Chapter 4: A World Transformed, 1720-1770





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "Anti-Immigrant Sentiments" in Chapter 4. Refer to page 112 of Norton, A People and a Nation, Sixth Edition for the complete text of this Legacy. There are three parts to this web page: Questions to Consider, Investigation, and Further Exploration.




Questions to Consider
1. Are there connections between a country's economic well-being and its immigration policies?

2. How have immigrant views of the United States changed over time? What is the apparent lure of America?

3. Is America the land of opportunity for all? Explain.

4. Is the United States a pluralistic country? How might this pluralism be limited?

5. Do you find any connections between anti-immigration policies, civil rights, and quotas? If so, what are they?


Investigation
Do our immigration policies help us to understand our domestic dispute on quotas? Our elected representatives determine immigration policies and domestic quotas. Prepare a diagram that notes the differences and similarities between immigration policies and quotas today. In American society, whom do we apparently want to include and exclude? How important are economic conditions including unemployment rates, laws regarding languages, and cultural conditions to our understanding of immigration and quotas? Study the connections between one's background--class, skills, race, age, and gender--and one's chances of immigrating to the United States? Much of our government data on race and country of origin is limited to more recent history (1971-1994; page 11 of U.S. Statistical Abstracts, 1996). For extensive information on affirmative action and discrimination (including reverse discrimination), visit AAD Project.





Further Exploration
1. A rich multimedia site, Pluralism and Unity, tracing the evolution of American ideas on pluralism and internationalism is made available through Michigan State University and H-Net.

2. Explore attitudes toward diversity in education at Harvard University Law School's The Civil Rights Project.

3. Be sure to visit the Library of Congress's Immigration in American Memory site, which covers immigration from the 18th century to the present and includes primary materials.

4. The Ellis Island Museum helps visitors get a sense of what immigrants faced when they came to the United States.