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Dillingham Commission for kids: What was the Dillingham Commission?
The Dillingham Commission
(1907-1911) was established as part of the
Immigration Act of 1907 to
create a committee with the power to investigate and report on the
effects of the increased levels of immigration to the United States.
Reason
for the Dillingham Commission: Nativism
The
reason for the Dillingham Commission was due to the rise in
Nativism in America, a
belief that the interests of established US residents should be
given a favored status compared to new immigrants. The
rise in belief in Nativism was due to the massive increase in
immigration (between 1901 - 1910, a total of 8,795,386 immigrants
were to arrive in the US). Nativism was also fueled by city riots
(immigrants were blamed) and the fear of anarchy due to the
1901 President
McKinley Assassination. The assassination of the
president had a profound effect on Americans who became increasingly
concerned about the spread of Marxism (a form of communism) that had
started in Russia and encompassed an economic and political
philosophy that advocated revolution and anarchy (hence the 1901
Anarchist Exclusion Act).
Dillingham Commission for kids: Who were the members of the Dillingham
Commission?
The Dillingham Commission
was a joint committee made up of politically motivated members of
the House of Representatives and Senate together with three
unelected representatives with specific knowledge on the subject of
immigration. The committee was known as the Dillingham Commission
after its chairman, William P. Dillingham, the Republican Senator of
Vermont. The unelected members were William R. Wheeler, California
Commissioner of Immigration, Charles P. Neill from the Department of
Labor and Jeremiah W. Jenks from Cornell University. Hundreds of
research experts on immigration and industry, reporting to members
of the Dillingham Commission, also contributed to the Immigration
report.
The
Dillingham Commission Report for kids: What did the Dillingham Commission do?
The Dillingham Commission
produced a 41 volume report on Immigration with its effects on
important industries including mining, steel, iron, textiles, meat
processing, leather, glass and tobacco. The Dillingham Commission
Report and incorporated thousands of pages of exhaustive research
that provided statistical information and analyses of subjects
related to: ● Immigrant occupations
● Living conditions of
immigrants
● Immigrant education
Facts on immigration
legislation at state and federal level together with details of
social and cultural organizations were also detailed in the
Dillingham Commission Report. The highly influential anthropologist
Franz Boas (1858 – 1942), who has been called the "Father of
American Anthropology", was also an important contributed to the
Dillingham Commission Report.
Dillingham Commission for kids: A Dictionary of Races of People
Jeremiah Whipple Jenks (1856–1929) was an American educator and
economist. He worked with his key assistant, anthropologist Daniel
Folkmar to discover ‘whether there may not be certain races that are
inferior to other races... to show whether some may be better fitted
for American citizenship than others.’ Jenks and Folkmar produced 'A
Dictionary of Races of People' as one of the key contributing
Reports of the Immigration Commission (Volume 5) which classified
immigrants in racial terms.
The
Dillingham Commission Report: "Old immigrants" and "New immigrants"
The Dillingham Commission
Report made distinctions were made between "old immigrants" and the
more recent "new immigrants". The report favored "old immigrants"
who had come from North and West of Europe and opposed "new'
immigrants" who came from the east and south of Europe and other
parts of the world. For additional facts refer to the differences
between
Old and New
Immigration.
The
Dillingham Commission Report Conclusions
The Dillingham Commission
Report was summarized in Volume 1 by William P. Dillingham. He was
obviously one of the politically motivated members of the committee
and selected specific areas of the report to highlight the need for
immigration restriction. Using the content of the report
William P. Dillingham was able to provide a scientific argument to
recommend Immigration restriction to the United States. The
Dillingham Commission report was completed in 1911 and concluded
that immigration from southern and eastern Europe had resulted in a
massive influx of inferior, uneducated and unskilled workers who
failed to integrate with Americans, thus posing a serious threat to
American society and culture and the number of such migrants should
therefore be greatly reduced.
Dillingham Commission for kids: Immigration Restriction Recommendations
The Dillingham Commission
recommendations were that new immigration legislation should “look
especially to the economic well-being of our people” and that:
● That American industry
should not be advanced by employing unskilled labor to the
detriment of wage levels and conditions of employment of
Americans
● Immigration from China,
Japan and Korea should continue to be restricted
● The further further
immigration restrictions should be placed on unskilled
immigrants
● That a literacy test
should be introduced
● The deportation of
immigrants who committed crimes and those immigrants who became
'public charges' dependent on the financial support from the
government
Dillingham Commission Report Conclusions:
The Dillingham Flaw
The content of the Dillingham Commission Report
established a false, artificial and totally biased view of "old
immigrants" and "new immigrants". The unfair comparisons are
referred to as the 'Dillingham Flaw'. The 'Dillingham Flaw' was due
to the use of simplistic categories for various immigrant groups
that led to an unfair comparison of "old" and "new” immigrants". No
account was taken of the rapid, unplanned Urbanization of America
and the squalid living conditions forced on new immigrants. No
account was taken of the short time spent in America compared to
"old" immigrants, which clearly impacted their education, finances,
environment, occupations, and rate of assimilation.
The
Impact and Effects of the Dillingham Commission Report
The effects of
the Dillingham Commission Report published in 1911 were highly significant and impacted US immigration policy for many
years. The Dillingham Commission Report was published and the
Dictionary of Races of People exerted a massive impact on US
Immigration. No recognition or consideration was made for the
'Dillingham Flaw'. ● In 1913 the Bureaus of
Immigration and Naturalization were created
● In 1914 The Eugenics
Movement emerged influencing US Immigration Policy
● In 1917 another
Immigration Act was passed denying entry to Immigrants from
Eastern Asia and the Pacific Islands
● In 1921 the First Quota
Act was passed into US law limiting the number of immigrants
from specific countries
● In 1924 the Border Patrol was established to
combat illegal immigration.
● In 1924 the Johnson-Reed
Immigration Act reduced immigration quotas
Push and Pull Factors
For visitors interested in the subject of immigration
refer to our website on
Push and Pull Factors
of Immigration which provides details of why people left their
homes in various countries and moved to the United
States.
Dillingham Commission for kids - President Theodore Roosevelt Video
The article on the Dillingham Commission provides detailed facts and a summary of one of the important events during his presidential term in office. The following video will
give you additional important facts and dates about the political events experienced by the 26th American President whose presidency spanned from September 14, 1901 to March 4, 1909.
Dillingham Commission for
Kids
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Facts about the Dillingham Commission for kids and schools
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Summary of the Dillingham Commission in US history
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The Dillingham Commission, a major
event in US history
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The purpose, conclusion, impact of Dillingham
Commission Report
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Fast, fun facts about the Dillingham Commission
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The cause and effect of the
Dillingham Commission
● Facts about the
Dillingham Commission Report for schools,
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