the founders of the republic on immigration, naturalization and aliens

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The ound

ers of th e R

epu

blic

on mmigr

ation

aturaliz

at i

on and liens

r

esented by the

m

erican rj ense ociety



The ounders

the Republic

on Immigration

Naturalization and liens

. .Every Society from a great Nat ion down to a

Club has the right of declaring the condit ions

ODwhich Dew members should be admitted.

OUVERNEUR M

ORRI

COLL E CTED FO R AN D I T

ED

BY

MADISON GRANT

AND

e RAS. STEWART DAVISON

Research ioork

by

Ogden A Kcllt? J

NEW YORK

CHARLES SCRIBNER S SONS



1 _ . u 1.1 •••• - •• u 1I U T , ... .

FOREWORD

Th e

conviction grows

that

this

Republic

will

per-

ish, if

at

all, from internal

no t

external, cause. Th e

assaults

u po n th e

Republic,

upon

its traditions and

institutions, ar e from within an d ar e co nstant a nd

progressive. One

major

danger lies in th e influx of

al ien races, unf it ted, by habit of mind an d inheri-

t ance, to uphold a form of government, traditions

an d institutions which their

mentality

ignores. To

call it merely a m a jo r d an ge r is to minimize. is

the

foundation of substantially all

the

serious dan-

gers which t hr ea te n t he preservation of Constitu-

tional

Liberty

in America.

Bear

in mind

that

Con-

stitutional Liberty means merely Liberty

under

Law,

coupled with a capacity

fo r

self-govern ment an d an

inherent recognition of

the safety

embodied in a

rep-

resentative form of

government-which

is the great

bu t

to a lmost all unknown, di st inct ion between a

Republic and that form of alternate individual

ab -

solutism and of th e tyranny of th e mob, called a De -

mocracy.

Ou r

Government is an d always has been a

Republic. Our da nge r

lies in ou r stead y an d increas-

ing degeneration into a Democra c y - a n d thereupon,

will follow chaos,

an d

the formation

thereafter

of a

number of separate pol it ical ent i t ies of v

ariou

s sor ts

see Fisher Ames, pa ge Were people from these

other race

s;

alien as they a re in mind, in outlook,

and in inst inc t; a ct ually needed fo r any purpose, or

to th e extent to which they were ever needed, excuse

C

o RIGH t ,

1928,

BY

CHARLES SCRIBNER S SOJliS

Print

edin tbe United Stat

of America



in whole or in pa r t migh t be proffered for introduc-

ing t he seeds of fa

ta

l disease into

th

e body polit ic.

Th

e qu e

st i

ons then arise--- \ ere

th

ey needed and

as there been any counterbalancing gain?

would seem not. The best authori t ies

ag

ree tha t

the

introduction of a liens into th is Country ha s not in-

creased its population by a single unit

durin

g the l

as t

one hundred an d fifty yea rs - t

ha

t the population of

the United

St

ates would have reached approximately

its

present figu re had all immigration ceased with

the Declar

ation

of

Independ

ence. A vivid example is

found in the fa

ct

that the po

pu l

ation of the United

St

ates incr eased during th e period of seventy years;

from

1776

to 1846; from approximately

three

mil-

lions to

app

roximately tw

ent

y-one millions, and

th

at

during that entire time t he to tal immigr

ation

into

th is

Countr

y

did not

exceed one and a half mil-

lion persons (see

Stodd

a

rd ,

R

e-Forging America.

Chap.

III).

The truth of the genera l proposition

has been long known. In Ar ticles 21 to 23 of his

Ob

serv

at

ions Concerning

th

e Increase of Mankind,

c. (see page 24

et seq .

Franklin sets it forth

with h;s customary clear

thought

and concise ex-

pression . So also Je fferson, making his calculations

for Vir aillia alone (see page

58 et se

q. , pointed

out

b .

as well t he l ack of n eed as th e d anger s to arrse to

the

body politic from

th

e immi

gr

ation of other races

(s ee p a ae 39 et seq . , The demonst

ra

t ion of what

the

y said has foll owed upon

th

e precept .

rh

e

pr

e-

empti

ng

of t he less desira ble occupations by the

newcomers, willin

a

to work for a lesser wage and

b .

un der ha rder condit ions, h as been a contmuous

p rocc s. As that has occurr ed t hose occup

at i

ons

have b cn removed as possible employments for de-

VI

scendants of the older, more homogeneous stock (see

J efferson, pages 65,69). We have then been merely

substituting newand alien stocks

for the

earlier stock.

Th

at the

proc

ess of introducing discordan t elements

into the

body pol itic is

fraught

with dan ger h as

been the opin ion of the thoughtful for many year s

( see Hami lton, pages 49, 50. J efferson,

pa

ge 68.

Wa

shin

gton,

pages

89-92).

Th

e

Found

er s of

thi

s

Republic were not unadvised on

the

subject. These

pages contain,

without

comment, e

xtracts

taken

fro

m

the wr it ings and sayings of a number of our early

leaders. T hey will repay study.

M ADISO N G RANT.

l AS. S T

EW

A

RT

D AVI

SON.

F ebr

ua r

y 18 , 1928 .

Vl I



TABLE

OF

CONTENTS

JO HN M

Against employing foreigners .

Advocates a

national

consciousness .

Education and

religion. th e support of th e

Constitution

Against any surrender to foreign factions her e .

• Against foreign

interfer

ence here .

• Dangers of foreign influence here .

Again st employing foreigners .

r

D

eportati

on of foreigners .

Favoring employing Americans : : : .

America n

instructors

for We st P o in t .

Jefferson elected

by

th e foreign vote .

Must be on guard against foreign ers .

American professors for ou r colleges .

Europea

ns

taint

ed

with

ineradicable

pr

ejudices .

Republic

exposed to foreign intrigue .

JOHN

QUI

N Y

M

Should stay aloof from Europe s affairs vigilantly .

Favoring th e Alien an d Sedition laws .

Against

importation of disaffected foreigners .

Our political science an d

government

t he b es t .

P O

6

7

7.

9

10

l i

13

IS

14

15

16

18

19

F I

SH

ER ME

Sa f

ety of the Republ ic necessitates th e power of expel

ling or excluding ali ens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Adventurers no t good citiz ens. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Tendency of republics to degenerate into democracies i 8

FR NKL IN

. .. Immigration does

no t

increase population . . . . . . . . . . . . i

Immigrants crowd ou t natives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

i 5

Alien colonies disastrous to

us.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

i 6

IX



G

ENERAL

G REEN

Advocates trained Americans as

arm

y officers . . . . . . . . 38

CHRISTO

PH

ER GADSDEN

Jefferson elected by foreigner

s f

ears the effect or . . . . . 86

Admits his own earlier error as to natural iz ing aliens . . 86

Advocates t en years for naturalization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

48

49

50

51

51

5 l

P G

AlIILTON Continued

Rome and Syracuse fell through admitting aliens to

citizenship .

Our

safety depends on common national s

entim

en t .

: Immigration tends to produce heterogeneity .

The evil of incorporat ing foreigners in th e nat ion .

Deferred naturalization desirable .

PATRICK HENay

Virtue, morality,

and

religion

our

sole armor, not imi-

tation of Europe . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58

JOHN

J Y

Advocates excluding aliens from office . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

Advocates preservation of our original policies.. . . . . . . 55

Advocates deferring full citizenship to aliens . . . . . . .

. .

56

JEFFERSON

Executives not to

grant

citizenship . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . 57

Our natural

growth of populat ion amply sufficien t. . . . 58

Safer

to

wait

for

natural

growth of populat ion . . . . .

. .

59

Disadvantages of immigration, safer to increase natur

ally.. . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

Disadvantages of immigration, safer to increase natur

ally : . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

61

Mobs inhabiting cities are sores on the body politic 6

Down to 1785 only fifty thousand immigran ts . . . . . . . . 68

Agai ns t immigrat ion of negroes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54

All employm

ents

honorable here in 1795 . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65

Advocates deve loping our own resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66

Advocates excluding foreigners from influence. . .. . .

67

Dreads

for eign colonies h er e. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

69

. Advocates Engli sh immigrant s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

..

70

. Immigration does not increase popula ti on . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

RUFUS K I N G

Advocates d is tinctive American principles . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 l

Deprecates admitting malcontents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Xl

45

45

46

47

45

89

40

41

31

6

8

9

30

P G

8

8S

Industrious

En

glish a rt is ans des ir abl e . . . . . . . . . . . . .

54

Suggests a pa tent law as desirable 85

H M l

LTON

Our system of laws preserves liber ty .

Excess population a detriment .

Foreign influence a G recian horse t o a R epu blic .

Homogeneity necess

ary

for permanency of the Union. .

At tachme

nt

to o ther nations an evil. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48

Cites Jefferson as against the importation of foreigners 44

Ci t

es Jefferson that foreigners bring

and

perp

etuate

th eir own principles .

Cites Jefferson

that

foreigners here will warp our legis-

lation .

Cites Jefferson, safer to w

ai t

for

natur

al increase of

popul

ation

.

Jefferson was elected by th e foreign vote .

Aliens if admitted will rep lace us, as we the Indians ..

X

FR A

NKL N

Felons sent to America as immigrants .

. . . .. . . .. . . .

FR NKLIN } .

LE E Adv

ocating appointing Americans .

ADAlIS

FRANKLIN Continued

White people a minority in t he world .

Disadvanta

ges of alien colonies .



R UFUS KING Co t ued

Adv

ocat

es all immigrants b r ing ing ce

rt

ificates of good

character .

Deplores d

epr

e

ciat

ed cha

racte

r of immigrat ion .

Desires exclusion of foreign r ebels .

JAMES LA

UR

EN

A

gainst

employing foreigners .

74

74

75

76

77

78

MADISON

Re :

Intrusion of obnoxious aliens th rough other states 79

; Immigrat ion is against our in terests . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80

, / Cit izens hip sh ould be gran t ed but slowly. . . . . . . . . . . . 80

G OUVERNEUR MORRI

S

Reason no t emotion sh ould sway our p olicies . . . . . . . . . 81

Nati

ons can declare conditions of a

dmi

ssion of aliens . . 81

ABHINGTON

Sentries to be natives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Army

re

cruit

s

pr

ef

era

bly to be nat ives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83

Pu t none

bu t

Americans on gua rd . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84

A

na tive should comm and the ar till ery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Re

cru i ts sh

ould

preferably be na

ti v

es . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86

D

eprecat

es employing f or eign officers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

Concerning

Ba r

on

St

eub

en

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88

Alien

and

Sedi tion laws necessary here . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

Th ere is no need of encouraging immi gra t ion . . . . . . . . . 90

Aga ins t th e insid ious wil es of foreign in fluence . . . . . . . 9 1

Dr

eads civil discord ensuing here from demigogic lead-

er s and r ev olut ion ar y for eig ne rs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Xl i

The

Founder

s of th e R

epu

blic

on

Im

migration

Na

turalization

and

Aliens



JOHN

ADAMS

l9

June

1780

In a letter to the President of Congress, written from

Paris 'l9th June 1780, he wrote :-

I would,

therefore, beg leav e to propose to

ap

point a consul without loss of time to reside

at

Nantes,

and

to him consign all vessels f rom the

United

Stat

es. I think

it

should be an Amer ic

an

some merchan t of known cha racter, abilities, and

industry, who would consent to serve his

country for

moderate emoluments . Such persons are to be found

in

great

number s in the United States.

There

are

many applications from French gentlemen. Bu t I

think that from a w

an t

of knowledge of our

lan

-

gu

age, our laws, customs, and even

th

e humors of

our people, for even these must be considered, they

never would be able to give sat isfact ion or to do jus-

tice. Besides, if

it

is an honor, a profit, or only an

opportunity to

tr

avel and see the world for improve-

ment I think

the

nat ive Americans have a

right

to

expect it ; and further, that the public have a right

t o expect that whatever advantages are honestly to

be made in

thi

s way should r

eturn

sometime or other

to America, together with the knowledge and expe-

rience gained at the same time.

The Works of John dams by his grandson

Charles

Fran

cis Adams 1856, Vol. VII

pag

e



JOHN ADAMS

5t h Sep tember, 1783

In

a let ter to t he Presid

en t

of Congress, written from

P

ari

s, 5 th September,

1783

, he say s

Our

countr

y

has

bu t

la t

ely been a dependent one,

and our people, although enlightened and

virtuous

have had th eir minds and hea rt s habitua

lly

filled

with a ll the pa ssions of a depend

ent and

subordinate

peopl

e;

th

at

is to say, fear , diffidence, .and

distrust of th emselves, with admiration of for eIgn-

ers , c. N ow, I say, th at

it

is one of the most neces-

sa ry and one of th e most difficult branches of. the

policy of cong ress to eradicate f rom

the

mind eve

ry

remaini

ng

fibre of

thi

s f

ear and

dence on one h

and

an d of

th i

s excessive

admiration

of foreigners on

the

other.

The Works of J ohn Adams by his grandson

Charles Francie Adams 1856, Vol. III page

.

JOHN ADAMS

4th

March, 1797

In

his

inau

gu ral speech to

both

Houses of Congress,

4th March, 1797, he sa id :-

..

;;

if a love of science and l

et t

er s, and a wish

t o p atronize every rational effort to encour age

schools, colleges, uni versities, academies, and every

in

st

itution for

pro

pagat

ing

knowledges, virtue,

and

religion among all classes of the people,

not

only for

t

heir

benign influence on the h

app

iness of life in all

it

s stages and cla sses and of societ y in all it s forms,

bu t as the only means of preserving

our

constitution

fr om its natural enemies,

the

spi r it of sophist ry, the

sp

ir

it of p

arty

the

spi r it of

intrigue

profli

ga

cy,

and

corruption and the

pestilence of for eign influence,

which is

the

ange l of destruction

to

elective gov

ern-

ment

s ., . can ena ble me in any de

gree

t o com-

p ly with

your

wishes, it sh all be my strenuous en-

deavor that this

sag

acious

in j

unc tion of

the

two

H ouses shall not be without effect.

he Wodes of John Adams by his grandson

Charles Fr ancis Adams

1856,

Vol . IX pag e

108.

3



JOHN ADAMS

16th May

1797

In his speech to both Houses of Congress on

16th

May 1797 he sa id

It

must

not

be

permitted

to

e

doubted whether

the

people of th e

United

States will support

the

gov-

ernment

established by their voluntary consent

and

appointed by their free choice; or whether by sur -

rendering themselves to

the

direction of foreign and

domestic factions in opposition to

their

own govern-

ment they will forfeit the honorable station

they

have hitherto maintained.

The Works of

John

Adams by his grandson

Charles Francis Adams

1856

Vol.

IX

page

118.

4

JOHN ADAMS

2

May

1798

In

his address to the cit izens of Baltimore and

Bal-

timore County

Maryland

of 2nd May 1798

he says

Republics

are

always divided in opmlOn con-

cerning forms of governments and

pl

ans and details

of administration These divisions are generally

harmless often salutary

and

seldom very hurtful

except when foreign nations interfere and by their

arts

and agents excite and ferment them into parties

and factions. Such interference and influence must be

resisted

and

exterminated or it will end in America

as it did anciently in Greece and in

our

own time in

Europe in our total destruction as a republican gov-

ernment

and independent power.

The

Works of John Adams by his qraaulson


1856

Vol.

IX

page

186.



JOH

N ADAMS

Ju n

e,

1798

In

hi s addre ss to

th

e

In

habi tant s of Arlington

and

Sandgate, Vermont,

Jun

e, 1798, he s

a id

you have long seen fore

ig

n influence prevail-

in and endanrrerinc t he peace and

ind

ependence of

b b b

our country, so have I.

*

.

you have no

attac

hments or exclusive fI?endshIp

fo r any foreign nat ion, you possess the genume char -

acter of t rue Americans .

T he fV cs of

Joh

n A dams by his grandson

Charles

r

ancis Adan:s

1856, Vol. IX

pag

e

202.

6

JOH

N A

DA

MS

13 th Aug ust, 1799

In a let ter to T . Pi ckering, Secre tary of State, wr it -

t en

fro

m Quincy , 13th August, 1799, he says:-

A t th e time when we were inquiring

for

an agen t

to

condu

ct

t he

affa

ir s of

the

United

Stat

es before

the

commissioners at P hiladelphia, Mr. Cooper wrote to

me a solicitation for th

at appo

intment , and Dr.

Pr ie

st l

ey wrote me a letter strongly recommending

him. B

oth

made

apo

logies f

or hi

s repu t at ion as a

democrat, and gave int imation of a r eformati on. I

wondered t

ha

t eit

her

could think it possible th at t he

people of

th

e

Un ite

d St ates cou ld be

sa t

isfied or con-

t

ent

ed t o in trus t inter est s of s uch ma

gni

tu de t o an

Engli

shm

an ,

or any o

th

er f ore

ig

ner . I wonder ed

th

at

either

should

think

i t

co

mpa

ti b

le wi

th

my du

ty

,

to p refe r a st ra

nge

r to the g reat number of ab le na-

tives, who wished for th is t rust .

Bu

t so it was. *:

H aving long possessed evidence the most satisfac-

to ry t o my mi

nd,

t hat Collot is a pernicious and

malicious in

tr i

gu er, I have been always ready and

willing to execute th e a lien l aw upon him.

We

are

now about to en ter on a negot ia ti on with F

ranc

e, bu t

th i

s is no o

bj

ection ag ai

ns t

expelling fr om this Coun-

tr

y such a n a lien as he is. On t he c

ontr

a ry, i t is more

necessary to remove such an instrument of mischief

from

among

ou r

people,

for

hi s whole t ime wi ll be

employed in exciting cor rup t divi sions, whether he

can

succeed

0

not . A s to Letombe, i f you can prove

th at

he paid the b r ibes

or

de red by the French

Min

-

ister,

Ad

et

,

o r any th

ing l ike it , he ough t t o be sen t

7



away.

But

perhaps it would be

better

to signify

that It expected that he go than to order him

out

at first by proclamation. There is a respect due to

public commissions which should wish to preserve

as fa r as

may

be consistent with safety.

The

alien law fear will

upon trial

be found in-

adequate to

the objec t

intended but

am willing to

tr y

it

in the case of Collot.

The

Works of John Adams by his grandson


18

56 Vol

IX

page 13

8

JOHN ADAMS

14th August 1800

In

a

letter

to J. Marshall Secretary of

State

written

from Quincy 14th

August

1800 he

wrote:-

• • relative to the consulate of Madeira. If

there is a necessity of removing

Mr. John

Marsden

Pintard a native American and an old consul why

should we appoint a foreigner in his s tead? Among

the number of applications for

consulates cannot we

find an American capable and wor thy of the

trust?

Mr. Lamar

is a partner in a respectable house bu t it

is said to be an English or rather a Scotch house.

Why should we take

the

bread out of the mouths of

our own children and give it to

strangers?

We do so

much of this in the army

navy and especially in

the

consulships abroad

t ha t i t

frequently gives me

great

anxiety.

The

Works

of

John

Adams

by his grandson

CharlesFrancis Adams 1856 Vol IX page 77

9



I

I

JOHN

ADAMS

16th

A

pril

1801

In a letter t o Christopher Gadsden, wri t ten from

Quincy, Mass., 16

th

Apr il , 1801, he wrote

:

F< -

ddl

reIgn me ers , as you p rop erly denominate

them, h ave a

stra

nge, a myster ious influence in

th

is

coun try , I s ther e no p rid e in Amer ica n bosoms?

Can th eir hearts end

ure th

at Callender, Du ane,

and Lyon, should be th e most influenti al men

m

th

e countr y , a ll f or eigner s and a ll d

ez r

aded char-

acters ?

Th

e p la n of

our

worthy h. iends J ohn

Hutledge, r elat ive to the

adm

ission of st ran:ers to

th

: p r iv ileges of ci tizens , as you

exp

lain

it

ccr-

t

aml

y

pr

udent.

Amer

icans will find

th

at

th

eir own

will coincide with the experie nce of a ll

nat ions, and foreigner s must be received wi

th

caution, or they will destroy all confidence in aovern-

ment. b

he fVork s of Jo hn

Adams by

his q

ulson

Cha les

Fr

ancis

Adams

1856,

Vol.

LY,

page

58

4.

14

JOHN

QUINCY ADAMS

14th J anuary

1797

In

a l

etter

wri

tten

from

The

H

ague

to John Adams,

he wrote:

The

Pr

esid

ent

indeed, has

told

us,

and

I am

pro-

foundly convinced of the justice and

import

ance of

th

e advice,

th at

we

ought not

to involve ourselves at

all in the polit ica l sys tems of E ur ope,

bu t

to keep

our

selves always di

stinct

and

separa

t e from it. But

even to effect th is, constant and early

information

of

th

e cu

rrent

events and of

the

political

projects

in

co

ntemp

la t ion is no less necessary th

an

if we were

directly concerned in them.

is necess

ary

for th e

discovery of the efforts made to dr aw us

into

the vor-

t ex, in season to make preparations again st them.

Fr

om one of

th

e quota tions in

thi

s l

et t

er,

it

is ob-

se

rva

ble

th at Franc

e v

ery

formally considers

th

e

United States a s form ing a weigh t in th e balance of

Europe. France must, therefore, necessarily con-

duct itself towards us

upon th i

s supposition. Brit

ain

will with equal cer ta in ty do the same.

behooves us

to be

th

e more c

auti

ous and vi

gi l

an t to c

ounteract

all

th

eir

intri

gues and exer t ions on eit

her

side to make

us th e instrum

en t

s or the victims of th eir conquering

or p lun

der

ing ambition.

The

Writ

ings of John Quincy Adams edited by

Worthington

C.

Ford Vol.

II

page 88.

15

the founders of the republic on immigration, naturalization and aliens

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