Building Nations from Diversity: Canadian and American Experience Compared (Volume 2) (McGill-Queen’s Studies in Ethnic History)

Building Nations from Diversity explores the question of whether the Canadian "mosaic" has differed from the American "melting pot" and provides an informative comparison of both countries' historical and present-day similarities and differences. Garth Stevenson examines the origins of Canada and the United States and their past experiences with incorporating selected immigrant groups, particularly Irish, Chinese, and Jews. Establishing the foundational ways in which they placed new groups within their societies, Stevenson then outlines how the US and Canadian systems developed immigration policy and handled difference, detailing their treatment of "enemy aliens" during both world wars, their experience with minority languages, and recent Islamophobia. He also studies the introduction of multiculturalism into the lexicon and policy of the two countries and presents a nuanced analysis of how its meaning is understood differently on opposite sides of the border. An accessible and illuminating work, Building Nations from Diversity highlights the substantial differences between the US and Canada but ultimately concludes that they are more similar than most realize and are probably becoming more alike. Cover 1 Copyright 7 Contents 8 Acknowledgments 10 1 Introduction 14 2 Setting the Patterns 27 3 The Irish 53 4 The Chinese 81 5 The Jews 106 6 Ethnic Minorities in Wartime 134 7 Immigration Policy: The Rise and Fall of Nativism 162 8 The Politics of Language 189 9 Multiculturalism: The Biography of an Idea 217 10 Islamophobia 245 11 Conclusion 271 Notes 284 Bibliography 306 Index 324 McGill-Queen’s,University,Press,2014,isbn,978-0-7735-4385-0,(cloth),isbn,978-0-7735-4386-7,(paper),isbn,978-0-7735-8320-7,(epdf),isbn,978-0-7735-8321-4,(epub) McGill-Queen’s University Press 2014,isbn 978-0-7735-4385-0 (cloth),isbn 978-0-7735-4386-7 (paper),isbn 978-0-7735-8320-7 (epdf),isbn 978-0-7735-8321-4 (epub) A detailed look at ethnic diversity, immigration, and multiculturalism in the US and Canada.