Reading and Writing Workshop
Unit 4: Immigration Restriction and Exclusion
Session 1: Quota Systems and Racialized Immigration Policy
Objective: Examine the racial biases in U.S. immigration policies, focusing on the National Origins Act and related quota systems.
Reading:
Session 2: Immigration and Eugenics
Objective: Analyze how eugenic ideologies influenced immigration policy during the early 20th century.
Reading:
Session 3: Anti-Immigrant Violence – Ludlow Massacre
Objective: Explore anti-immigrant labor violence, focusing on immigrant laborers and the Ludlow Massacre.
Reading:
Session 4: Anti-Mexican Lynching and Violence
Objective: Investigate violence against Mexican and Mexican-American communities, focusing on lynchings and state-sponsored terror.
Reading:
Session 5: Case Study – The Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Objective: Analyze the intersection of anti-immigrant bias and justice in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial.
Reading:
Session 6: Case Study – Mexican Repatriation (1930s)
Objective: Understand the forced repatriation of Mexican and Mexican-American communities during the Great Depression.
Reading:
Wrap-Up Session: Connecting Themes
Objective: Synthesize themes of racialized exclusion, violence, and policy.
Activity:
Session 1: Quota Systems and Racialized Immigration Policy
Objective: Examine the racial biases in U.S. immigration policies, focusing on the National Origins Act and related quota systems.
Reading:
- Excerpt from "Documents of American History" by Henry Steele Commager (National Origins Act of 1924)
- How did quota systems reflect racial and ethnic hierarchies of the time? Write a reflection comparing the National Origins Act to modern immigration debates.
Session 2: Immigration and Eugenics
Objective: Analyze how eugenic ideologies influenced immigration policy during the early 20th century.
Reading:
- Excerpt from "The Passing of the Great Race" by Madison Grant (1916), foundational text for eugenic ideas.
- How did eugenic thinking shape public perception and policy toward immigrants? Write a short essay connecting Grant’s arguments to immigration laws of the 1920s.
Session 3: Anti-Immigrant Violence – Ludlow Massacre
Objective: Explore anti-immigrant labor violence, focusing on immigrant laborers and the Ludlow Massacre.
Reading:
- "The Ludlow Massacre" Congressional Testimony excerpt from Report on the Colorado Coal Strike (U.S. Commission on Industrial Relations, 1915)
- Describe the role of immigrant laborers in the coal strikes. How did anti-immigrant sentiment fuel violent labor suppression?
Session 4: Anti-Mexican Lynching and Violence
Objective: Investigate violence against Mexican and Mexican-American communities, focusing on lynchings and state-sponsored terror.
Reading:
- Excerpt from “Report of the Texas Rangers” (1919) on anti-Mexican violence (included in congressional hearings)
- How did racialized violence reinforce exclusionary immigration practices? Write a historical journal entry from the perspective of a Mexican migrant in early 20th-century Texas.
Session 5: Case Study – The Sacco and Vanzetti Case
Objective: Analyze the intersection of anti-immigrant bias and justice in the Sacco and Vanzetti trial.
Reading:
- The Letters of Sacco and Vanzetti (1928) – Selected letters from the accused.
- How did anti-immigrant and anti-radical sentiment impact Sacco and Vanzetti’s trial and sentencing? Write a letter to the editor arguing for or against their innocence.
Session 6: Case Study – Mexican Repatriation (1930s)
Objective: Understand the forced repatriation of Mexican and Mexican-American communities during the Great Depression.
Reading:
- Excerpt from "Mexicans in the United States" by Manuel Gamio (1930)
- What economic and racial factors led to Mexican repatriation? Write a personal narrative from the point of view of someone forced to leave during the repatriation period.
Wrap-Up Session: Connecting Themes
Objective: Synthesize themes of racialized exclusion, violence, and policy.
Activity:
- Group discussion connecting all sessions.
- Final Writing Assignment: Compose an argumentative essay on how racial and scientific ideologies shaped U.S. immigration restriction in the early 20th century.