Degree Name
MA (Master of Arts)
Program
History
Date of Award
8-2007
Committee Chair or Co-Chairs
Elwood D. Watson
Committee Members
Emmett M. Essin III, Stephen G Fritz
Abstract
Since its founding, the economic opportunities and quality of life present in the United States of America have drawn millions of people across the oceans to seek out a better existence for themselves. America's Founding Fathers believed that the country needed as large a population as possible to become a strong nation. The capitalistic economy of the new nation caused immigration to become critically important in the expansion of its manufacturing infrastructure. Once the growth of the nation's population began to exceed that of the economy's needs, the federal government attempted to limit further immigration. The government focused on restricting how many people of certain ethnicities could enter the country each year, ignoring the problems facing those immigrants who were already in the United States. Even worse, the policy, through various quota restrictions and fees, encouraged people from Canada and Mexico to enter the country illegally. This paper is intended to analyze the flaws of the major immigration acts passed between 1882 and 1952.
Document Type
Thesis - unrestricted
Recommended Citation
Fouche, Brian David, "The Cracks in the Golden Door: An Analysis of the Immigration Policy of the United States of America, 1882-1952." (2007). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. Paper 2124. https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/2124
Copyright
Copyright by the authors.