(na·tiv·ism) NOUN: A sociopolitical policy, especially in the United States in the 19th century, favoring the interests of established inhabitants over those of immigrants.
(philosophy) the philosophical theory that some ideas are innate
A belief common in London's day that the "true" Americans were those of earlier Anglo-Saxon descent, that this "race" was under threat from the growing influx of Central European (Catholic and Jewish) and Asian immigrants.
Nativism is an attitude held by people who want to restrict U.S. residence or citizenship to people they label "native." They often express intense opposition to people they consider "strange" or "foreign." A nativistic attitude results in the desire of some Americans to restrict, exclude, or attack immigrants. Nativism has taken many forms, ranging from harassing behaviors such as verbal epithets against "foreigners" to restrictive legislation and hate crimes such as vandalism of property and even murder.
A term used to describe the sentiment of Americans who considered themselves "native," since their forebears had come to the United States generations earlier. Beginning in the late nineteenth century, millions of immigrants arrived in the United States each decade, and native-born Americans often found their different cultural attitudes difficult to tolerate. Increasing numbers of immigrants arrived from eastern European countries and Asia, whereas earlier waves of immigration had come primarily from northern and western European countries such as England, Ireland, and Germany. Immigration laws passed between 1917 and 1924 significantly restricted how many immigrants could come from each country, and they tended to allow many more immigrants from Germany and Ireland, for example, than from Asian or African nations.
A backlash against immigration by white native-born Protestants. Nativism could be based on racial prejudice (professors and scientists sometimes classified Eastern Europeans as innately inferior), religion (Protestants distrusted Catholics and Jews), politics (immigrants were often associated with radical political philosophies), and economics (labor leaders resented competition).
A policy of favoring native inhabitants as opposed to immigrants.
The view that behavior is innately determined. See also empiricism.
Although opposition to immigration is a feature of all countries with immigration, the term nativism originated in American politics has a specific meaning. Strictly speaking, the term 'nativism' distinguishes between Americans who were born in the United States, and individuals who have immigrated - 'first generation' immigrants. A similar distinction is relevant in Canada, Australia, and New Zealand.