Nativism is a distinct phenomenon, a defensive nationalism of perceived national crisis

Evidence

Yet none of this unfriendliness necessarily signified a rebirth of the nativist spirit. Conceivably the coldness, the repugnance, and the exclusions could have resulted simply from the growth of the new immigrant population. Nativism cut deeper than economic jealousy or social disapproval. It touched the springs of fear and hatred; it breathed a sense of crisis. Above all, it expressed a militantly defensive nationalism: an aroused conviction that an intrusive element menaced the unity, and therefore the integrity and survival, of the nation itself. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 971

Yet none of this unfriendliness necessarily signified a rebirth of the nativist spirit. Conceivably the coldness, the repugnance, and the exclusions could have resulted simply from the growth of the new immigrant population. Nativism cut deeper than economic jealousy or social disapproval. It touched the springs of fear and hatred; it breathed a sense of crisis. Above all, it expressed a militantly defensive nationalism: an aroused conviction that an intrusive element menaced the unity, and therefore the integrity and survival, of the nation itself. The coming of the new immigration had contributed to late nineteenth century xenophobia, and its presence played a more crucial role in the twentieth century, but at both times the intensity of the hostility reflected larger factors in the American situation. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 971

Categorization

• DEFINE: His canonical definition of nativism (militantly defensive nationalism sensing national crisis), distinct from plain anti-foreignism.
• XREF: Speaks directly to reader’s distinction between primordial identity-based hostility and manufactured-enemy solidarity: nativism here is a constructed, crisis-driven nationalism rather than spontaneous ethnic hatred. — connects to: Crises, real or imagined, drive popular support for nationalist and populist leaders — Erin K. Jenne and Promise Frank Ejiofor, Ethnopopulism and genocidal…, 82; Persistent ethnocentric judgments provide the subsoil in which nativism later grows — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 149; Nativism and jingoism are substitutable confidence-restoring strategies that competed for support — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 444 (+9 more)
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 971