USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -Perceived threat and competition. The drivers of prejudice toward immigrants most studied in the literature are perceived threat and competition (e.g., McKay et al.

Detailed explanation-2: -"Old” immigrants came from Northern and Western Europe, while “new“ immigrants came from Southern and Eastern Europe.

Detailed explanation-3: -Viewing society as a hierarchy of races, nativists relied on flawed scientific ideas that saw new immigrants as inferior and unassimilable. Organizations like the Immigration Restriction League, founded in Boston by three prominent Harvard alumni in 1894, used such ideas to promote restrictive legislation.

Detailed explanation-4: -Thus nativism has become a general term for opposition to immigration based on fears that immigrants will “distort or spoil” existing cultural values. In situations where immigrants greatly outnumber the original inhabitants, nativist movements seek to prevent cultural change.