Debate Over Immigration, The
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson explains that the debate over immigration is really two debates--one focusing on economics and the other on civic belonging. Professor Jacobson adds that what political figures like Pet...
Collision of Capitalism and Democracy, The
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson talks about the contradiction between the growing labor needs of a rapidly expanding capitalistic society and a legal and political system which placed strict limitations on the degree ...
Immigration and Insecurity
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson explains that much of the fear of Third World immigration in the United States stems from insecurity and an increasing sense of scarcity.
1924 Immigration Act, The (Part Two)
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson talks about the way politicians used the 1890 Census in order to justify the stipulations of the 1924 Immigration Act and limit the number of "undesirables" from Russia and Italy.
History and Science
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson says that questions are always rooted in their historical moment. "There are interests in certain kinds of knowledge over other kinds of knowledge...and in posing certain question and n...
Race, Ethnicity and Family: Immigrant Families in the United States
Discrimination based on race or ethnicity is an issue that affects and has affected millions of people who have come to the United States to live. When tension and fear are at their highest, as in post 9/11 America, anti-immigrant sentiment often r...
Racializing of Immigrants, The
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson talks about the racial labels applied to immigrants in the mid to late nineteenth century. Professor Jacobson explains that Irish immigrants, along with Eastern European Jews, Italians ...
Imperial Ambition: Spoils of Spanish-American War Extend beyond Caribbean
Annexation of the Philippines becomes a target of opportunity in the closing days of war. The United States also invades and annexes Puerto Rico, an unincorporated but strategic island territory. There is fierce Senate debate over the Treaty of Pari...
Meeting Ground, The: Anti-Chinese Sentiments
When the Transcontinental Railroad is completed, Chinese laborers settle in cities like San Francisco to work in such industries as shoe- or cigar-making. This causes such deep resentment among white laborers that Chinese workers are relegated to se...
Immigrant Story: Myth or Reality, The
Professor of American studies and history Matthew Frye Jacobson talks about what he calls the myth of the white ethnic revival. Professor Jacobson points out that the G.I. Bill gave huge numbers of second generation white ethnic Americans their firs...