The Men and Women We Want

Gender, Race, and the Progressive Era Literacy Test Debate

Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Cultural Studies, Emigration & Immigration, History, Americas, United States
Cover of the book The Men and Women We Want by Jeanne D. Petit, Boydell & Brewer
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Jeanne D. Petit ISBN: 9781580468114
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer Publication: October 1, 2010
Imprint: University of Rochester Press Language: English
Author: Jeanne D. Petit
ISBN: 9781580468114
Publisher: Boydell & Brewer
Publication: October 1, 2010
Imprint: University of Rochester Press
Language: English

Should immigrants have to pass a literacy test in order to enter the United States? Progressive-Era Americans debated this question for more than twenty years, and by the time the literacy test became law in 1917, the debate had transformed the way Americans understood immigration, and created the logic that shaped immigration restriction policies throughout the twentieth century. Jeanne Petit argues that the literacy test debate was about much more than reading ability or the virtues of education. It also tapped into broader concerns about the relationship between gender, sexuality, race, and American national identity. The congressmen, reformers, journalists, and pundits who supported the literacy test hoped to stem the tide of southern and eastern European immigration. To make their case, these restrictionists portrayed illiterate immigrant men as dissipated, dependent paupers, immigrant women as brood mares who bore too many children, and both as a eugenic threat to the nation's racial stock. Opponents of the literacy test argued that the new immigrants were muscular, virile workers and nurturing, virtuous mothers who would strengthen the race and nation. Moreover, the debaters did not simply battle about what social reformer Grace Abbott called "the sort of men and women we want." They also defined as normative the men and women they were -- unquestionably white, unquestionably American, and unquestionably fit to shape the nation's future. Jeanne D. Petit is Associate Professor of History at Hope College.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Should immigrants have to pass a literacy test in order to enter the United States? Progressive-Era Americans debated this question for more than twenty years, and by the time the literacy test became law in 1917, the debate had transformed the way Americans understood immigration, and created the logic that shaped immigration restriction policies throughout the twentieth century. Jeanne Petit argues that the literacy test debate was about much more than reading ability or the virtues of education. It also tapped into broader concerns about the relationship between gender, sexuality, race, and American national identity. The congressmen, reformers, journalists, and pundits who supported the literacy test hoped to stem the tide of southern and eastern European immigration. To make their case, these restrictionists portrayed illiterate immigrant men as dissipated, dependent paupers, immigrant women as brood mares who bore too many children, and both as a eugenic threat to the nation's racial stock. Opponents of the literacy test argued that the new immigrants were muscular, virile workers and nurturing, virtuous mothers who would strengthen the race and nation. Moreover, the debaters did not simply battle about what social reformer Grace Abbott called "the sort of men and women we want." They also defined as normative the men and women they were -- unquestionably white, unquestionably American, and unquestionably fit to shape the nation's future. Jeanne D. Petit is Associate Professor of History at Hope College.

More books from Boydell & Brewer

Cover of the book Ludwik Hirszfeld by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Technological Change in Modern Surgery by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book A Companion to Jorge Luis Borges by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Late Medieval Castles by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book The Franciscans in the Middle Ages by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book The Vivaldi Compendium by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book The Fante and the Transatlantic Slave Trade by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Practical Vocal Acoustics by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Lies and Epiphanies by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book London's News Press and the Thirty Years War by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Landlords and Tenants in Britain, 1440-1660 by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Balfour's World by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Music in the West Country by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Afro-Cuban Diasporas in the Atlantic World by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Public Participation in Archaeology by Jeanne D. Petit
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy