Part 1

AMERICANS ALL—IMMIGRANTS ALL

Twenty-six dramatic radio broadcasts, spotlighting the contributions of various cultural groups to the economic, social, and political development of the United States, presented by the United States Department of the Interior, Office of Education, and the Columbia Broadcasting System with the cooperation of the Service Bureau for Intercultural Education, and assisted by the Works Progress Administration.

HAROLD L. ICKES _Secretary of the Department of the Interior_

WILLIAM DOW BOUTWELL _Director, Radio Division, Office of Education_

JOHN W. STUDEBAKER _Commissioner of Education_

RACHEL DAVIS-DUBOIS _Director, Service Bureau for Intercultural Education_

THE STAFF

_Program Executive_: PHILIP H. COHEN, Office of Education.

_Writing_: GILBERT SELDES, _Director Television_, Columbia Broadcasting System.

_Research_: PHILIP L. GREEN, Office of Education; RACHEL DAVIS-DUBOIS, Service Bureau for Intercultural Education; RUTH E. DAVIS, Office of Education.

_Production_: EARLE MCGILL and WILLIAM ROBSON, Casting Directors, Columbia Broadcasting System; MITCHELL GRAYSON, Office of Education.

_Music_: LEON GOLDMAN, Conductor, Columbia Broadcasting System; RUDOLF SCHRAMM, Office of Education; H. CHARLES PANTLEY, Office of Education.

_Administrative_: RICHARD P. HERGET, Business Manager. WM. A. WHEELER, JR., Assistant.

THE PROGRAMS AND THEIR PURPOSE

The “Americans All—Immigrants All” programs are designed to promote a more appreciative understanding of our growing American culture through the dramatization of the contributions made by the many groups which are a part of it. What brought people to this country from the four corners of the earth? What gifts did they bear? What were their problems? What problems remain unsolved? This series dramatically presents the story of “Americans All—Immigrants All.”

=1. Opening Frontiers.=—New trails are blazed, frontiers are pushed westward, and foundations of our great democracy are laid by newcomers from across the seas.

ADAMS, JAMES TRUSLOW. _The March of Democracy; the Rise of the Union_, Vol. I. Charles Scribner’s Sons, N. Y. 1932.

MORGAN, JAMES. _The Birth of the American People._ Macmillan Company, N. Y. 1930.

=2. Our English Heritage.=—Rich experiences in self-government and basic liberties are introduced by the English in colonizing the northern Atlantic seaboard.

BROOKS, VAN WYCK. _The Flowering of New England._ E. P. Dutton Co., N. Y. 1936.

WILLIAMS, ELLIS A., and FISHER, F. J. _The Story of English Life._ Coward-McCann, N. Y. 1936.

=3. Our Hispanic Heritage.=—The Spaniards build missions and bring Andalusian cattle and horses into the Southwest.

OTERO, N. _Old Spain in Our Southwest._ Harcourt, Brace and Company, N. Y. 1936.

SANTEE, ROSS. _The Cowboy._ Farrar and Rinehart, N. Y. 1928.

=4. Scots, Scotch-Irish, and Welsh.=—Sturdy Scotch-Irish and Scots, vanguard of march to the West, settle along frontiers. The Welsh, lovers of song, discover coal and develop our mines.

FORD, H. J. _Scotch-Irish in America._ Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J. 1915.

HARRIES, F. J. _Welshmen in the United States._ St. David’s Society, N. Y. 1927.

JAMES, BESSIE ROWLAND, and MARQUIS, JAMES. _Courageous Heart._ Bobbs-Merrill, Indianapolis, Ind. 1934.

=5. Winning Freedom.=—Through cooperation and willingness to sacrifice both wealth and life, colonists win independence and preserve priceless principles and ideals.

BEARD, C. A. and M. R. _The Rise of American Civilization._ Macmillan Company, N. Y. 1937.

EATON, JEANETTE. _Leader by Destiny._ Harcourt, Brace and Company, N. Y. 1938.

=6. The Negro.=—From early colonial days, the Negro, who composes one-tenth of our population, plays large part in our economic and artistic life.

BRAWLEY, BENJAMIN. _The Negro Genius._ Dodd, Mead, and Co., N. Y. 1936.

BROWN, J. C. _The Story of the American Negro._ Friendship Press, N. Y. 1930.

WOODSON, CARTER G. _The Negro in Our History._ Associated Publishers, Washington. 1937.

=7. The French and Netherlanders.=—French fur traders and missionaries pioneer the Mississippi Valley; Netherlanders settle on Manhattan Island; French-Canadians work in lumber camps and mills of New England; diamond cutters come from Belgium; and French-speaking Swiss build up our cheese industry.

COFFIN, ROBERT P. T. _Kennebec: Cradle of Americans._ Farrar and Rinehart, N. Y. 1936.

REPPLIER, AGNES. _Pere Marquette, Priest, Pioneer, Adventurer._ Doubleday, Doran, and Co., N. Y. 1929.

WERTENBAKER, CHARLES. _Before They Were Men._ Liveright Publishing Co., N. Y. 1931.

=8. Upsurge of Democracy.=—Frontiersmen and newcomers unite to bring about decline of aristocracy. Eastern wage earners march in the ranks of the new democracy.

JAMES, MARQUIS. _Life of Andrew Jackson._ Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis, Ind. 1938.

ROOSEVELT, THEODORE. _The Winning of the West._ G. P. Putnam’s Sons, N. Y. 1895.

=9. The Irish.=—Sons of old Ireland develop canals, railroads, and factories, enter the ranks of public service, and bring song, humor, and literature of a high order.

DUNNE, FINLEY PETER (ELMER ELLIS, ed,). _Mr. Dooley at His Best._ Charles Scribner’s Sons, N. Y. 1938.

O’BRIEN, MICHAEL J. _The Irish in the United States._ Phoenix Ltd., Washington, D. C. 1914.

(_Continued on page 15_)

COLUMBIA BROADCASTING SYSTEM November 13-May 7

Every Sunday Afternoon, 2:00 E.S.T.; 1:00 C.T.; 12:00 M.T.; 11:00 P.T.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

In the Fall of 1935, President Roosevelt made the first allotment of funds to the Office of Education for educational broadcasting. In discussing the idea, he emphasized the need for programs that would make more significant the human struggle to achieve our freedom as safeguarded by our Constitution; the values of inter-American understanding and friendship; and the processes of building a finer and more enduring American culture by developing a greater appreciation of the rich heritages that have come to us through the many races and nationalities which make up our population.

Hence, the first series, “Let Freedom Ring,” traced the evolution of human freedom and presented the contributions which old-world settlers had made to our conception of civil liberty. Then came “Brave New World,” portraying the Latin-American contributions to democracy and to the general culture of the Americas. In April, 1938, the President in addressing the Daughters of the American Revolution unknowingly gave the title to the series “Americans All—Immigrants All” when he said, “Remember that all of us are descended from immigrants.”

(_Continued on page 16_)

What Brought Us to the United States?

_Have you ever played with a magnet and a bunch of iron filings? Wasn’t it amazing to see the bits of iron leap across space to reach and cling to the magnet? This story is about a magnet much larger and more powerful than you have ever imagined—one 3,000 miles long and 1,500 miles wide. A different kind of magnet, too, one that attracted not iron filings, but human beings, real live people. A magnet that attracted every type and variety of human being alive! White people, black people, yellow people; Catholics, Protestants, Huguenots, Quakers, Baptists, Methodists, Unitarians, Jews; Spaniards, Danes, Chinese, Japanese, Dutch, Bohemians, Italians, Austrians, Slavs, Poles, Roumanians, Russians—and I’ve only just begun; farmers, miners, adventurers, soldiers, sailors, rich men, poor men, beggar men, thieves, shoemakers, tailors, actors, musicians, ministers, engineers, writers, singers, ditch-diggers, manufacturers, butchers, bakers, and candlestick makers. That magnet was AMERICA.—From “We the People”—by_ LEO HUBERMAN.

Ever since the dawn of history, man has been on the move, restlessly seeking new environments in an effort to satisfy his physical and other needs. In the main, his wanderings have been local in character, highlighted by occasional mass migrations which have had a marked effect upon the history of the world. Among such mass migrations may be cited the migration of the Israelites from Palestine to Egypt, of the Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire, of the Saxons and Danes to England, of the Moors from the north of Africa to Spain, and of the Mongols and the Tartars from the Orient to Central Asia.

Great as these migrations were and important as their effect was on the course of history, they did not compare with the stream of humanity that began to flow to this country early in the seventeenth century—a stream that assumed flood proportions toward the close of the nineteenth century.

Not only did the movement of peoples to our shores differ in magnitude from other migrations, it also differed in character. Whereas earlier mass migrations had consisted of the movements of tribes and distinct racial groups, the migration to the New World consisted of men of all races, nations, and creeds—a pageant of all the nations.

_Great Historic Freedoms_

What motives impelled these people to uproot themselves from their homelands and to transplant themselves to a country where it was necessary to adjust themselves to a new environment and culture pattern? Many came for the love of adventure, answering the challenge of the unknown. Some were mercenary soldiers seeking new exploits. Others came because they were friendless down-and-outers and “ne’er-do-wells,” seeking a chance to begin life anew. There were still others, like the Negroes, who although the majority did not come of their own free will, nevertheless contributed toil and labor to the making of America.

Commercial enterprise and the hope of economic gain have, of course, been important factors in the peopling of our country. So also has the search for freedom. In fact, the cherished moral ideals and objectives of the immigrants laid the foundations of our democratic ideals. These great historic freedoms include:

1. _Religious liberty_—freedom of conscience.

2. _Personal and political liberty_—freedom from political tyranny and oppression.

3. _Economic liberty_—freedom to use brain, brawn, and initiative to earn the best living possible.

4. _Intellectual liberty_—freedom of opinion, speech, assembly, and press.

5. _Cultural liberty_—freedom to establish institutions and to practice certain traditions and customs.

The _search for human freedom_ can be advanced, with historical warrant, as the basic reason for the presence in this country of about 130,000,000 people. Without question, this is the common denominator of our democracy.

_Religious Liberty_

The vanguard of those seeking refuge from religious persecution arrived on the Mayflower and settled in Plymouth, Massachusetts. John Winthrop founded the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a refuge for Puritans. Maryland, later on, became the haven for persecuted Catholics. Rhode Island was founded by Roger Williams and his group of independent, religious free thinkers. Here, the Quakers found a ready welcome and the Jews, driven out of Europe, were allowed to build their synagogues. Toward the end of the seventeenth century, William Penn and his Quaker followers settled in Pennsylvania and cultivated the most friendly relationships with Indians, colonists, and new settlers alike.

To Manhattan Island and South Carolina came the French Huguenots, a group of French Protestants, whose guarantee of religious liberty had been revoked by the Edict of Nantes. During the nineteenth century, one of the early acts of the Mormons after settling in Utah was to contribute money toward building a Catholic church.

_Personal and Political Liberty_

To escape political tyranny and oppression, thousands of people left their homes and crossed the Atlantic. Following their unsuccessful rebellion against the English, the Irish came in large numbers. So did the Germans when the Revolution of 1848 failed. Likewise, the Jews left Russia toward the close of the nineteenth century in order to escape intolerable conditions.

Among the great champions of personal liberty has been Thomas Paine, who turned the tide of victory during the Revolutionary War when he declared, “This is the cause for which we are ready to suffer and to die—Freedom for ourselves and the rest of the world.” Another outstanding champion of personal liberty was Carl Schurz, one of the German forty-eighters, who supported men of principles and worthy causes regardless of political affiliations.

_Economic Liberty_

Coupled with other motives, the newcomer has almost always been imbued with the hope of making a livelihood or of making profits for himself or for his employers. The first permanent settlement was established at Jamestown by the London Company to profit from gold mining and trade. New Hampshire was founded by Georges and Mason for the purpose of profit from trade and farming. The Carolinas were founded by a group of nobles for the same purpose. It was a similar motive which led the Swedes to settle on the Delaware, the Netherlanders to settle on Manhattan, the English to conquer New Amsterdam, and Berkeley and Carteret to settle New Jersey.

It was the hope of gain which brought the French to Louisiana and the Spaniards to Florida, New Mexico, and California. Likewise, at the close of the nineteenth century, it was the high wages and high standards of living which attracted the tide of people who poured in from south and eastern Europe.

_Intellectual Liberty_

The fight of man to establish freedom of opinion, freedom of speech, and freedom of assembly is as old as man himself. For the last two hundred years, his fight for the freedom of the press has been equally important. Peter Zenger, who founded the _New York Weekly Journal_ in 1733, registered a great triumph for the freedom of the press when he won his fight against Governor Cosby of New York. Men of strong principles and ideas have always clashed with those who would mold them to a definite pattern and so enslave their minds. In this country, the thoughts and ideas of all men may be expressed freely and analyzed by everybody.

_Cultural Liberty_

The United States has been greatly enriched as the result of cultural liberty. Here, the immigrant has often found the opportunity to practice and pass on to others those customs and traditions which have been handed down to him by his ancestors. The Christmas tree, Easter bunny, and New Year festivities are German in origin. Many of the festivals in California and the rodeo are Spanish in origin. Singing societies, folk dancing, games, cookery, and home life have been enriched by customs introduced from other lands.

Immigration has indeed proved to be a “wind that blows democratic ideas through the world.”

When We Came to the United States

1536 Spaniards begin to settle in California and in the Southwest.

1565 Spaniards establish St. Augustine, oldest city in the United States.

1607 English establish Jamestown, the oldest English settlement in North America.

1619 Negroes are first brought in as slaves.

1620 English Pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock.

1624 Walloons, from Netherlands, settle Fort Orange, now Albany, New York.

1626 Netherlanders establish New Amsterdam on Manhattan Island.

1628 Persecuted Protestants establish the Massachusetts Bay Colony.

1634 Lord Baltimore and a group of English Catholics arrive in Maryland.

1636 Roger Williams and his followers establish Rhode Island.

1636 Connecticut is founded by Thomas Hooker and his religious group.

1638 Swedes and Finns settle along the Delaware River.

1639 John Mason and his followers come to New Hampshire.

1654 Twenty-three Portuguese Jews land at New Amsterdam from Brazil.

1662 Huguenots settle in Massachusetts on the present site of Oxford.

1663 English nobles, with grant from Charles II, establish North Carolina.

1664 English capture New Amsterdam and rename it New York.

1664 Berkeley, Carteret, and others establish New Jersey.

1670 English make first permanent settlement in South Carolina.

1670 French fur traders and missionaries come to the Mississippi Valley.

1679 French Huguenots settle in South Carolina.

1681 The Quakers, led by William Penn, settle Pennsylvania.

1682 The first Germans come to Pennsylvania.

1690 About 200 Scotch-Irish settle in Maryland.

1693 English help to settle 600 German-Swiss in North Carolina.

1699 The Acadians come to Louisiana and reach as far as Biloxi in present-day Mississippi.

1700 The Scotch-Irish settle along the frontiers.

1710 First German Protestants arrive in New York.

1719 Acadians establish New Orleans, Louisiana.

1720 Between 1720 and 1750, 60,000 Germans come to Pennsylvania.

1732 Oglethorpe founds Georgia.

1733 German Lutherans, Italian Protestants from Piedmont, Scots, Swiss, Portuguese Jews, and English arrive in Georgia.

1737 Irish laborers come to South Carolina.

1749 About 600 Scots settle near Fayetteville, North Carolina.

1750 Over 4,300 Germans and 1,000 English and Irish arrive in Pennsylvania.

1790 Between 1790 and 1820, around 234,000 newcomers arrive.

1807 Slave trade is forbidden.

1817 20,000 people come from Europe.

1819 First United States Passenger Act, marking beginning of systematic immigration statistics.

1842 Annual immigration first reaches 100,000.

1847 Annual immigration passes 200,000.

1845 Large German influx begins as a result of political unrest.

1847 Irish begin to come in large numbers because of famine and political oppression.

1851 Annual immigration passes 300,000.

1853 About 13,000 Chinese laborers arrive to work in the California gold mines.

1855 Castle Garden, New York, established as principal immigrant station.

1860 Slavs and southern Europeans begin to arrive.

1870 More than 15,000 Chinese arrive to work on the railroads.

1880 Because of militarism and overpopulation in Germany, Germans again begin to arrive in large numbers.

1880 Between 1880 and 1900, large numbers of Scandinavians arrive because introduction of machinery takes place of men on Scandinavian farms.

1881 For next 15 years, an average of nearly 500,000 arrive each year.

1882 Idiots, lunatics, and persons likely to become public charges excluded.

1890 For next 30 years, Italians, Austrians, Hungarians, and Slavs pour into United States to supply demand for unskilled labor.

1890 Ellis Island replaces Castle Garden as chief immigrant station.

1891 More than 1,000 Japanese arrive.

1891 The office of Superintendent of Immigration is established in the Treasury Department.

1900 More than 12,000 Japanese arrive.

1900 Between 1900 and 1914, more than 3,000,000 Italians and about 6,000,000 people from Slavic countries enter.

1905 Annual immigration first exceeds 1,000,000.

1907 Immigration reaches all-time peak of 1,285,349.

1907 Immigration Commission is set up.

1917 During World War and afterwards thousands of Mexicans cross the border.

1919 Flow of immigrants from Europe again gets under way.

1921 Temporary Quota Law, restricting immigration.

1924 Permanent Quota Law, restricting immigration to 150,000 annually.

1938 Annual immigration drops to about 70,000.

The Development of Our Immigration Policy

“_Those who have come to our shores, representing many kindreds and tongues, have been welded by common opportunity into a united patriotism._”—FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT.

Long before the Revolutionary War, the colonies enacted restrictive immigration laws. Many of these laws were based on religious prejudices, which, although somewhat softened in intensity, still existed when the new nation was born. Fear and consequent hatred of foreigners and foreign influence were widely prevalent in the early years of the Republic.

John Adams, Alexander Hamilton, Patrick Henry, John Jay, and other prominent statesmen opposed the introduction of aliens into the political or economic life of the country. Thomas Jefferson believed that natural expansion of the existing population would be sufficient to meet the country’s needs. Even George Washington, in 1794, said:

My opinion with respect to emigration, is that except of useful mechanics and some particular descriptions of men or professions, there is no need of encouragement.

The prevailing spirit found expression in stringent naturalization laws which, however, were soon modified.

_The Open Door_

While the Federal Government was not unmindful of its inherent right to determine who might or might not come or remain within its borders, yet for a hundred years after the Revolutionary War ended, the country’s doors were open to all who chose to enter regardless of race, of physical, mental, or economic condition, of religious or political affiliation, or even of moral character.

An era of comparative tranquillity prevailed toward immigration until the 1840’s when a great flood of immigrants focused hostility against the Germans and Irish, a feeling which continued until the outbreak of the Civil War. A strong movement developed in Congress in favor of regulating or even limiting immigration. But nothing came of it. In a message to Congress in 1841, President Tyler gave expression to a sentiment that grew stronger with the passing of the years. He said:

We hold out to the people of other countries an invitation to come and settle among us as members of our rapidly growing family, and for the blessings we offer them we require of them to look upon our country as their country and unite with us in the great task of preserving our institutions and thereby perpetuating our liberties.

The open-door policy continued, for Congress was reluctant to abandon the time-honored belief that the United States had been dedicated at the beginning as a refuge for the oppressed people of all nations. Such legislation as was enacted during this period, including three laws for the improvement of conditions on immigrant-carrying ships, indicated the sympathetic attitude of Congress toward the incoming multitudes.

Congress again favored the foreign-born by providing that aliens who had declared an intention to become citizens might enjoy the benefits of the Homestead Act of 1862. This privilege was later on destined to accelerate the settlement of public lands in the West.

Because man power in industry and agriculture had been depleted during the War Between the States, a Federal law to stimulate immigration was enacted in 1864, but it was soon repealed when peace was restored.

_Federal Control_

In the absence of federal action, several seaboard States attempted immigration control but, after many years of effort, the Supreme Court held that Congress alone had such power. Congress assumed this power in 1882 when it reluctantly passed the first general immigration law which provided only that idiots, lunatics, persons likely to become a public charge, and criminals other than political offenders should be denied admission. This law marked the beginning of a policy of _quality selection_ which dominated all subsequent legislation.

In 1882, because of Western opposition, Chinese laborers were excluded—a policy subsequently extended to include practically all Orientals. In 1884, a law forbidding the importation of foreign labor under contract was passed but necessary skilled laborers and members of learned professions were exempted. Thus was Washington’s opinion unwittingly honored.