Chapter 32: The End of the Postwar Boom, 1974-1989





The following activities accompany the Legacy for a People and a Nation on "Ethnic America" in Chapter 32. Refer to page 944 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. How has immigration in recent decades changed our society? Does your answer depend upon your location and profession?

2. Do you support a dual language (English or Spanish) approach to education in the US? Find other nations that have officially adopted multilingual policies.

3. What best characterizes our current legal immigrants?

4. Do anti-immigration interests create strange bedfellows? Who are they?

Investigation
"Give us your tired, your poor, your hungry." Does this famous inscription on the Statue of Liberty apply more to the beginning of the 20th century or the beginning of the 21st century? What does this tell us about democracy in the United States? Propose your changes to the existing immigration laws. What interests are you wanting to protect? To help you understand our immigration history and the present laws, visit The Federation for American Immigration Reform (FAIR). Follow the portal About.com to various links with additional information and commentary on current and past immigration.




Further Exploration
1. Visit the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service for the historical accounts called This Month in Immigration History and statistics about immigration to the United States.

2. Mark W. Nowak, Fellow, of Negative Population Growth, takes on some of the myths regarding the impact of immigration upon U.S. population growth and the environment.

3. You can follow two scholars outlining various debates on recent immigration.