.
by: Gerald Cline
on: 28th October 12
