Final answer:
Nativists were those who sought to limit immigration to the U.S., favoring white Anglo-Saxon Protestants and opposing new immigrants due to cultural, economic, and security reasons. Their beliefs influenced restrictive immigration policies in the 1920s, such as the Emergency Quota Act and the Immigration Act, which aimed to maintain the country's Northern European ethnic composition.
Step-by-step explanation:
Nativists were Americans who sought to limit immigration and preserve the country for those they deemed native-born, primarily white, Anglo-Saxon, and Protestant. This group often held prejudices against new immigrants from Central and Southern Europe, as well as nonwhites, Jews, and non-Protestants. Their opposition to immigration stemmed from a desire to maintain cultural homogeneity and the belief that new immigrants posed economic, political, and social threats to American society.
Some Americans opposed immigration due to the influence of nativism, particularly in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The motivation for this opposition included perceived threats to job security, fears of political radicalism, and a belief that immigrants would not assimilate into American culture. Organizations such as the American Protective Association and the Immigration Restriction League emerged, advocating for restrictive policies like literacy tests and quotas to limit the number of new immigrants entering the country.
During the 1920s, nativism significantly influenced America's immigration policy, leading to the enactment of the Emergency Quota Act of 1921 and the Immigration Act of 1924, which were based on discriminatory principles and aimed at preserving the ethnic composition of the United States as predominantly Northern European.