WPT University Place History Sandwiched In  Mike Jacobs, "Nativist Propaganda In American History"  February 15, 2011 UP553  cc >> Beth Lemke: Welcome to the Wisconsin Historical Museum, ladies and gentlemen. Today we're here to listen to Mike Jacobs look at his perspectives of immigration, both past and present, and the propaganda relating to it. So if you could please give me a warm welcome for Mike Jacobs. [APPLAUSE]  >> Mike Jacobs: So we're going to take a look at the propaganda through the course of at least 150 years and see how the nativist faction has tried to support its agenda. But by emphasizing the similarities of this propaganda, what I'm hoping to do is to demonstrate that the fears have neither changed nor diminished. And I'm trying to assure both sides, whichever side you are on, that our current debate is neither epic nor final. And that's really my most important point to you. Demographic changes in British North America occurred rapidly during the 18th century, and anti-immigrant sentiment existed even before this country existed. The principal consideration at the time, though, was not immigration but the kind of immigrant, the kind of people that were coming. Many British North American colonists were concerned about the importation of convicted criminals, Irish papists and German separatists. 

But that's not the focus of today's presentation so let's start with the United States. The United States did not have a uniform policy regarding immigration. Traditionally the federal government placed neither restrictions nor parameters on immigration, and federal policies encouraged or discouraged immigration indirectly through laws that pertained to citizenship rather than actual travel or entry. In 1798 the federal government passed the Alien Enemies Act which were the first national restrictions on immigration. Rather they were the first national restrictions on immigrants not immigration. As these laws did not prevent immigration but threatened immigrants with deportation or imprisonment if they didn't behave in accordance with the current administration's wishes. These laws were clearly partisan and subjective and arbitrary, and thus they were unpopular. This 1798 cartoon depicts a fight that broke out on the floor of the United States House of Representatives between Matthew Lyon, an Irish immigrant, republican Congressman from Vermont, and Roger Griswold, an American-born federalist from Connecticut. The democratic republicans decried this unpopular federalist legislation to rally support to their party. That's how they attracted immigrants to them. 

Such was the earliest controversy regarding immigration. That controversy surrounded the kind of immigrant, rather than immigration itself, comes as little surprise to me studying this. The United States has almost always had a dearth in labor. When there hasn't been, immigration has slowed. If you take a look at this chart, you will see that the slowest years are during the Great Depression. We have this idea or we purport this idea that people come to America for political freedom or religious freedom, and that is certainly true for a very small minority. Unless you're going to make the argument that suddenly in the 1930s places around the world were offering religious freedom and political freedom, therefore people weren't coming. If you're familiar with fascist Spain, fascist Portugal, fascist Germany, fascist Italy, those arguments aren't that easy to make. The reality is that the vast majority of the people who've come to America have come for opportunity, particularly economic opportunity. And you can see in the 1930s that did not exist. 

And speaking of migrations, Beth had mentioned that we had both moved here from Indiana to Wisconsin, a migration because I found Wisconsin appealing. I'd be curious what kind of migrations happened regarding Wisconsin pertaining to what's going on outside. As the United States started to supply belligerence engaged in World War II, the need for labor in America was revitalized. All were welcome, as depicted in this cartoon from the Detroit Free Press. In fact, at this time the United States was desperate for unskilled labor and inaugurated the Bracero Program with Mexico which brought hundreds of thousands of Mexicans across the border to work in American enterprises that needed labor, particularly in agriculture and railroads. While the Braceros were major contributors to the American war effort and economy, they did not always meet with acceptance in this country. But the immigrants were deemed valuable enough that the Bracero Program was continued even after the war ended for two decades and maintained by the American government and the Mexican government until 1964. If you were to look at illegal immigration to the United States from Mexico, 1964 is when it happens, when the program that had allowed for workers to come here ended. It ended Mexico's incentive to guard the border. They used to guard the border not wanting people to move back and forth unless they could tax them. 

But that incentive disappeared with that program. World War II was not the first time labor influenced American's opinions regarding the desirability of immigration. This engraving from an 1855 book by J Wayne Laurens called The Crisis; or The Enemies of America Unmasked depicts a labor demonstration outside New York City's city hall demanding relief for the unemployed during the panic of 1854. This presentation here of foreign labor demonstrators, mostly Irish and German, was meant to alarm readers. It's one of the very few antebellum images of organized labor and tame by the standards of anti-immigrant propaganda. During the post bellum era, immigrant laborers were not a threat to capital but to other laborers. Native labor organized against  cheap immigrant labor that might drive down their wages or replace them. In both of these pieces emanating from California, the Chinese are the culprits and the prescribed solution is clear: physically remove the Chinese by force or political action. And the story hasn't changed. Labor is warning Americans of the danger of illegitimate immigrant labor. 

But the demonization of immigrant labor has gone beyond organized labor and become a grassroots campaign as Americans fear for their economic future. And corporate America has shouldered the blame. And corporate executives and upper middle-class Americans have warned about the presence of such undocumented workers. But that has not stopped such segments from using and benefiting from that very labor. The Bush Administration supported continued practice of moderate immigration enforcement and was criticized for the apparent motive. As this cartoon suggests, it is compassionate to assist these poor immigrants with any work and useful for the American economy. The competing forces at work are displayed here on the page of June 8, 2006, edition of the San Antonio Express. The top article, Texans proposal would make some deportations easier saying that how they could get rid of undocumented or undesirable immigrants. The second article suggests that President Bush believed that immigrants were useful, but they should conform to the American macroculture. My favorite is the bottom article. 

At the bottom of the page brings the issue full circle by pointing out that 25% of those who are cleaning up New Orleans after hurricane Katrina lack proper papers. As much as people who do not want them here, as much as the president would like to strip them of their historic culture, these people are helping America and Americans. This desire for cheap and abundant labor has even compromised homeland security measures according to this piece of propaganda. Click to enlarge indicates that even this formula is flexible as needed. Nativist forces were quick to link America's immigration policy with the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Even Osama bin Laden is able to enter the United States in this 2003 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel cartoon by Stuart Carlson. And nativist forces on the ground picked up on that notion. And fears can be worn on your sleeve or jacket or lapel. But in many cases the terrorist bugaboo is simply a cat's paw for other objectives. The message here is morphed to suit other tastes. 

And they transform the message and images to appeal to older generations of Americans as well. Every avenue is explored and exploited. Neither the ploys nor the fears were new. Post-World War I cartoons suggested that America's liberal immigration policies opened doors to those who would destroy us. The jingoism is particularly noticeable in this cartoon from the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Now Memphis has little history as an immigrant city. In 1920 only 3.6% of its population was foreign-born, ranking it 47th among America's 50th largest cities. Yet they still have a concern about what is going to happen. And the remedy did not change either. Nativists warned Americans about those determined to destroy us long before World War I as this 1892 New York publication demonstrates. 

And the loyalty question has surfaced as well. Even if these new immigrants are bent on America's destruction, they seem to have a dual loyalty. The clinging to traditions is more easily understood when one considers the transitory nature of some migrations. For example, prior to the immigration act of 1924 as many as 60% of Italians who came to America returned to Italy within five years. America would be a temporary place to earn money or to test to see if they like. Almost a hundred years ago Woodrow Wilson warned Americans of such people who clung to the traditions of their birth place. During World War I, German-American immigrants particularly faced prejudice. In 1918 Life magazine ran this cartoon with the accompanying jingle of My Country 'Tis of Thee. My country over sea, Deutschland is sweet to me, to thee I cling. For thee my honor died, for thee I spied and lied, so that from every side culture might ring. 

But it didn't require the United States to be at war to inspire such fears as instructed by Uncle Sam in 1915 to cut off that hyphen. The term hyphenated American entered the American slang in the early 1890s referring to immigrants who had not fully or satisfactorily acculturated. In this 1899 cartoon from Puck, Uncle Sam inquires "why should I let these freaks cast whole ballots when they are only half Americans?" One of the first concerns regarding dual loyalty had little to do with foreign national powers. It was the Catholic church that nativists feared. In this 1853 Currier & Ives lithograph Pope Pius IX lands on American soil with a cross in one hand and a sword in the other. One of the Bishops hooks the boat ashore by a shamrock, suggesting that the Irish are in complicity in making this happen those who are already in America. Brother Jonathan who was a precursor to Uncle Sam is whittling in the back and fails to act. Therefore, it is up to the youth of America to challenge this religious invasion. This 1870 cover of Harper's Weekly sends a similar message of the Catholic church's sights on America. Note the skeletal face of the priest on the far right and the raised weapons in the rear preparing for their strike. 

This 1873 cartoon from Harper's Weekly suggests that Catholics are to subvert American institutions such as schools. Students at the right are forced to worship at non-Christian alters and are being indoctrinated in Asian philosophies and religions. Thomas Nast, the most famous cartoonist in American history, produced one of the most infamous anti-immigrant works of the 19th century with his warning of Catholic invasions. Notice the crocodiles that are coming to shore are actually Bishops. The Vatican has taken over the government in the background. The public school is falling apart. The American flag is inverted. Catholic-Irish thugs are hauling away a woman at the top of the cliff, and the gallows are prepared in the upper right-hand corner. And into the 20th century the fear had not subsided. A deadly Catholic Bishop replaces the Statue of Liberty because Americans are not sufficiently on guard. 

But there was an antidote realized in the 1920s. The Klan would be America's savior from foreign menaces. It's a good thing that religious bigotry and superstition has gone by the wayside and no longer enters into the immigration debate. In the early part of the 19th century, Catholic and Irish were used interchangeably in many parts of America. Not only was their religion in question, but their economic situation was feared to be a burden for America. And this concern about immigrants has not changed as this bumper sticker suggests. This 1852 plate considers the physiognomy of the Irish, likening them to dogs. This type of pseudoscience encouraged people to treat immigrants as less than human. This 1882 cartoon from Puck depicts the Irish as subhuman. Uncle Sam reprimands him "look here you everybody else is quiet and peaceable and you're all the time a kicking up a row." The editorial that accompanied the cartoon asserted "the raw Irish in America is a nuisance. 

His son is a curse. They never assimilate. The second generation simply shows an intensification of all the bad qualities of the first. They are a burden and a misery to this country." Such characterizations led to the popularization and general acceptance of no Irish need apply or NINA as some newspaper ads proclaimed. Or as Puck suggested in this 1889 cartoon, the Irish simply are not mixable. Chinese immigrants would face even greater discrimination than the Irish. Columbia here guards the weary Chinese immigrant in this 1874 engraving from Harper's Weekly. She warns the Irish pursuers that America "means fair play for all men." Notice the barbaric faces on the Irish and all the anti-Chinese propaganda on the wall behind. Secretary of State James G Blaine protects the African American and says no to the apparently high-cultured Chinese. Less than two years later, Harper's Weekly changed its editorial policy towards Chinese immigration. 

This propaganda on the wall depicts whites pushing American Indians west and Chinese pushing Americans east. The American Indian observes "pale face 'fraid you crowd him out as he did me." You can see this up here. Go west and go east. And the Chinese immigration issue could prevent the freefall of the democratic tiger on the left or pull both parties down as Thomas Nast suggests on the right. Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper warned the working man of the coming of the destructive Chinese labor in 1877. This montage of cartoons by Joseph Keppler called the Chinese invasion from an 1880 issue of Judge warned that the Chinese would push others from the workforce and the center they are clinging to the life preservers offered by Columbia. The WASP magazine, from California, warned that the immigrant Chinese sought monopolies in certain trades, especially laundries, cigar making, dry goods and manufacturing. Chinese came to dominate the laundry trade in a number of cities, and they became a target because of the competition. In this trade card, Columbia points to the wall no more Chinese cheap labor. Business owners tried to depict themselves as patriotic by finding ways of replacing the Chinese. 

In this trade card, Uncle Sam is kicking the Chinese back to the sea, replacing them with the George D Company's magic washer. To the satisfaction of so many Americans depicted here, Columbia is escorting the immigrant Chinese from the school. Note the ironing board and opium pipe carried in his hands. Indeed, Chinese immigration proved a rallying point for a disparate group of Americans. Emanating from the new Statue of Liberty is filth, immorality, and ruin to white labor. The WASP hope to stop the threats on both shores: Chinese from the Pacific and communists from the Atlantic. When the fear of Chinese immigration was halted by restricted immigration policies directed at that country, a new threat from Asia emerged. The tide of turbans failed to materialize, as the nativists claimed it would, but the propaganda machine was prepared. And during World War II Japanese immigrants or natives were targets of American jingoism. Immigrant Asians are no longer singled out as a threat to American wages and taxes but Americans are still warned about migrant labor. 

And migrant labor, or labor wasn't the only concern of the nativist, but they have to use it to advantage. In this turn of the century drawing from Judge magazine, the caption warns "our peaceful world districts as they are liable to be infest if this Russian exodus of the persecuted Hebrews continues much longer." This 1896 cartoon published in The Ram's Horn indicates the assortment of undesirable baggage brought by immigrants including Sabbath desecration, anarchy, poverty, superstition, and disease. This 1883 F Grats cartoon warns of health hazards, specifically cholera, entering the country through immigration. This more recent cartoon suggests American immigration policy is more strict on potentially contaminated beef than humans with serious communicable diseases. But Chinese, Irish, Catholics and communicable diseases are not at the forefront of the current immigration debate. It is clear where nativists believe the problem originates.  And what the end result could mean. And they will employ scare tactics to achieve their objective. And nativists have criticized the policies of the most recent past president.  Some have their own martial remedies. 

 They try to instill fear in the American public that the new immigrants from south of the border will overwhelm existing peoples and political systems. One theory widely held by Americans that has assuaged fears of immigrants unique habits, traditions, qualities, and beliefs is that the differences will disappear in the great American melting pot. But the melting pot idea, as historian Leonard Dinnerstein has noted, is a more recent ideal than a historical expectation. He writes one must not ignore the prevalent American view that existed for centuries. America should remain a white protestant nation and all others must either assimilate or be relegated to a permanent inferior status. That is not to say the melting pot is not the end result. Whatever the ingredients, a standardized formula emerges, according to this cartoon. Dinnerstein adds most second and third generation Americans of foreign ancestry are not anxious to remain ethnic as they are to blend into the dominate society. Consider first generation letters back to the old country. Did second and third generations follow suit and maintain the traditions? Do any such letters to the old country exist for fourth generations? Fourth generations are more likely to have anonymous overseas pen pals than to write their families back overseas. 

But historically, even this recipe, as a path for immigrant, acceptance has come under fire. Some groups simply were not assimilable. The remedy? Close the chute. Perhaps it had gone too far while Uncle Sam had his back turned, as this 1921 Gale cartoon, Spoiling the Broth, insinuates. Pouring too many immigrants into the mix has been a detriment to the country, according to the Saturday Evening Post in 1930. So this bumper sticker is nothing new. In fact it's less pungent than the propaganda of earlier generations. But some still hold out hope, as this 2006 editorial cartoon suggests. For good or for not, I'm not altogether certain that there's not a melting pot of some sort as three generations of recent immigrants from Afghanistan demonstrate the Macarena. [LAUGHTER] One thing that has changed over the course of the last century regarding American's attitudes towards immigrants is that many want immigrants to speak English. 

Ethnic ghettos and villages were so common and insulated in the 19th century that speaking English might not be deemed necessary or even desirable for some. Notice the ironic land of the free flag in the background. That changed in the 20th century. And not only did many Americans want new arrivals to speak English, they wanted them literate. In this 1914 cartoon from Puck called The Undesirables, Abraham Lincoln, the martyred president pleads, "I stand among you, good people, my father could never have passed." And standardization became a rallying cry in the land of the free. Americans are ordered to speak American in this poster issued by the American government during World War II. Using non-English languages, especially German, Italian and Japanese, was considered disloyal. And efforts to serve and/or accommodate non-English speaking immigrants has been ridiculed recently. And opposition to a polyglot nation has become vitriolic. And fears have been codified. 

Insulated Iowa with just 3.1% foreign-born population in the census of 2000 passed a law that made English its official language. While once concerned that immigrants would the not adapt to America, would not appreciate American institutions such as suffrage, many nativists fear the opposite, that immigrants will participate in the political process. Some outspoken people such as Pat Buchanan have tried to use this issue to rise to national providence, if not national office. Disgruntled nativists accused the last president of pandering to this potential constituency. To them, Bush has compromised America's sovereignty for his own political future. Or to achieve another unrelated political agenda. However upset those forces are with the former President Bush, their propaganda leaves little doubt with which party they believe they have the best chance of achieving their goals. In this 2006 flyer, nativists propose that by voting democratic you are cooperating with the wishes of the Mexican people. There's little doubt immigration will be a highly contested issue in our future major election cycles. And it's not the first time such battles were waged. 

California senator and famed opponent of Japanese immigration James Phelan's campaign poster promised to stop the silent invasion. Riffraff immigrants might subvert the political process, damage our ideas, institutions, as Uncle Sam fears here. And this concern predates the 20th and 21st century. "What weight can my vote have against this flood of ignorance, stupidity and fraud," the American citizen asks in this 1896 cartoon from The Ram's Horn. In this election day fiasco, liquor-drinking Irish and German immigrants run off with the ballot box to determine the election's victor. Finally, in this cartoon dubbed the naturalization mill, judges and party hacks grind immigrants into democratic votes. Whether or not they will be participating in politics, the sheer volume of immigration is a concern to nativists.  But 80 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan warned America of the same phenomenon in its pamphlet on immigration. And the Klan was carrying on a strong tradition of the nativist concern about the volume as well as the character of immigration.  In this 1891 cartoon from Judge, senator Henry Cabot Lodge lectures Uncle Sam, "If immigration was properly restricted you would no longer be troubled with anarchy, socialism, the mafia and such kindred evils." The caption on the sign in the background reads "Entry for immigrants, baggage the only requisite." Captions on immigrants include "Polish vagabond, Italian brigand, English convict, Russian anarchist, Irish pauper." In this 1893 Life magazine lithograph contains the caption "An interesting question: how long will it be before the rats own the garden and the man gets out?" Uncle Sam has nodded off permitting the vermin to take command of the American garden. 

This F Beard cartoon is called Columbia's Unwelcomed Guest. As immigrants emerge from the sewers of other countries, if you see in the background. In this early piece of propaganda, the pied piper leads the rats across the ocean to America. Notice the Statue of Liberty in the background and the rats swimming toward it. Today's propaganda remains with the patriotic theme by employing images of Uncle Sam. More tangible efforts are suggested as well. Not that all concerns are groundless, but certainly some of the alarmists lack rational arguments. For example, note this sign in Tennessee, a state that ranks 33rd in the percentage of immigrants, approximately two-thirds below the national average. The volume of current immigration, some nativists suggest, will overwhelm the United States. So great that the new immigrants will not assimilate but will hoist their culture upon the existing one, wrecking the traditions known to most Americans. 

The American will become a novelty, as with this 1922 James Montgomery Flagg cartoon portrays the last American in captivity. Flagg copied the idea from the Last Yankee, first published in Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper in 1888 but reprinted frequently over the next 30 years. Uncle Sam is literally devoured by Irish and Chinese immigrants in this early depiction. This is the first cartoon of a three-part series. Let's see how it ends.  America has drawn so many immigrants because it is the land of opportunity, a land of bounty. In this 1880 Joseph Keppler cartoon called Welcome to All, Uncle Sam welcomes immigrants of all nationalities and a sign lauds America's features: political freedom and economic opportunity. A Judeo-Christian theme is utilized in this Puck cartoon in which Uncle Sam plays Moses leading immigrants from oppression and intolerance to a new day that is America. Today immigrants choose America for the same reasons: opportunities. But nativists today are less liberal and not prepared to share the opportunities of this great country. 

Now comparatively, United States is not alone among English speaking nations in limiting access to resources as well as a means to discourage immigration as this 1899 cartoon from New South Wales, Australia, indicates. "A white colony" and "mineral wealth" are guarded against "black labor" and "minority rule." And in England, God save the King. And even more recently in nearby Canada. And there is little difference in the warning. And America should heed a warning too. English speaking countries haven't been the only ones in the world who discourage particular people from living among them. And America's immigrant policy has had foreign policy ramifications. The Japanese considered exclusion of their nationals as an insult to their national honor. This 1915 cartoon suggests that America's doors are open to just about any kind of immigrant except the Japanese. The link to Pearl Harbor is not as direct as the treatment of Irish-Catholic immigrants in the America army in the 1840s. 

Several hundred of them deserted the American army and fought for Mexico in the Mexican-American War. The Los San Patricios are officially celebrated in both Ireland and in Mexico. Nativists designed laws that discriminated against immigrant Irish and prevented Japanese immigration. Recent complaints by nativists argue that the laws in place are not enforced. Indeed, salutary neglect has been America's policy towards illegal immigration from Central America. Bush's plan to legitimize illegal immigration came under fire from nativists as well. Those most responsible for securing the borders have been criticized also. The INS shirked its principal function and has been complicit in this disregard for the law according to these recent characterizations.  Legal measures have been taken before trying to curb immigration in 1921. And again three years later. 

In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan tried to take credit for a restrictive legislation. The Klan is still active in the nativist movement. Other national right wing organizations, such as the national socialist movement, also feed on anti-immigrant sentiment. Most ultra-conservatives know that the history of those two groups preclude them from effectiveness or even being part of the national dialogue. So they created the Minuteman Project, employing patriotic symbols to rally people to their cause. Even more bland is US English. This organization pushes for immigration restriction and English as the official language of the United States. Madison Grant, the vice president of the Immigration Restriction League, was best known for his warnings in the passing of the great race and the introduction to fellow restrictionist Lathrop Stoddard's The Rising Tide of Color Against World White Supremacy. And before the Immigration Restriction League there was the Order of United Americans. And the short-lived political party the American party. 

Its precursor, the Native American party, commonly known as the no nothings or the don't knows. Two aspects of the immigration debate have degenerated. For one the message was formally less vehement. And the isolationists were on the fringe of American society. But in the 21st century, nativism has obtained mainstream status, including young, old, and middle-class. And the message has lost all polish. The message has become malicious. Venomous. The irony of American's immigration policies have not been lost on previous generations. Hendrik van Loon asks in this 1924 cartoon, what if the original Americans opposed immigration?  Even the debate on terrorism has been put into perspective. 

"Give me your tired, poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my lamp beside the golden door!" Do the nativists, the defenders of America's traditions, want to revise America's traditional promise?  They wouldn't be the first, as this 1921 Lute Pease cartoon indicates. Even to implement the nativist popular solution to halt immigration seems rather ironic.  On both sides of the border.  And it is not without historic precedent. In this 19th century work, the immediate descendants of immigrants are doing the work of building the wall.  Recent immigrants have been more vocal than in the past. Demanding a measure of equality. I see it's just about 1:00, so I will open it up for questions. [APPLAUSE]