History of Asian Immigration to the United States - Americanization
What is Americanization?
Americanization refers to a movement during the 1890s–1920s to rapidly assimilate Asian and European immigrants to the United States by replacing their traditional languages and culture. By the Civil War, a white, Protestant, Anglo-Saxon population was already a dominant group. This group came from the first English colonists and later northern and western Europeans. These people considered themselves "Americans" and distinguished themselves from nonwhites and non-English. These attributes shaped the Americanization impulse in the early 20th century. (1)
During the war, concerns rose regarding what some saw as new immigrants' unwillingness to become U.S. citizens and be Americanized. As a result of new legislation, citizenship classes were organized and public schools handed out educational material to immigrants. (1)
At first, education programs to assist Americanization were voluntary. However, after 1918 these programs reached a peak when anti-immigration sentiment led to increased pressure to require Americanization. The National Americanization Committee supplied advisers, workers, equipment, teaching materials, and some funding to establish citizenship classes in schools and industry. This committee also funded the Immigration Committee of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, which also promoted Americanization of immigrant employees by employers. The fact that Americanization was supported by private funding demonstrates significant collaboration between a government agency and the private sector. (1)
Emphasis on National Unity
During times of conflict, a population tends to minimize a population's diverse ethnic origins and cultural variations to emphasize national unity. In America, there was conflict on the definition of national unity. Did national unity mean shared opinions, loyalty to the government, or immigrants abandoning all obligations to their ccountries of origin? (1)
As there was debate on the definition of national unity, some reformers became frustrated with what they saw as the relative ineffectiveness of Americanization. Some were concerned about the potential threat of radical unassimilated immigrants who were unsympathetic to American principles. These concerns lead to an increased need to require Americanization attempts of registration and education. Americanization increasingly took on a nativist and patriotic stance. (1)
Before 1918, reformers believed the alleged inferiority of southern and eastern Europeans was a result of cultural influences, rather than racial differences. Their successors, however, used racial differences to justify immigrants' inferiority. For these activists, Americanization implied leaving behind ethnic diversity and adopting a homogeneous notion of national identity—wanting everyone to be the same. These activists believed that breaking up ethnic communities was essential to assimilation because assimilation had been considerably slower in areas where ethnic groups were concentrated and isolated. (1)
Because Language was central to the assimilation process, foreign-language newspapers came under suspicion. While some were against non-English newspapers, some believed that the papers could be exploited by the placing pro-American stories in them. (1)
State-Level Legislation
Between 1910 and 1920, legislations in favor of Americanization was passed largely due to anti-immigrant campagins. By 1919, many states had legislation requiring some or all of the following: teaching in English in all schools, teaching American history and civil government, flying the American flag on school houses, and promoting patriotism in schools. (1)
Citation
1. Reavley, Gordon. "Americanization." In American Government,