The removal of economic threat deflated nativism regardless of rising immigration

Evidence

But the conferees had gravely miscalculated. The crest of nativism had passed. It started ebbing the moment that William Jennings Bryan lost the election of 1896. In the midst of immense relief at the triumph of McKinley and of the status quo, alert conservatives noted an astonishing fact. Foreign-born voters in half a dozen midwestern states had much to do with the Republican victory. — John Higham, Strangers in the Land, 618

Categorization

• XREF: Key evidence for the reader’s question: when the perceived threat (economic crisis, Bryan) disappears, group solidarity via enemy-manufacture decays even though actual cultural diversity/immigration rises. — connects to: Nativism can collapse even as the immigrant influx it fears soars — John Higham, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of…, 644; Rising U.S. immigration opposition tracked culture, not economic conditions — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 540; Removing anticipatory status threat eliminates the conservative reaction to demographic shift. — Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson, On the Precipice of a…, 86 (+11 more)
• QUESTION: Could test whether the mechanism is specifically threat-removal versus some other variable unique to McKinley-era prosperity.

Broader Connections

• Rising U.S. immigration opposition tracked culture, not economic conditions #corroborates (0.85) — Samuel P. Huntington, The Clash of Civilizations and the…, 540
• Removing anticipatory status threat eliminates the conservative reaction to demographic shift. #corroborates (0.78) — Maureen A. Craig and Jennifer A. Richeson, On the Precipice of a…, 86