B. "There is no one thing which does so much to bring about a reduction of wages and to injure the American wage earner as the unlimited introduction of cheap foreign labor through unrestricted immigration. . . . The number of skilled mechanics and of the persons trained to some occupation or pursuit has fallen off, while the number of those without occupation or training, that is, who are totally unskilled, has risen in our recent immigration to enormous proportions. This low, unskilled labor is the most deadly enemy of the American wage earner, and does more than anything else toward lowering his wages and forcing down his standard of living. . ."

C. "The most influential group to support continued open immigration during most of this period was American business. . .Except in the South, immigrants formed the largest segment of the labor force for this unprecedented expansion. Immigration guaranteed an ample and inexpensive supply of unskilled and semi-skilled labor, and . . .was clearly an asset rather than a liability to the economy, supporting the expansion of established industries such as steel and mining, and creating new ones such as readymade clothing. Despite periodic unemployment, the era as a whole was characterized, as was the early 19th century, by a labor shortage, not a labor surplus. Native-born labor moved up, not out, as immigrants moved into the heavy, dirty, and unskilled jobs that their predecessors no longer wanted."

Take Notes

You must be signed in to save work in this lesson. Log in