Immigration LG: To explain why immigration was restricted and immigrants were discriminated against in the 1920s.

What does this source suggest about American attitudes to immigration in the 1920s?

Isolation and Immigration After the First World War, isolationist sentiment was very high. Americans wanted the USA to withdraw from the international arena. Isolation was further encouraged by tariffs – for example, the Fordney-McCumber Tariff of 1922 which raised the prices of imported goods. For some Americans the feelings of isolation went even further – they wanted to end the open-door policy that had brought so many immigrants to America in the nineteenth-century. Subsequently America decided to restrict the flow of immigrants into the country. This created further divisions and tensions in American society as immigrants already in the country faced discrimination.

Why did Americans dislike immigrants? Read page 220. Write 3 reasons explaining an increased fear of immigrants. 1.Increased feelings of nationalism after the war. 2.New immigrants from poor countries would provide cheap labour and take away jobs from Americans. 3.Immigrants would bring anti-democratic ideas such as Communism into the country (especially since Russia had become Communist in 1917.)

The case of Sacco and Vanzetti They were arrested in May 1920 and charged with a wages robbery in which 2 guards were killed. Both men were from Italy and both spoke little English. But both were known to be anarchists and when they were found they both had loaded guns on them. The judge at their trial - Judge Thayer - was known to hate the "Reds" and 61 people claimed that they saw both men at the robbery/murders. But 107 people claimed that they had seen both men elsewhere when the crime was committed. Regardless of this both men were found guilty. They spent 7 years in prison while their lawyers appealed but in vain. Despite many public protests and petitions, both men were executed by electric chair on August 24th, In 1977, Governor Michael S. Dukakis (governor of Massachusettes) issued a proclamation declaring that Sacco and Vanzetti had not received a fair trial and advocated that “any stigma and disgrace should be forever removed” from their names.

Case Study: The Sacco and Vanzetti Case

Questions - What does the case tell us about the extent of the Red Scare in America in the 1920s? What does the case tell us about America’s view towards Italian and eastern European immigrants?