What was the nature and extent of the nativism of the 1920s?

Nativism is the concept that the needs/wants of people born in a respective country should be a priority when compared to immigrants coming into a country. This sentiment was seen throughout American society during the 1920's. One of the reasons why nativism increased during this time was because of the large number of immigrants coming to America through Ellis and Angel Island. During the early 1920's, millions of people from all over the world came to America in hopes of a better life.

With this rapid increase in the immigrant population, American citizens began to worry that these immigrants would take their jobs away. Considering that many immigrants would be willing to work for lower wages caused a sense of fear in America. This fear resulted in several different events, such as excluding certain groups of people from applying for jobs. Sometimes businesses would put out signs like "No Irish need apply", showing that they were against hiring Irish immigrant workers.

This sense of fear was also seen in the period known as the first Red Scare. During the early 1920's this fear of immigrants and their different political views caused the American government to spy/arrest individuals who they saw as possible trying to overthrow the American government. A perfect example of this would be the Palmer Raids, in which the US attorney general had 6,000 individuals who were suspected anarchists/communists arrested on New Year's Day of 1920. Despite the incredible number of arrests, only 3 guns were found and no evidence indicated that these individuals were planning a massive government overthrow.