Late 19th and early 20th century legislation

Definition

This term refers to the laws passed in the late 1800s and early 1900s that were aimed at restricting immigration based on nationality or race. These laws imposed strict quotas, literacy tests, and other requirements to limit the number of immigrants entering the United States.

Related terms

Chinese Exclusion Act: This term refers to a law passed in 1882 that prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States.

Emergency Quota Act of 1921: This term refers to a law that established numerical limits on immigration based on nationality for the first time in U.S. history.

Immigration Act of 1924 (Johnson-Reed Act): This term refers to a law that further tightened restrictions on immigration by establishing national origins quotas, favoring Northern Europeans while severely limiting immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe.