Aliens or Americans?

About this book

Howard B. Grose’s Aliens or Americans? is a polemical study of early‑twentieth‑century immigration, framed as a moral and religious call to action. The book opens with a poetic appeal to “Liberty, White Goddess” and a preface that declares the inevitable arrival of “millions” of newcomers, each described in starkly categorical terms, good, bad, literate, illiterate, Christian, infidel. From there Grose launches into a systematic examination of the immigrant surge, offering statistics, maps, and illustrations of Ellis Island’s bustling entry points. Chapters such as “The Alien Advance,” “Immigration and the National Character,” and “The Home Mission Opportunity” trace the flow of peoples, the legislative response, and the perceived threat or providence they represent, all filtered through a Protestant worldview that sees Americanization as inseparable from Christian evangelization.

The work reflects the didactic, sermon‑like prose of Progressive‑Era reformers, heavily infused with the rhetoric of Josiah Strong and other “patriot‑prophets.” Its tone is earnest, occasionally alarmist, and its language is dense with moral exhortation rather than narrative flair. Readers interested in the history of American nativism, the intersection of religion and public policy, or the statistical portrait of immigration around 1900 will find Grose’s blend of data, moral argument, and religious appeal illuminating. Those who prefer literary fiction or neutral social histories may find the text’s overtly evangelical stance and prescriptive tone less engaging.