General Background
After World War I ended in 1918, millions of distraught Europeans sought refuge in America. With the new wave of immigration came the resurgence of nativism (emphasis of traditional customs and opposition to outside influences). The American people were disillusioned by the carnage of war and clung to the old policy of isolationism. They denounced un-American lifestyles and turned their backs on immigrants.
The Clash of Cultures
Nativists were not only concerned with the growing influx of immigrants, but the cultural upheaval that newcomers would bring to traditional American values. During this time, groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, the American Protective Association, and the Immigration Restriction League resurfaced, demanding restriction. They often argued the inferiority of other races and claimed their intent was to preserve the purity of the American race. A less extreme way of dealing with the new ethnic groups was to assimilate them into the American culture: Americanization. Representatives of the settlement house movement, The Immigration Protective Association and the International Ladies Garment Workers Union, assisted immigrants in shedding their Old World roots and helped them to live like Americans.
Immigration Quotas
After World War I, a series of events added fuel to the fire and intensified the clash of cultures. The First Red Scare, the recession of 1920, the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan, and the scandal engulfing the trial of Sacco and Vanzetti (two Italian Immigrants in possession of firearms and anarchist pamphlets when arrested) created an onslaught of anti-immigration sentiments. The Emergency Quota Act of 1921 allowed only three percent of the amount of immigrants that had been living in the United States in 1910 to enter the country. Three years later, the problem remained unresolved and Congress passed a stricter law: the Immigration Act of 1924. This law lowered the number to two percent of immigrants that resided in the U.S. in the year 1890, when there were far fewer new immigrants. This law almost completely stemmed the flow of southern and eastern European immigrants. It also had the effect of limiting all immigration from Asia up until World War II. Immigration declined to around 300,000 people by 1928.