Chapter TWO
“Okay, Phoebe, you and I will lead this new Pathway to Citizenship. Let’s hope that we can find enough followers. We can be successful in making Citizenship possible for the thousands upon thousands of people that are here, proven they have earned it and require it. The Pathway to Citizenship then will be followed and recommended to others. It shall be led by women who are interested in protecting the Families of the Migrants from Separation and Deportation. It shall also include those women who are Refugees seeking Asylum in the United States. The families will be treated with every respect, not incarceration without prejudice. Respect due their race, creed, color, nation of origin, level of sophistication and education. It has been discussed at length in Congress and supported by Senators and Congressmen as well as the churches and labor unions of this country since Washington’s time. If we can get the women behind this movement, I think it will create sufficient pressure on the Congress to pass the appropriate Legislation.”
Abby and Phoebe agreed on a day three weeks from the time they started the research. They would sit down in the quiet of the library at the Painted Lady and lay out a Plan of Organization.
On the appointed day, Abby sat opposite Phoebe at the table in the library, opened his folder, and said, “I’ll make my suggestions as brief as possible. Phoebe, I’ve learned Immigration is a long and historical subject in America and has been given a great deal of attention, both pro and con. Furthermore, it has been oversimplified by many who would use it to further their own programs.
“Even in Colonial Times there was a serious difference of opinion. In 1782 John J called for just one united people with the Same Ancestors, the same language, and Religion. There are volumes written on the subject of Immigration but in many cases, oversimplified. The oversimplification gave the General Public a feeling of confidence in going forward believing in Nativism. I believe that our program should be a clear Pathway to Citizenship for all those who desire it. But it must also protect the existing Body Politic. I wonder whether or not you have come to the same general conclusions.”
He looked across the table with the question on his face.
Phoebe had been pleasantly surprised that there was so much on the Nativism movement in America. The colonial times confusing it as it wandered about between restrictions or freedom of race, creed, or color. One or the other was never clearly spelled out by many later generations.
The ebb and flow of migrants from Europe in 1879 and the 1880s, from China through 1783 and the other lower European countries were putting a great deal of pressure on the American body politic at that time. Especially the flood from Northern and Southern Europe, it also brought different cultures and language into the Americas to be assimilated. “The people came for jobs and the free land that was available at the time. They did not come, in many cases, to assimilate into the culture but to keep their own customs and cultures. Often even critical of the new American ways. By 1882 the Chinese population had increased to 39,579. They came from Absolute Monarchies, with little public education, and no tradition of social interaction and equality. They were motivated to work for money to send back home. All the while,
