Americans had rarely accepted outsiders as equals, and that was the case with immigrants coming to the U.S in the 1840s to the 1920s. A time in America where immigrants were not considered inferior to native white Americans did not exist. The hatred of anything non-American, especially with the coming of World War I in 1914, would only cause more Americans to despise immigrants. Part of this was rooted simply in racism, which existed towards groups other than African Americans, but much of it was simply that Americans considered themselves the chosen people while everyone else was below them. Thus, despite immigrants being accepted into America, those immigrants were still treated far worse than white citizens between the 1840s and 1920s, for the prejudice against them was obvious even in the laws created. During the 1840s-1850s Americans saw a huge increase in the number of immigrants arriving in America, and this only lead to white American citizens fearing them during that period. There was fear for many reasons, the main reason being Americans feared that immigrants would steal their jobs. Namely these jobs were in New York city and other large coastal …show more content…
This action consisted of whites promoting nativist ideas towards those of other ethnicities and trying to prove their inferiority. Some white Americans even tried to organize political parties such as the Know Nothing Party to staunchly resist certain immigrants being admitted into the U.S. Not only was it individuals promoting such ideas, but the Federal government helped ban immigration from certain countries and or limit it. This in contrast with what immigrants experienced in the 1920s was almost nothing as in the 1920s the KKK is reborn and the number of lynching’s increases. However, the violence expressed toward immigrants in America was not even considered wrong at either point in