The Panic of 1873 and the anti-immigrant response

A devastating economic depression rolls through Europe and the U.S., starting with the Panic of 1873 and lasting until 1879. The economic climate fuels discrimination against immigrants, who many Americans see as strains on the U.S. job market. At the same time, millions of immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe pour into the U.S. looking for better economic prospects. A year later, the Tompkins Square Riot breaks out in New York City. Police brutally break up a peaceful demonstration of 7,000 workers (many of them immigrants) who are calling for the mayor to ease the strain of the depression. Two years later, the first restrictive federal immigration statute, the Page Act of 1875, prohibits immigration of undesirable populations. The Page Act prohibits forced contracted labor from an “Oriental” person and the immigration of prostitutes and convicts from any country of origin.