When most people think about immigration to the United States, they think of the U.S. as being the “land of opportunity,” where they will be able to make all of their dreams come true. For some people, immigration made their lives richer and more fulfilled. This however, was not always the case. A place that is supposed to be a “Golden Land” (Marcus 116) did not always welcome people with open arms. Even after people became legal citizens of the United States, often times the natural born Americans did not treat the immigrants as equals but rather as outsiders who were beneath them in some way. In some situations, people’s lives were made worse by coming to the “land of opportunity.” Often times people were living no better than they …show more content…
Along the same lines, both Jose Luis and Rosa would do anything to become American citizens even though their daily lives were so amazingly hard. They would have to cross a river to get to and from work everyday and barely make enough money to pay for lunch and transportation, let alone pay for food for their four children and rent for their apartment. I am sure that when they thought about moving to the United States they believed that their lives would get easier and not harder, but unfortunately that was not the case. They went through their daily lives, struggling in hopes one day that their children would get good jobs and could have happy and successful futures. What is also interesting is the fact that Rosa says, “ We would be honored if they are chosen to serve. We would be very proud of our children for doing their duty for their country” (Marcus 313-314). The fact that neither Rosa, nor her children were even legal citizens of the United States and yet she would be proud of her children serving “their” country shows just how much she wants her family to become U.S. citizens. Another major hardship that was faced by most immigrants was the way that they were treated. Often times they were treated like second-class citizens and were thought to be inferior to the natural born citizens. They also seemed to only be able to hold jobs that no one else really wanted to do, for very low wages. Most of the time people would
Jo Huff Mrs. Taft S.S. 3/22/18 Research Question: How did immigration affect immigrants and other Americans around the year 1900? How did immigration affect immigrants and other Americans around the year 1900? In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, immigration is, I guess you could call it the “In” thing to do. Million of people at the time where immigrating to America from all over the globe.
In the eyes of the early American colonists and the founders of the Constitution, the United States was to represent the ideals of acceptance and tolerance to those of all walks of life. When the immigration rush began in the mid-1800's, America proved to be everything but that. The millions of immigrants would soon realize the meaning of hardship and rejection as newcomers, as they attempted to assimilate into American culture. For countless immigrants, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the existing American population.
Many people from all over the world saw America as a place to create a better life for them and their family. America was a place full of many job opportunities, ones that were not available anywhere else in the world. It was in America that people from different nations saw the chance to escape the place they originally lived because of unfair government or as a chance to have money to send back to their family in their homeland. The period after the civil war was an era of tremendous migration from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China, because of all the opportunities that were available here that were not available anywhere else. Migration was also prominent within America when African Americans
American was a prosperous country with incredible economic growth between the end of Reconstruction and the Great Depression. It was during this time that "industrial expansion went into high gear because increasing manufacturing efficiencies enabled American firms to cut prices and yet earn profits for financing still better equipment (Henretta 488)." During this era, the manufacturing of steel, the construction of railroads, factories, and warehouses, and the growing demand for technological advancements, increased greatly. Philanthropists, such as Andrew Carnegie, Andrew Mellon, and John D. Rockefeller, took advantage of the situation they were in by investing large sums of capital into the growing economy. Carnegie constructed
Back in 1920’s the countryside began to fall as it gave way to the Urban Sprawl. Cities were growing, and more immigrant faces were showing. Immigration was in was in a full charge, but before the population could become too large, the Quota System put an end to them. With the immigration stalled, Nativism was set upon the wall. People favored their own country, so the Fordney-Mccumber Tariff came to be. Tariffs rose to sixty percent, with prices so high, some money needed to be lent. The Installment Plan let you borrow today and wait till tomorrow, but at the disappearance of funding left the economy’s long term in sorrow. While we can forget about debt for now, let us never forgetti Sacco and Vanzetti. They were Italian immigrants on a job, but became the first suspected to rob.
In the United States, the cliché of a nation of immigrants is often invoked. Indeed, very few Americans can trace their ancestry to what is now the United States, and the origins of its immigrants have changed many times in American history. Despite the identity of an immigrant nation, changes in the origins of immigrants have often been met with resistance. What began with white, western European settlers fleeing religious persecution morphed into a multicultural nation as immigrants from countries across the globe came to the U.S. in increasing numbers. Like the colonial immigrants before them, these new immigrants sailed to the Americas to gain freedom, flee poverty and
In the beginning of immigration it all started with slave trade, which was a global force in the Atlantic and later Asia. At first Africans were taken from their homelands and shipped to America to do labor work. People already in America, were eager to purchase a slave to do their dirty work at no cost. Just as things went negatively for the African American slaves, later the Native Americans, who were already here in the United States, were forced to move or killed. A large amount of Natives died from disease, war, or migrating to the West leaving a small amount of them in the United State’s territory.
In the late 1800s , America became the land of new opportunities and new beginnings and New York City became the first landmark for immigrants. New York City was home to Ellis Island, the area in which migrants were to be handed for freedom to enter the nation. Living in New York City gave work and availability to ports. In time the city gave the chance to outsider's to construct groups with individuals from their nation , they were classified as new and old settlers. Old outsiders included Germans, Irish and, English. The new outsiders incorporated those from Italy, Russia, Poland and Austria-Hungary. In 1875, the New York City populace was a little 1 million individuals contrasted with the 3,5 million it held when the new century
In the late 1800 many people, fleeing religious and political intolerance, from all over the world made the life changing decision to pack up absolutely everything they had to immigrate to the United States of America, known as the “land of economic opportunity”. Between the years of 1870 and 1900, there were around 12 million immigrants that arrived in the United States. Most of these immigrants migrated from European countries including Germany, Ireland, and England (Library of Congress). Over 70 percent of these immigrants entered through the area of what became “the golden door” in New York City (Library of Congress). Since these immigrants were so desperate for jobs, it made it easy for many people to take advantage of them. In today’s time it seems to be clear that immigrants have a much better chance for survival and success than they did a century ago.
“We are nation of immigrants. Some came here willingly, some unwillingly. Nonetheless, we are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, one, and all. Even the natives came from somewhere else, originally. All of the people who come to this country come for freedom, or for some product of that extraordinary, illusory condition. That is what we offer here—freedom and opportunity in a land of relative plenty.” (Middletown Journal 2005)
The changing environments throughout the ages have caused the movement of thousands of families out of their homelands. Whether forced to make such decisions or doing so by their own desires, all immigrants have had to survive the physical and psychological challenges encountered along the way. To speak about the experiences of all these different people using the same ideas and examples would be quite inaccurate. They all, however, had to live through similar situations and deal with similar problems. Many of them succeeded and found the better future they were looking for. Many others found only hardship and experienced the destruction of their hopes and dreams. All of them were transformed.
Imagine what it’s like to step through a door into a new world, known as the land of opportunities. To many people, America is a paradise filled with the best of the best. Immigrants from all over the world left everything behind to start new, but is it really like paradise. People migrate to the US with nothing but the hope of freedom and a better life. But, why do they give up everything just to live here. Why do people migrate to the US and what problems do they face? Immigrants migrate to the US for a brighter future, hoping that they would fit in, but are faced with problems that makes life here not as great as it seems.
Immigration has always been a major part of America. In fact, without immigration the creation of America would not have been possible. The majority of immigrants came to America for religious freedom and economic opportunities. However, for the most part before the 1870’s most immigrants were Protestants from northern and western Europe. These immigrants often migrated to the United States as families and usually lived on farms with family or friends who had already migrated beforehand. A lot of immigrants came to America with a plan or goal in mind. They often had saved up money for the long immigration overseas, were skilled in a certain trade, or had already been educated at a high level. Sadly, this would not last. Immigration
Throughout the history of the United States immigration has become apart of our country’s fabric which, began centuries ago. Only to become a hot topic in the US in recent years with its primary focus being illegal immigrants. Illegal immigration is when people enter a country without government permission. As of 2008 the Center for Immigration Studies estimated that there are 11 million illegal immigrants in the US which is down from 2007‘s 12.5 million people. Although the Center for Immigration Studies estimates are very different from other estimates that range from 7 to 20 million. While the Pew Hispanic Center estimated in March of 2009 there are 11.1 million illegal immigrants and that number is from March 2007’s peak of 12
Simply put, America is the land of opportunity. In the past, immigrants have left most of their family, memories, and familiarities with their homeland in search of a better life in America, where jobs were easy to find and the economy was booming. These immigrants formed almost the entire American population, a demographic anomaly in which people from nationalities separated by land and sea; these people come from countries separated by expansive distances can live within the same neighborhood. Both Anna Quindlen with her essay “A Quilt of a Country” and John F. Kennedy with his essay “The Immigrant Contribution” have documented the story of these immigrants and