Americanization (immigration)

Americanization efforts during this time period went beyond education and English learning, into active and sometimes coercive suppression of "foreign" cultural elements.

The movement has been criticized as xenophobic and prejudiced against Southern Europeans, though anti-German sentiment also became widespread during World War I, as the United States and German Empire were part of opposing military alliances.

Up until 1885, immigrants were overwhelmingly Northwestern European (90% in that year) which brought a similar culture to that already existing in the U.S. maintaining stability within their bubble of natives and newcomers.

At the same time, a new positive outlook of a pluralist society began to progress,[clarification needed][6] as seen in the discussion around Israel Zangwill's 1909 play The Melting Pot.

The committee was so effective that it turned into a powerful organization, dealing with many aspects of American society, such as governmental departments, schools, courts, churches, women's clubs, institutions, and groups as units of co-operation.

[3] During the period of mass immigration, the main target group of Americanization projects included Jews and Catholics and from southern and southeastern Europe.

Churches, unions, and charities attempted to Americanize the new immigrants both formally through structured programs and informally at work through the environment created by management.

Americanization also suggests a broader process that includes the everyday struggle of immigrants to understand their new environment and how they invent ways to cope with it.

[4] "During the late nineteenth Century, skilled Germans, British, Irish and native-born male workers built strong craft unions and settle into comfortable communities.

Among the religious groups carrying on systematic programs of work among immigrants were most of the larger Protestant denominations, the National Catholic War Council, the Y.M.C.A., the Y.W.C.A., the Knights of Columbus, and the Y.M.H.A.

Extensive campaigns were also conducted by old stock patriotic organizations such as the National Security League, the Sons and Daughters of the American Revolution, and the Colonial Dames of America.

[10] In the aftermath the target populations learned English and adopted American life styles in speech, clothing and recreation.

Historian Vincent Cannato adds: "From sports and food to movies and music, they haven’t just contributed to the culture, they have helped redefine it.

Of special concern was the issue of their political loyalty, whether to the United States or to their mother country, and the long-term tension regarding assimilation into American society.

[15] Frederic C. Howe, Commissioner at Ellis Island, asked mayors nationwide to make July 4, 1915, Americanization night in their communities.

Instead of resisting Americanization they welcomed it, often signing up for English classes and using their savings to buy homes and bring over other family members.

"[18] After World War I, the emphasis on Americanization programs was gradually shifted from emergency propaganda to a long-time educational program, when a study of conditions in the draft army made by the United States Surgeon General's office showed that 18% to 42% of the men in army camps were unable to read a newspaper or to write a letter home, and that in the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Western United States, these illiterates were almost entirely foreign born.

[19] The French-speaking Cajuns of southern Louisiana were not immigrants—they arrived before the American Revolution in an isolated area that allowed little contact with other groups.

[20]: 20  Wartime military service broke the crust of traditionalism for younger men, while automobiles and the highway system allowed easy movement to Anglo cities.

[21] Leonard Dinnerstein and David M. Reimers showed that immigrants who arrived during the 19th century in large numbers from western and northern Europe had mostly been assimilated.

This form of Americanization was a process carried out partially through force and coercion, that occurred in settlement houses, night school classes, and corporate programs, where these working-class immigrants were pressed to learn WASP values.

"[23] Historian James Barrett states, "Inside the labor movement, the Catholic Church, and the political organizations of many working-class communities, the Irish occupied vital positions as Americanizers of later groups.

"[24] By the late nineteenth century, racism was genuinely rooted in the world views of many workers and was passed on to newcomer immigrants, expediting the process of class unity.

The NCJW's Americanization program included assisting immigrants with housing, health, and employment problems, leading them to organizations where women could begin to socialize, and conducting English classes while helping them maintain a strong Jewish identity.

The council, pluralistic rather than conformist, continued its Americanization efforts and fought against restrictive immigration laws after World War I.

[28] By the 1920s the Little Italies had stabilized and grew richer, as workers gained skills and entrepreneurs opened restaurants, groceries, construction firms and other small businesses.

With this act, teachers were allowed to enter the homes of Mexicans in California and teach the women how to be American and to pass on values to their children.

Young girls were starting to be taught in schools about different American values and customs through activities such as sewing, budgeting, and motherhood.

Through organizations that supported Americanization being created before World War II, there came a larger divide between Mexican immigrants and Mexican-Americans.

[38][39][40] Chicano/a was widely reclaimed in the 1960s and 1970s to express political empowerment, ethnic solidarity, and pride in being of Indigenous descent, diverging from Mexican American identity.