Racism has affected nativist attitudes in the past because one of the nativist’s gangs was led by an Irish Catholic. Anti-Catholicism has been a factor in America, but played a role in American politics until the arrival of large numbers of Irish and German Catholics in 1840. The immigration of large numbers of Irish and German Catholics to the United States in the period between 1830 and 1860 made religious differences between Catholics and Protestants.
When the United States began to pass immigration laws at the end of the 19th century, governing the entry and residency conditions of the foreign-born, the laws were overtly racialized and expressed a clear preference for people from Northern and Western Europe.
When the Irish came to America
When the United States began to pass immigration laws at the end of the 19th century, governing the entry and residency conditions of the foreign-born, the laws were overtly racialized and expressed a clear preference for people from Northern and Western Europe.
When the Irish came to America