The Old World in the New: The Significance of Past and Present Immigration to the American PeopleRoss, Edward Alsworth
History
The Old World in the New: The Significance of Past and Present Immigration to the American People
Ross, Edward Alsworth
Immigrants -- United States; Noncitizens -- United States; United States -- Emigration and immigration
On the other hand, it is likely that our British, Teutonic,
Scandinavian, and Jewish naturalized citizens--still more our
English-Canadian voters--have benefited American politics. In
politics men are swayed by passion, prejudice, or reason. By the
last quarter of the nineteenth century, the average American had
come to be on his guard against passion in politics, but not yet had
he reached the plane of reason. This left him the prey of prejudice.
Men inherited their politics, and bragged of having always "voted
straight." They voted Democratic for Jefferson's sake, or Republican
from love of Lincoln. The citizens followed ruts, while the selfish
interests "followed the ball." Now, the intelligent naturalized
foreigner, having inherited none of our prejudices, would not
respond to ancient cries or war-time issues. He inquired pointedly
what each party proposed to do _now_. The abandonment of "waving the
bloody shirt" and the sudden appearance of the politics of actuality
in the North, in the eighties, came about through the naturalization
of Karl and Ole. The South has few foreign-born voters, and the
South is precisely that part of the country in which the reign of
prejudice in politics has longest delayed the advent of efficient
and progressive government.
In 1910 there were certainly three million naturalized citizens
in the United States. In southern New England and New York they
constitute a quarter of all the white voters. The same is true of
Illinois and the Old Northwest. In Providence, Buffalo, Newark,
St. Paul, and Minneapolis, there are two foreign voters to three
native white voters. In Milwaukee, Detroit, Cleveland, and Boston,
the ratio is about one to two. In Paterson, Chicago, and New York,
the ratio is nearer three to five, and in Fall River it is three to
four. When the foreigners are intelligent and experienced in the
use of the ballot, their civic worth does not suffer by comparison
with that of the natives. Indianapolis and Kansas City, in which the
natives outnumber the naturalized ten to one, do not overshadow in
civic excellence the Twin Cities of Minnesota, with three natives
to two naturalized. Cleveland, in which the naturalized citizens
constitute a third, is politically superior to Cincinnati, in which
they are less than a sixth. Chicago, with thrice the proportion of
naturalized citizens Philadelphia has, was roused and struggling
with the python of corruption while yet the city by the Delaware
slept.
THE NEW IMMIGRATION AND CITIZENSHIP
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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