Matthew Jacobson, Yale University
“Immigration and Conceptions of ‘Fit’ Citizenship, 1790-1924″
The Graduate Center, CUNY
April 14, 2008
In this talk to New York City schoolteachers, historian Matthew Jacobson challenges conventional notions about America’s immigrant past. In Part 1 of his talk, Jacobson discusses immigration from Europe to the United States within the larger context of global migration set off by the rise of industrial capitalism. In Part 2, Jacobson examines the cultural and political responses of native-born Americans to new immigrants, and the long-lasting effects of the 1790 Naturalization Act. In Part 3, Jacobson discusses the strategies used by immigrants to survive in new surroundings while also preserving their ethnic identities.
