Know Nothing, Kkk Or Modern Opponent Of Muslim Immigration?

1. "Knowledgeable Americans have come to understand that our welcoming immigration policies are easily exploited by terrorists and that porous borders and lax immigration enforcement are no longer an option."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This is from a 2007 Center for Immigration Studies report.

Explanation

This is from a 2007 Center for Immigration Studies report.

2. "The terrorists are foreigners, most or all of whom should not have been allowed to live in our country... It should be repeated over and over again: The terrorism threat is from illegal aliens who are allowed to live in our midst -- and this is a failure of our immigration laws and our immigration officials... The policy of opening our borders to anyone who wants to sneak into our country illegally -- or to remain illegally after entering legally -- must be exposed and terminated. This is the most important security precaution our government must take."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This quote is from conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly in an October 2001 column.

Explanation

This quote is from conservative icon Phyllis Schlafly in an October 2001 column.

3. "The American people now realize that we have in all quarters of this country too many folks from all across the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans who have not become amalgamated with our people. Under this measure, who is coming? You are going to welcome professors to come, and they may come in here with all their anti-American spirit, with the ideals of bolshevism, and all other dangerous isms, and demoralize the communities wherever they may go into.... I am for the United States and for the American citizenship in heart, mind, and soul, to control this government. I believe in America for Americans; first, last, and all the time."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era anti-immigration (1920s)

Modern opponent of Muslim immigration (2000s)

This was from Congressman Percy Quin (D-Miss.), in support of the Johnson-Reed Immigration law of 1924.

Explanation

This was from Congressman Percy Quin (D-Miss.), in support of the Johnson-Reed Immigration law of 1924.

4. "If we can't turn them back, I think if we pop a couple of them off and leave their corpses laying at the border maybe they'll see we're serious about stopping immigration."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

Robert Jones, Imperial Wizard of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, stated this to Al Jazeera in 2014.

Explanation

Robert Jones, Imperial Wizard of the Loyal White Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, stated this to Al Jazeera in 2014.

5. "* A pure American Common School system.* War to the hilt, on political [deleted].* Opposition to the formation of Military Companies, composed of Foreigners.* The advocacy of a sound, healthy and safe Nationality.* Hostility to all [deleted] influences, when brought to bear against the Republic.* American Constitutions & American sentiments.* More stringent & effective Emigration Laws."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This is the American Party (Know Nothing) Platform of 1856.

Explanation

This is the American Party (Know Nothing) Platform of 1856.

6. The Alien Flood That Perils America's FutureThe [deleted] Bill, to restrict immigration and save this country from millions of undesirables who would leave their homes across the seas to become economic parasites sowing seeds of dissension in this country, has passed the House of Representatives. It has gone to the Senate, and is in committee. Th opponents of this measure frankly hope to 'amend it to death,' if they are unable to delay its passage sufficiently to permit the entrance into America of those whom they would befriend."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

The preceding passage is from Henry Ford's Dearborn Independent in 1921.

Explanation

The preceding passage is from Henry Ford's Dearborn Independent in 1921.

7. "I contend that the mass of foreigners who come to this country are incapable of appreciating the policies of our Government; they do not sufficiently understand our institutions.... Their oppressions at home have cultivated and nourished treasonable inclinations, and they come here too often to indulge them. The foreigner believes America is the natural rendezvous for all the exiled patriots, and disaffected and turbulent persons of the earth, and that here they are to meet to form plans and concoct schemes to revolutionize all creation 'and the rest of mankind.'"

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This is a speech by Rep. William Russell Smith, an American Party (Know Nothing) member of Congress from Alabama on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 15, 1855.

Explanation

This is a speech by Rep. William Russell Smith, an American Party (Know Nothing) member of Congress from Alabama on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 15, 1855.

8. "The bomb outrage in New York emphasizes the extent to which the alien scum from the cesspools and sewers of the Old World has polluted the clear spring of American democracy."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This quote is from the Washington Post in the days after the September 1920 bombing on Wall Street by presumed anarchists.

Explanation

This quote is from the Washington Post in the days after the September 1920 bombing on Wall Street by presumed anarchists.

9. "The immigration question is not one of numbers but of nature; of quality but instead of quantity. Here is room enough for all of the right kind; here is no room whatever for one of the wrong kind. So long as pioneer spirits cam to this country to help build it up, there was no immigration problem. But as soon as the parasites and malcontents began to swarm here, the problem arose at once."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This passage comes from Henry Ford's column in his Dearborn Independent, April 30, 1921.

Explanation

This passage comes from Henry Ford's column in his Dearborn Independent, April 30, 1921.

10. "[Religious group] has already acquired immense power in America. Their system is never to relinquish an inch of soil.... When they build an edifice, its foundation is laid deep in American soil, and its spires rise high into the heavens. They are already in the millions! The enemy is formidable."

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This is a quote against the Catholic Church by Rep. William Russell Smith of Alabama, an American Party (Know Nothing) member who delivered these words on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 15, 1855.

Explanation

This is a quote against the Catholic Church by Rep. William Russell Smith of Alabama, an American Party (Know Nothing) member who delivered these words on the floor of the House of Representatives on January 15, 1855.

11. "Instead of wanting to bring into this country snakes with poisonous fangs, that can be thrust into the body politic to send their poison from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean, we should Americanize all of the people who are here now. We should not continue to let this foreign immigration come into this Republic. We have already too much unrest in this land, too much dissatisfaction with the government.... I mean the man who is really American in his heart and holds the flag of this Republic above all other flags of all other nations – does not want to bring into this country this horde that has been overrunning this land. You have in the cities of this Republic vast crowds now who can not speak the English language, and when the fate of the country is hanging in the balance on which side will they stand? Are they with us or are they against us?"

Know Nothing (1850s)

KKK-era (1920s)

Modern Opponent of Muslim Immigration (2000s)

This was from Congressman Percy Quin (D-Miss.), in support of the Johnson-Reed Immigration law of 1924.

Explanation

This was from Congressman Percy Quin (D-Miss.), in support of the Johnson-Reed Immigration law of 1924.