Industrialists abandoned nativism once immigrant labor seemed docile

Evidence

Especially among industrialists, many of whom had joined in the cry of alarm, the easing of class tensions produced a deep reaction. Now that the immigrant seemed docile again, his bosses recalled his economic value. In purely business terms, a rampant anti-radical nativism could cut off industry’s best source of manpower. A number of business leaders began actively defending the foreign-born from the charge of radicalism. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 1389

Categorization

• XREF: Demonstrates how quickly a manufactured enemy can decay when the material incentive (cheap labor) reappears — strong evidence against primordialism for the reader’s thesis. — connects to: The removal of economic threat deflated nativism regardless of rising immigration — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 618; Nativism was driven by internal anxieties, not by the immigrants themselves — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 397; Nativism can collapse even as the immigrant influx it fears soars — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 644 (+2 more)
• SEED: Possible angle: ‘The price of panic’ — showing how nativist crusades historically collapse when business rediscovers that immigrants are cheap labor, i.e. the alleged threat is pegged to labor markets.

Broader Connections

• The removal of economic threat deflated nativism regardless of rising immigration #corroborates (0.85) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 618
• Nativism can collapse even as the immigrant influx it fears soars #expands (0.78) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 644
• Nativism was driven by internal anxieties, not by the immigrants themselves #expands (0.75) — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 397