Book contents
- A Nation of Immigrants
- A Nation of Immigrants
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 “Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-men, Libertines”
- 3 “A City upon the Hill”
- 4 “The Seed of a Nation”
- 5 Immigration and the Formation of the Republic
- 6 Building a Nation
- 7 The Golden Door
- 8 The Triumph of Restrictionism
- 9 Turning Inward
- 10 “A Nation of Immigrants”
- 11 A Nation of Refuge
- 12 The Pennsylvania Model at Risk
- 13 Executive Action and Immigration
- 14 Looking Ahead
- References
- Index
5 - Immigration and the Formation of the Republic
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 05 March 2021
- A Nation of Immigrants
- A Nation of Immigrants
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Acknowledgments
- 1 Introduction
- 2 “Gentlemen, Tradesmen, Serving-men, Libertines”
- 3 “A City upon the Hill”
- 4 “The Seed of a Nation”
- 5 Immigration and the Formation of the Republic
- 6 Building a Nation
- 7 The Golden Door
- 8 The Triumph of Restrictionism
- 9 Turning Inward
- 10 “A Nation of Immigrants”
- 11 A Nation of Refuge
- 12 The Pennsylvania Model at Risk
- 13 Executive Action and Immigration
- 14 Looking Ahead
- References
- Index
Summary
Ambivalence about immigration was a major theme in the new republic. Although the Declaration of Independence faults King George III for curtailing immigration into the colonies, the founding fathers were not totally sanguine about the potential effects of immigration on the new nation. For example, Jefferson questioned whether immigrants would attach themselves to the democratic principles and constitutional base of the American form of government. He asked if the government might not be “more homogeneous, more peaceful, more durable” without large-scale immigration (Jefferson 1832:90).
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- Information
- A Nation of Immigrants , pp. 65 - 89Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2021