There was a long history of anti-immigration feeling in the United States which could be seen by referring to the immigration laws. Earlier African and then Asians and later it included other European nations. However, the reasons were economic but their justification was social and cultural. But the anti-immigrant forces failed to recognize that the population of the United States is mostly comprised of immigrants.
the rise of humanistic thought; the recovery of the literary and artistic heritage of ancient Greece and Rome; increased innovation and discovery; the growth of commercial enterprise;
