Discussion Post
For this discussion, reflect on the primary sources you have read in this chapter, and address two of the following questions:
A. Given that American immigration began long before the 18405, how do you explain the outbreak of nativist hostilities in that decade? Why did American identity seem so besieged to those who identified as nativists?
B. In what respects were the German and Irish emigration experiences similar? Different? What about the Chinese?
C. To what degree was nativism a cultural, political, or social movement? Was it, in other words, motivated primarily by opposition to Catholicism? Alcohol? Ethnic identities? Competition for jobs? Racism?
D. Do the writings of Irish and German immigrants reveal optimism or pessimism about America?
E. Do today's controversies regarding immigration, ethnicity, and refugee status seem similar to or different from those in the mid-nineteenth century?