This article is one of many that spoke strongly against the growing number immigrants from what were seen as “less desirable” countries, such as those in Southern or Eastern Europe. The author favors a literacy test that would bar many people from those countries from entering the United States as “a large share are absolutely illiterate.” It was believed that illiterate immigrants were poorer and would never assimilate and this author goes further, stating that all immigrants from these regions (literate or not) are “a pretty indigestible lump,” that could never assimilate. The bill referred to in this article passed Congress but was vetoed, as had been a similar 1896 bill. In 1917, Congress passed a literacy test bill over the veto of President Woodrow Wilson and ones passed in 1924, and again in 1926, drastically restricted all immigration into the U.S.
Greenfield Gazette and Courier. “The Need of an Immigration Test.” January 5, 1901. Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, American Centuries. https://americancenturies.org/collection/l02-153/. Accessed on October 16, 2024.
Please note: Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.