Eugenics and the Immigration Debate
Arguments that immigrants caused cultural or moral contamination were old; arguments that they caused racial contamination were new, a product of the eugenics movement. By the early 20th century, widespread acceptance of eugenics germ theory had led to concern that certain immigrants were a menace to public health. Eugenicists argued that different races and ethnicities of people were morally and genetically superior to others and pushed for immigration restriction legislation that favored the supposedly superior over the supposedly inferior.
Madison Grant, a leading eugenics supporter, made one of the most influential cases for immigration restriction based on race in his infamous book, The Passing of the Great Race.
Watch this excerpt from American Experience: The Eugenics Crusade. Then answer the question that follows.
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Question
Why did Grant argue that immigrants had to be severely restricted in order to preserve the "Nordics"?
