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AP U.S. History 1.5 Period 7: 1890-1945 222 Views


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AP U.S. History 1.5 Period 7: 1890-1945. Unlike Europeans, Mexicans increased immigration to the U.S. during World War I because of what factor?

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Transcript

00:00

[ musical flourish ]

00:04

And here's your Shmoop du jour, brought to you by conveniently flexible immigration policies.

00:09

the Mr. Incredible of legislature. Yeah.

00:12

All right, unlike Europeans, Mexicans increased immigration

00:16

to the U.S. during World War I because of what factor?

00:20

And here are your potential answers. [ buzz ]

00:22

[ mumbles ]

00:25

All right, well, the U.S. was pretty desperate for workers during World War I.

00:29

Anti-communist immigration quotas

00:32

arising from the sentiment expressed in our little cartoon here

00:35

restricted the number of immigrants from Europe

00:38

and millions of Americans were fighting overseas.

00:41

So Mexican immigrants came to fill that void.

00:43

Let's see which answer best describes why our friends

00:46

in the south ended up filling that need.

00:49

Did Mexican immigration to the U.S. increase

00:51

during World War I because of

00:53

A - their ideological commitment to democracy? Hmm.

00:58

Well, actually, Mexico was a neutral country during World War I

01:01

and their government was besieged by the same kinds of

01:03

revolutionary politics prevalent in eastern Europe.

01:06

So that knocks out A and D.

01:08

Could Mexican immigration have increased due to B -

01:11

their technical skills and expertise?

01:13

Well, industrialists mostly just needed a force of

01:16

brutes to help manufacture the clothes, arms,

01:19

and food necessary for a war,

01:21

not employees with specialized technical skill sets.

01:24

That eliminates B, as well.

01:26

Which means that Mexican immigration increased

01:29

during World War I because of C -

01:31

their willingness to work for low wages.

01:33

The cheap labor of Mexican immigrants was

01:36

crucial to the war effort,

01:37

but when the Great Depression hit a few years later

01:39

and jobs became scarce once again,

01:41

the U.S. deported all Mexican laborers,

01:44

even Mexican-Americans born in the U.S.

01:48

So the correct answer is C, as in

01:50

"See ya later,

01:51

even though you all were essential to maintaining

01:54

a thriving domestic economy during the global crisis

01:57

and you helped us win the war."

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