Finally, A Very Short Introduction & Census Project

Census Project
We will have a collaborative project in lieu of a final exam that will explore (a) the background history, (b) issues related to the current (2020) census, and (c) our future ideal census. In addition to the readings listed below, please have a look at the US Census website and the Macalester Today article before class on Wednesday.

For Wednesday's class, please read the Introduction and Chapter 1 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What binds the American people together if not a common genealogy? (1)
• What are the three great waves of immigration that reconfigured the population? (2)
• For what three reasons may things be different for recent immigrants? (3)
• What do "nativists" and "pluralists" argue about? (4)
• What is the question ultimately? (5) And what is the answer many cannot accept? (6)
• What are the three parts of the book? (12)
• Define "nativism" (15); are there legitimate reasons for restricting immigration? (16)
• What was the principal rationale for a liberal immigration policy for first 150 years of European presence in North America? (18)
• What are the provisions of the Naturalization Law of 1795 and the 14th Amendment? (19)
• What gave rise to reactive nativist policies in the mid-1800s?
• Why 21 year for naturalization? (22)
• Who was barred from entry by legislation passed between 1864 and 1917? (23)

For Friday's class, please read Chapter 2 of American Immigration: A Very Short Introduction, and prepare written answers to the following questions:

• What makes it clear that in post-Gold Rush California, arguments against immigration were racist? (27)
• Which Chinese were barred from immigration by the Chinese Exclusion Act and which were not? (28)
• How did Angel Island differ from Ellis Island? (29)
• What did the 1891 Immigration Act do, and what inspired it? (30)
• Why were Japanese immigrants seen as a threat? What action was taken in 1913? (31)
• Who was White? (32)
• What is the principle of derivative citizenship? (34)
• What was different about immigrants after the 1890s? (35-36)
• What were the three main sources calling for greater immigration restriction after 1890? (37-38)
• What did Eugenicists advocate? (39)
• What were the Emergency Quota Act of 1921, the Johnson-Reed Act of 1924 based on? (42-43)
• What were other countries doing? (44)