cc >> Beth Lemke: Welcome to

the Wisconsin Historical Museum, ladies and gentlemen.

Today we're here to listen to Mike Jacobs look at his

perspectives of immigration, both past and present, and the

propaganda relating to it. So if you could please give me a

warm welcome for Mike Jacobs. [APPLAUSE]

>> Mike Jacobs: So we're going to take a look at the propaganda

through the course of at least 150 years and

see how the nativist faction has tried to support its agenda.

But by emphasizing the similarities of this propaganda,

what I'm hoping to do is to demonstrate that the fears have

neither changed nor diminished. And I'm trying to assure both

sides, whichever side you are on, that our current debate is

neither epic nor final. And that's really my most

important point to you. Demographic changes in British

North America occurred rapidly during the 18th century, and

anti-immigrant sentiment existed even before this country

existed. The principal consideration at

the time, though, was not immigration but the kind of

immigrant, the kind of people that were coming.

Many British North American colonists were concerned about

the importation of convicted criminals, Irish papists and

German separatists. But that's not the focus of

today's presentation so let's start with the United States.

The United States did not have a uniform policy regarding

immigration. Traditionally the federal

government placed neither restrictions nor parameters on

immigration, and federal policies encouraged or

discouraged immigration indirectly through laws that

pertained to citizenship rather than actual travel or entry.

In 1798 the federal government passed the Alien Enemies Act

which were the first national restrictions on immigration.

Rather they were the first national restrictions on

immigrants not immigration. As these laws did not prevent

immigration but threatened immigrants with deportation or

imprisonment if they didn't behave in accordance with the

current administration's wishes. These laws were clearly partisan

and subjective and arbitrary, and thus they were unpopular.

This 1798 cartoon depicts a fight that broke out on the

floor of the United States House of Representatives between

Matthew Lyon, an Irish immigrant, republican

Congressman from Vermont, and Roger Griswold, an American-born

federalist from Connecticut. The democratic republicans

decried this unpopular federalist legislation to rally

support to their party. That's how they attracted

immigrants to them. Such was the earliest

controversy regarding immigration.

That controversy surrounded the kind of immigrant, rather than

immigration itself, comes as little surprise to me studying

this. The United States has almost

always had a dearth in labor. When there hasn't been,

immigration has slowed. If you take a look at this

chart, you will see that the slowest years are during the

Great Depression. We have this idea or we purport

this idea that people come to America for political freedom or

religious freedom, and that is certainly true for a very small

minority. Unless you're going to make the

argument that suddenly in the 1930s places around the world

were offering religious freedom and political freedom, therefore

people weren't coming. If you're familiar with fascist

Spain, fascist Portugal, fascist Germany, fascist Italy, those

arguments aren't that easy to make.

The reality is that the vast majority of the people who've

come to America have come for opportunity, particularly

economic opportunity. And you can see in the 1930s

that did not exist. And speaking of migrations, Beth

had mentioned that we had both moved here from Indiana to

Wisconsin, a migration because I found Wisconsin appealing.

I'd be curious what kind of migrations happened regarding

Wisconsin pertaining to what's going on outside.

As the United States started to supply belligerence engaged in

World War II, the need for labor in America was revitalized.

All were welcome, as depicted in this cartoon from the Detroit

Free Press. In fact, at this time the United

States was desperate for unskilled labor and inaugurated

the Bracero Program with Mexico which brought hundreds of

thousands of Mexicans across the border to work in American

enterprises that needed labor, particularly in agriculture and

railroads. While the Braceros were major

contributors to the American war effort and economy, they did not

always meet with acceptance in this country.

But the immigrants were deemed valuable enough that the Bracero

Program was continued even after the war ended for two decades

and maintained by the American government and the Mexican

government until 1964. If you were to look at illegal

immigration to the United States from Mexico, 1964 is when it

happens, when the program that had allowed for workers to come

here ended. It ended Mexico's incentive to

guard the border. They used to guard the border

not wanting people to move back and forth unless they could tax

them. But that incentive disappeared

with that program. World War II was not the first

time labor influenced American's opinions regarding the

desirability of immigration. This engraving from an 1855 book

by J Wayne Laurens called The Crisis; or The Enemies of

America Unmasked depicts a labor demonstration outside New York

City's city hall demanding relief for the unemployed during

the panic of 1854. This presentation here of

foreign labor demonstrators, mostly Irish and German, was

meant to alarm readers. It's one of the very few

antebellum images of organized labor and tame by the standards

of anti-immigrant propaganda. During the post bellum era,

immigrant laborers were not a threat to capital but to other

laborers. Native labor organized against

cheap immigrant labor that might drive down their wages or

replace them. In both of these pieces

emanating from California, the Chinese are the culprits and the

prescribed solution is clear: physically remove the Chinese by

force or political action. And the story hasn't changed.

Labor is warning Americans of the danger of illegitimate

immigrant labor. But the demonization of

immigrant labor has gone beyond organized labor and become a

grassroots campaign as Americans fear for their economic future.

And corporate America has shouldered the blame.

And corporate executives and upper middle-class Americans

have warned about the presence of such undocumented workers.

But that has not stopped such segments from using and

benefiting from that very labor. The Bush Administration

supported continued practice of moderate immigration enforcement

and was criticized for the apparent motive.

As this cartoon suggests, it is compassionate to assist these

poor immigrants with any work and useful for the American

economy. The competing forces at work are

displayed here on the page of June 8, 2006, edition of

the San Antonio Express. The top article, Texans proposal

would make some deportations easier saying that how they

could get rid of undocumented or undesirable immigrants.

The second article suggests that President Bush believed that

immigrants were useful, but they should conform to the American

macroculture. My favorite is the bottom

article. At the bottom of the page brings

the issue full circle by pointing out that 25% of those

who are cleaning up New Orleans after hurricane Katrina lack

proper papers. As much as people who do not

want them here, as much as the president would like to strip

them of their historic culture, these people are helping America

and Americans. This desire for cheap and

abundant labor has even compromised homeland security

measures according to this piece of propaganda.

Click to enlarge indicates that even this formula is flexible as

needed. Nativist forces were quick to

link America's immigration policy with the 9/11 terrorist

attacks. Even Osama bin Laden is able to

enter the United States in this 2003 Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

cartoon by Stuart Carlson. And nativist forces on the

ground picked up on that notion. And fears can be worn on your

sleeve or jacket or lapel. But in many cases the terrorist

bugaboo is simply a cat's paw for other objectives.

The message here is morphed to suit other tastes.

And they transform the message and images to appeal to older

generations of Americans as well.

Every avenue is explored and exploited.

Neither the ploys nor the fears were new.

Post-World War I cartoons suggested that America's liberal

immigration policies opened doors to those who would destroy

us. The jingoism is particularly

noticeable in this cartoon from the Memphis Commercial Appeal.

Now Memphis has little history as an immigrant city.

In 1920 only 3.6% of its population was foreign-born,

ranking it 47th among America's 50th largest cities.

Yet they still have a concern about what is going to happen.

And the remedy did not change either.

Nativists warned Americans about those determined to destroy us

long before World War I as this 1892 New York publication

demonstrates. And the loyalty question has

surfaced as well. Even if these new immigrants are

bent on America's destruction, they seem to have a dual

loyalty. The clinging to traditions is

more easily understood when one considers the transitory nature

of some migrations. For example, prior to the

immigration act of 1924 as many as 60% of Italians who came to

America returned to Italy within five years.

America would be a temporary place to earn money or to test

to see if they like. Almost a hundred years ago

Woodrow Wilson warned Americans of such people who clung to the

traditions of their birth place. During World War I,

German-American immigrants particularly faced prejudice.

In 1918 Life magazine ran this cartoon with the accompanying

jingle of My Country 'Tis of Thee.

My country over sea, Deutschland is sweet to me, to thee I cling.

For thee my honor died, for thee I spied and lied, so that from

every side culture might ring. But it didn't require the United

States to be at war to inspire such fears as instructed by

Uncle Sam in 1915 to cut off that hyphen.

The term hyphenated American entered the American slang in

the early 1890s referring to immigrants who had not fully or

satisfactorily acculturated. In this 1899 cartoon from Puck,

Uncle Sam inquires "why should I let these freaks cast whole

ballots when they are only half Americans?"

One of the first concerns regarding dual loyalty had

little to do with foreign national powers.

It was the Catholic church that nativists feared.

In this 1853 Currier & Ives lithograph Pope Pius IX lands on

American soil with a cross in one hand and a sword in the

other. One of the Bishops hooks the

boat ashore by a shamrock, suggesting that the Irish are in

complicity in making this happen those who are already in

America. Brother Jonathan who was a

precursor to Uncle Sam is whittling in the back and fails

to act. Therefore, it is up to the youth

of America to challenge this religious invasion.

This 1870 cover of Harper's Weekly sends a similar message

of the Catholic church's sights on America.

Note the skeletal face of the priest on the far right and the

raised weapons in the rear preparing for their strike.

This 1873 cartoon from Harper's Weekly suggests that Catholics

are to subvert American institutions such as schools.

Students at the right are forced to worship at non-Christian

alters and are being indoctrinated in Asian

philosophies and religions. Thomas Nast, the most famous

cartoonist in American history, produced one of the most

infamous anti-immigrant works of the 19th century with his

warning of Catholic invasions. Notice the crocodiles that are

coming to shore are actually Bishops.

The Vatican has taken over the government in the background.

The public school is falling apart.

The American flag is inverted. Catholic-Irish thugs are hauling

away a woman at the top of the cliff, and the gallows are

prepared in the upper right-hand corner.

And into the 20th century the fear had not subsided.

A deadly Catholic Bishop replaces the Statue of Liberty

because Americans are not sufficiently on guard.

But there was an antidote realized in the 1920s.

The Klan would be America's savior from foreign menaces.

It's a good thing that religious bigotry and superstition has

gone by the wayside and no longer enters into the

immigration debate. In the early part of the 19th

century, Catholic and Irish were used interchangeably in many

parts of America. Not only was their religion in

question, but their economic situation was feared to be a

burden for America. And this concern about

immigrants has not changed as this bumper sticker suggests.

This 1852 plate considers the physiognomy of the Irish,

likening them to dogs. This type of pseudoscience

encouraged people to treat immigrants as less than human.

This 1882 cartoon from Puck depicts the Irish as subhuman.

Uncle Sam reprimands him "look here you everybody else is quiet

and peaceable and you're all the time a kicking up a row."

The editorial that accompanied the cartoon asserted "the raw

Irish in America is a nuisance. His son is a curse.

They never assimilate. The second generation simply

shows an intensification of all the bad qualities of the first.

They are a burden and a misery to this country."

Such characterizations led to the popularization and general

acceptance of no Irish need apply or NINA as some newspaper

ads proclaimed. Or as Puck suggested in this

1889 cartoon, the Irish simply are not mixable.

Chinese immigrants would face even greater discrimination than

the Irish. Columbia here guards the weary

Chinese immigrant in this 1874 engraving from Harper's Weekly.

She warns the Irish pursuers that America "means fair play

for all men." Notice the barbaric faces on

the Irish and all the anti-Chinese propaganda on the

wall behind. Secretary of State James G

Blaine protects the African American and says no to the

apparently high-cultured Chinese.

Less than two years later, Harper's Weekly changed its

editorial policy towards Chinese immigration.

This propaganda on the wall depicts whites pushing American

Indians west and Chinese pushing Americans east.

The American Indian observes "pale face 'fraid you crowd him

out as he did me." You can see this up here.

Go west and go east. And the Chinese immigration

issue could prevent the freefall of the democratic tiger on the

left or pull both parties down as Thomas Nast suggests on the

right. Frank Leslie's illustrated

newspaper warned the working man of the coming of the destructive

Chinese labor in 1877. This montage of cartoons by

Joseph Keppler called the Chinese invasion from an 1880

issue of Judge warned that the Chinese would push others from

the workforce and the center they are clinging to the life

preservers offered by Columbia. The WASP magazine, from

California, warned that the immigrant Chinese sought

monopolies in certain trades, especially laundries, cigar

making, dry goods and manufacturing.

Chinese came to dominate the laundry trade in a number of

cities, and they became a target because of the competition.

In this trade card, Columbia points to the wall no more

Chinese cheap labor. Business owners tried to depict

themselves as patriotic by finding ways of replacing the

Chinese. In this trade card, Uncle Sam is

kicking the Chinese back to the sea, replacing them with the

George D Company's magic washer. To the satisfaction of so many

Americans depicted here, Columbia is escorting the

immigrant Chinese from the school.

Note the ironing board and opium pipe carried in his hands.

Indeed, Chinese immigration proved a rallying point for a

disparate group of Americans. Emanating from the new Statue of

Liberty is filth, immorality, and ruin to white labor.

The WASP hope to stop the threats on both shores: Chinese

from the Pacific and communists from the Atlantic.

When the fear of Chinese immigration was halted by

restricted immigration policies directed at that country, a new

threat from Asia emerged. The tide of turbans failed to

materialize, as the nativists claimed it would, but the

propaganda machine was prepared. And during World War II Japanese

immigrants or natives were targets of American jingoism.

Immigrant Asians are no longer singled out as a threat to

American wages and taxes but Americans are still warned about

migrant labor. And migrant labor, or labor

wasn't the only concern of the nativist, but they have to use

it to advantage. In this turn of the century

drawing from Judge magazine, the caption warns "our peaceful

world districts as they are liable to be infest if this

Russian exodus of the persecuted Hebrews continues much longer."

This 1896 cartoon published in The Ram's Horn indicates the

assortment of undesirable baggage brought by immigrants

including Sabbath desecration, anarchy, poverty, superstition,

and disease. This 1883 F Grats cartoon warns

of health hazards, specifically cholera, entering the country

through immigration. This more recent cartoon

suggests American immigration policy is more strict on

potentially contaminated beef than humans with serious

communicable diseases. But Chinese, Irish, Catholics

and communicable diseases are not at the forefront of the

current immigration debate. It is clear where nativists

believe the problem originates.

And what the end result could mean.

And they will employ scare tactics to achieve their

objective. And nativists have criticized

the policies of the most recent past president.

Some have their own martial remedies.

They try to instill fear in the American public that the new

immigrants from south of the border will overwhelm existing

peoples and political systems. One theory widely held by

Americans that has assuaged fears of immigrants unique

habits, traditions, qualities, and beliefs is that the

differences will disappear in the great American melting pot.

But the melting pot idea, as historian Leonard Dinnerstein

has noted, is a more recent ideal than a historical

expectation. He writes one must not ignore

the prevalent American view that existed for centuries.

America should remain a white protestant nation and all others

must either assimilate or be relegated to a permanent

inferior status. That is not to say the melting

pot is not the end result. Whatever the ingredients, a

standardized formula emerges, according to this cartoon.

Dinnerstein adds most second and third generation Americans of

foreign ancestry are not anxious to remain ethnic as they are to

blend into the dominate society. Consider first generation

letters back to the old country. Did second and third generations

follow suit and maintain the traditions?

Do any such letters to the old country exist for fourth

generations? Fourth generations are more

likely to have anonymous overseas pen pals than to write

their families back overseas. But historically, even this

recipe, as a path for immigrant, acceptance has come under fire.

Some groups simply were not assimilable.

The remedy? Close the chute.

Perhaps it had gone too far while Uncle Sam had his back

turned, as this 1921 Gale cartoon, Spoiling the Broth,

insinuates. Pouring too many immigrants into

the mix has been a detriment to the country, according to the

Saturday Evening Post in 1930. So this bumper sticker is

nothing new. In fact it's less pungent than

the propaganda of earlier generations.

But some still hold out hope, as this 2006 editorial cartoon

suggests. For good or for not, I'm not

altogether certain that there's not a melting pot of some sort

as three generations of recent immigrants from Afghanistan

demonstrate the Macarena. [LAUGHTER]

One thing that has changed over the course of the last century

regarding American's attitudes towards immigrants is that

many want immigrants to speak English.

Ethnic ghettos and villages were so common and insulated in the

19th century that speaking English might not be deemed

necessary or even desirable for some.

Notice the ironic land of the free flag in the background.

That changed in the 20th century.

And not only did many Americans want new arrivals to speak

English, they wanted them literate.

In this 1914 cartoon from Puck called The Undesirables, Abraham

Lincoln, the martyred president pleads, "I stand among you, good

people, my father could never have passed."

And standardization became a rallying cry in the land of the

free. Americans are ordered to speak

American in this poster issued by the American government

during World War II. Using non-English languages,

especially German, Italian and Japanese, was considered

disloyal. And efforts to serve and/or

accommodate non-English speaking immigrants has been ridiculed

recently. And opposition to a polyglot

nation has become vitriolic. And fears have been codified.

Insulated Iowa with just 3.1% foreign-born population in

the census of 2000 passed a law that made English its official

language. While once concerned that

immigrants would the not adapt to America, would not appreciate

American institutions such as suffrage, many nativists fear

the opposite, that immigrants will participate in the

political process. Some outspoken people such as

Pat Buchanan have tried to use this issue to rise to national

providence, if not national office.

Disgruntled nativists accused the last president of pandering

to this potential constituency. To them, Bush has compromised

America's sovereignty for his own political future.

Or to achieve another unrelated political agenda.

However upset those forces are with the former President Bush,

their propaganda leaves little doubt with which party they

believe they have the best chance of achieving their goals.

In this 2006 flyer, nativists propose that by voting

democratic you are cooperating with the wishes of the Mexican

people. There's little doubt immigration

will be a highly contested issue in our future major election

cycles. And it's not the first time such

battles were waged. California senator and famed

opponent of Japanese immigration James Phelan's campaign poster

promised to stop the silent invasion.

Riffraff immigrants might subvert the political process,

damage our ideas, institutions, as Uncle Sam fears here.

And this concern predates the 20th and 21st century.

"What weight can my vote have against this flood of ignorance,

stupidity and fraud," the American citizen asks in this

1896 cartoon from The Ram's Horn.

In this election day fiasco, liquor-drinking Irish and German

immigrants run off with the ballot box to determine the

election's victor. Finally, in this cartoon dubbed

the naturalization mill, judges and party hacks grind immigrants

into democratic votes. Whether or not they will be

participating in politics, the sheer volume of immigration is a

concern to nativists.

But 80 years ago, the Ku Klux Klan warned America of the same

phenomenon in its pamphlet on immigration.

And the Klan was carrying on a strong tradition of the nativist

concern about the volume as well as the character of immigration.

In this 1891 cartoon from Judge, senator Henry Cabot Lodge

lectures Uncle Sam, "If immigration was properly

restricted you would no longer be troubled with anarchy,

socialism, the mafia and such kindred evils."

The caption on the sign in the background reads "Entry for

immigrants, baggage the only requisite."

Captions on immigrants include "Polish vagabond, Italian

brigand, English convict, Russian anarchist,

Irish pauper." In this 1893 Life magazine

lithograph contains the caption "An interesting question:

how long will it be before the rats own the garden

and the man gets out?" Uncle Sam has nodded off

permitting the vermin to take command of the American garden.

This F Beard cartoon is called Columbia's Unwelcomed Guest.

As immigrants emerge from the sewers of other countries, if

you see in the background. In this early piece of

propaganda, the pied piper leads the rats across the ocean to

America. Notice the Statue of Liberty in

the background and the rats swimming toward it.

Today's propaganda remains with the patriotic theme by employing

images of Uncle Sam. More tangible efforts are

suggested as well. Not that all concerns are

groundless, but certainly some of the alarmists lack rational

arguments. For example, note this sign in

Tennessee, a state that ranks 33rd in the percentage of

immigrants, approximately two-thirds below the national

average. The volume of current

immigration, some nativists suggest, will overwhelm the

United States. So great that the new immigrants

will not assimilate but will hoist their culture upon the

existing one, wrecking the traditions known to most

Americans. The American will become a

novelty, as with this 1922 James Montgomery Flagg cartoon

portrays the last American in captivity.

Flagg copied the idea from the Last Yankee, first published in

Frank Leslie's illustrated newspaper in 1888 but reprinted

frequently over the next 30 years.

Uncle Sam is literally devoured by Irish and Chinese immigrants

in this early depiction. This is the first cartoon of a

three-part series. Let's see how it ends.

America has drawn so many immigrants because it is the

land of opportunity, a land of bounty.

In this 1880 Joseph Keppler cartoon called Welcome to All,

Uncle Sam welcomes immigrants of all nationalities and a sign

lauds America's features: political freedom and economic

opportunity. A Judeo-Christian theme is

utilized in this Puck cartoon in which Uncle Sam plays Moses

leading immigrants from oppression and intolerance to a

new day that is America. Today immigrants choose America

for the same reasons: opportunities.

But nativists today are less liberal and not prepared to

share the opportunities of this great country.

Now comparatively, United States is not alone among English

speaking nations in limiting access to resources as well as a

means to discourage immigration as this 1899 cartoon from

New South Wales, Australia, indicates.

"A white colony" and "mineral wealth" are guarded against

"black labor" and "minority rule."

And in England, God save the King.

And even more recently in nearby Canada.

And there is little difference in the warning.

And America should heed a warning too.

English speaking countries haven't been the only ones in

the world who discourage particular people from living

among them. And America's immigrant policy

has had foreign policy ramifications.

The Japanese considered exclusion of their nationals as

an insult to their national honor.

This 1915 cartoon suggests that America's doors are open to just

about any kind of immigrant except the Japanese.

The link to Pearl Harbor is not as direct as the treatment of

Irish-Catholic immigrants in the America army in the 1840s.

Several hundred of them deserted the American army and fought for

Mexico in the Mexican-American War.

The Los San Patricios are officially celebrated in both

Ireland and in Mexico. Nativists designed laws that

discriminated against immigrant Irish and prevented Japanese

immigration. Recent complaints by nativists

argue that the laws in place are not enforced.

Indeed, salutary neglect has been America's policy towards

illegal immigration from Central America.

Bush's plan to legitimize illegal immigration came under

fire from nativists as well. Those most responsible for

securing the borders have been criticized also.

The INS shirked its principal function and has been complicit

in this disregard for the law according to these recent

characterizations.

Legal measures have been taken before trying to curb

immigration in 1921. And again three years later.

In 1924, the Ku Klux Klan tried to take credit for a restrictive

legislation. The Klan is still active in the

nativist movement. Other national right wing

organizations, such as the national socialist movement,

also feed on anti-immigrant sentiment.

Most ultra-conservatives know that the history of those two

groups preclude them from effectiveness or even being part

of the national dialogue. So they created the Minuteman

Project, employing patriotic symbols to rally people to their

cause. Even more bland is US English.

This organization pushes for immigration restriction and

English as the official language of the United States.

Madison Grant, the vice president of the Immigration

Restriction League, was best known for his warnings in the

passing of the great race and the introduction to fellow

restrictionist Lathrop Stoddard's The Rising Tide of

Color Against World White Supremacy.

And before the Immigration Restriction League there was the

Order of United Americans. And the short-lived political

party the American party. Its precursor, the Native

American party, commonly known as the no nothings or the don't

knows. Two aspects of the immigration

debate have degenerated. For one the message was formally

less vehement. And the isolationists were on

the fringe of American society. But in the 21st century,

nativism has obtained mainstream status, including young, old,

and middle-class. And the message has lost all

polish. The message has become

malicious. Venomous.

The irony of American's immigration policies have not

been lost on previous generations.

Hendrik van Loon asks in this 1924 cartoon, what if the

original Americans opposed immigration?

Even the debate on terrorism has been put into perspective.

"Give me your tired, poor, your huddled masses yearning

to breathe free, the wretched refuse of the teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me, I lift my

lamp beside the golden door!" Do the nativists, the

defenders of America's traditions, want to revise

America's traditional promise?

They wouldn't be the first, as this 1921 Lute Pease cartoon

indicates. Even to implement the nativist

popular solution to halt immigration seems rather ironic.

On both sides of the border.

And it is not without historic precedent.

In this 19th century work, the immediate descendants of

immigrants are doing the work of building the wall.

Recent immigrants have been more vocal than in the past.

Demanding a measure of equality. I see it's just about 1:00,

so I will open it up for questions.

[APPLAUSE]