Although there are many different and complex reasons to why the Immigration Act of 1924 was passed I will focus on the conception of eugenics that was present before this act and also the general ill- sentiment towards immigrants and racism leading up to the passing of this act. The implications of the National Origins Act (Immigration Act) will also be discussed as they pertained particularly to Asians and southeastern Europeans. The major triumph of the advocates of eugenics was the Immigration Act of 1924. Eugenics was a big reason why Asians and these southeastern Europeans weren't wanted or allowed into the country. The reason for this was because of the popular belief, even the belief of popular sociologists at the time, that the Mediterranean Europeans were morally inferior compared to the northern Europeans. The end of World War I was a period when racism was on a rise because of the patriotism and loyalty that native American's felt at the time. At this time immigrants were not popular because of the fact that they were driving out the white labor.

The idea of eugenics was a popular one in the early 1900's, which eventually lead to the Immigration A

These implications of the Immigration Act of 1924 hit Asians the hardest. This act shut off virtually all Asian immigration into the country because of all of the other acts that restricted Asian immigration. It was very obvious that Chinese were not wanted into the country and especially into California. The statement by James G. Blaine sums up the popular opinion of Chinese at the time, "You cannot work a man who must have beef and bread, alongside a man who can live on rice." Another, and possibly the biggest, reason that nativists wanted Chinese to stop migrating to their country was the fact that they were taking the jobs and driving out the white labor. It's almost as if there was a fear that the Asians were going to get a firm hold on the country. The passing of the Immigration Act and all that in entails shows that the nativists were not willing to lose the contest for race supremacy in the United States.

The general attitude of the nativist American people towards immigrants was a racist attitude. I discussed how eugenics dealt with southern and eastern Europeans, but there was another group that was effected by the changes and events leading up to the act. Asian immigration was not looked upon very highly by the nativists. The Immigration Act of 1917 was the beginning of the crack down on Asian immigration into the United States since the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. The provisions of this act were the literacy tests and the designated Asiatic Barred Zone, which blocked off immigration for much of eastern Asia. After World War I the popularity of loyalty and patriotism rose to a new high. Along with burst in loyalty and patriotism came prejudice and racism. As a result, immigrants were looked upon as a threat. A change that the Congress made as a result of this was putting quotas on immigrants depending on where there home land was. The general implications of the National Origins Act will be discussed later. A key court case to look at leading up to the act was the Thind vs. the United

Some common words found in the essay are:
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Approximate Word count = 1370
Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page double spaced)