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 Rainer Maria Rilke's The Book of Hours by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Writing the Revolution by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Constant Lambert by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book The Spy Who Came In From the Co-op by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book On the Principles and Practice of Conducting by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book A Companion to Julian of Norwich by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Peter Dickinson: Words and Music by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Heritage and Peacebuilding by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Metamorphoses of the Vampire in Literature and Film by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book The Lawn Road Flats by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Sexual Culture in the Literature of Medieval Britain by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Cameralism in Practice by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Sport, History, and Heritage by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Nation and Classical Music by Jeanne D. Petit
Cover of the book Race, Decolonization, and Global Citizenship in South Africa 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