Immigration Problem in Progressive Era - Essay Example

The United States had a problem in terms of dealing with the immigrants that were flowing into America from Eastern Europe and Italy from 1880 to 1910. With another 20 million people coming in the government and American population saw the problem as one relating to economics and assimilation. The progressives in the government implemented a restriction quota that went into effect after World War I. The immigration problem was dealt with using 3 models of assimilation. The Anglo-Saxon Conformity or Supremacy dictated that immigrant culture and tradition had nothing to add to the American culture and therefore had no place in American society. The popular and enduring Melting Pot method dictated that all cultures and traditions would be absorbed into the American culture to create a uniquely American culture. The last method was Cultural Pluralism which allowed the immigrant to keep their cultures and traditions. Allowing the immigrants to do so created the Hyphenated American (e.g. Italian-American).

The progressive movement believers of today do not view the immigration problem in the same way that the early progressive Americans did. Rather than seeing them as an economic problem and a cultural threat, they are now seen as active participants in the evolutionary growth of American culture and traditions. They are people who have something positive to contribute to the economy and society and therefore, must be embraced and given every chance to exercise equal opportunities as those natural-born Americans.