Essay on Immigration and Nineteenth Century Immigrants

Submitted By emmak2012
Words: 920
Pages: 4
Open Document
Reconstruction – Present
September 26, 2013

Foreign Immigration in the Late 19th Century

In the late Nineteenth Century immigrants from all over the world were coming to settling in North America. Between 1850 and 1880 approximately seven million new immigrants reached American soil in hopes of new, successful lives. These foreign immigrants had overcome struggles by building small communities within the American cities while defeating diseases and lacking education. When the immigrants landed on the shores of America they did well in adjusting themselves. They built ethnic organizations that were supported and mended together into established farming communities. Most of the immigrants were illiterate and impoverished. They lived in tight communities of their own which has churches or synagogues, depending on their beliefs. The immigrants were only accepted as American if they were natural-born. Any children that the immigrants had were automatically considered American. And those who were “American” still lived amongst themselves with their traditional cultural beliefs. In the 1880’s, the “new” immigrants came from Eastern and Southern Europe. Ranging from the Slovaks, Poles, Italians, Greeks, Croats, and Jews. These immigrants came from countries with little history of democratic government; had few opportunities for advancement. At this time the new immigrants populated about nineteen percent of the American population. By 1900, it increased to sixty-six percent. Most of the populations came from cities that they “hived” in such as New York and Chicago. Was America a dumping ground or a melting pot? The reasoning for the Europeans leaving their home countries was due to the fact that there were no jobs because of the over population. There was “no room” for everyone to have houses and to have jobs, too. At this time, the Europeans had what they called “American fever”. They received letters from loved one already living in America talking about their opportunities and how they love living in a “free” country. This is when American would bring those Europeans, who wanted to, to America for cheap labor. To build railroads and to populate states. It was somewhat easier for the Jews to get settled and to struggle less having tailoring and shop keeping experience from “home”.
Once some Europeans had the “American experience”, they would decide to return to their homelands. These individuals were called “Birds of Passage”. The immigrants who did this had a harder time keeping their traditional culture alive within them.
As the population increased exponentially over the next several years, the government did not do anything to control the incoming immigrants. Space was running out. It came down to the cities unofficial “government” to minister a political machine. This was led by “bosses”. The boss provided jobs for the immigrants in return for votes. They also helped with providing houses, food, and clothing. Bosses promised to build parks, schools and hospitals within the immigrants’ neighborhoods.
Jane Addams was a middle-class American who was dedicated on uprising the urban masses. She opened a settlement house, or Hull House, which she helped the immigrants with learning English, any counseling that the immigrants needed, child care services for the working mothers, along with putting together traditional cultural activities for the neighborhoods.
Other settlement houses were founded throughout America for womans activism and of social reform. In 1893, an Illinois antisweatershop law was passed to protect woman workers, who were mostly single, and to prohibit child labor. This also opened up new frontier opportunities. More than a million women joined the workforce. Although I there were social codes that determined which jobs certain woman could have depending on race, ethnicity, and class, it did not hold them back. Most white-collar jobs such as secretary
Show More

Related Documents: Essay on Immigration and Nineteenth Century Immigrants

Decriminalization Of Immigration

European immigrants have voluntarily entered the United States. Although, during Adams’ presidency, the Alien and Sedition Acts severely limited the freedoms of immigrants and gave the president the power of deportation, the elimination of the act under Jefferson paved the way for future waves of immigration: European immigration in the mid-nineteenth century, Mexican immigration as a result of the Mexican-American War, and Chinese immigration in the late-nineteenth century. Many immigrants competed…

Words 1087 - Pages 5

Chinese Immigration Essay

Hist157- 0204 Chinese Immigration I disagree with the statement that compared to other immigrant groups, Chinese immigrants found the legal and social conditions of the late nineteenth century in the United States favorable to their success. However, the economic conditions of the late nineteenth century in the United States were highly favorable to their success. Chinese peasants left their villages to become laborers in the American West. The first wave of Chinese migrants was skilled workers…

Words 714 - Pages 3

American Immigration 19th Century

the nineteenth century, glorified the idea of Manifest Destiny, which proclaimed that they were destined by God to settle land in the West and beyond. Having this idea in mind affected the American population, and caused them to work to fulfill it. People moved in masses to the West looking for better opportunities. The concept of American Exceptionalism, stating that America is unique and greater than other nations, grew as a result of a better economy. By the second half of the nineteenth century…

Words 1498 - Pages 6

Essay about 19th Century Industrialization

19th Century Industrialization Nineteenth Century Industrialization During the second half of the nineteenth century, the United States experienced an urban revolution unparalleled in world history up to that point in time. As factories, mines, and mills sprouted out across the map, cities grew up around them. The late nineteenth century, declared an economist in 1889, was "not only the age of cities, but the age of great cities." Between 1860 and 1910, the urban population grew from 6 million…

Words 1476 - Pages 6

History: Industrial Revolution and Late Nineteenth Century Essay

During the second half of the nineteenth century, the United States experienced an urban revolution unparalleled in world history up to that point in time. As factories, mines, and mills sprouted out across the map, cities grew up around them. The late nineteenth century, declared an economist in 1889, was “not only the age of cities, but the age of great cities.” Between 1860 and 1910, the urban population grew from 6 million to 44 million. The United States was rapidly losing its rural society…

Words 433 - Pages 2

Human Migration and French Canadians Essay

31. Why early nineteenth-century immigrant vessels were termed "floating coffins”? Termed "floating coffins," early nineteenth-century immigrant vessels usually arrived in American ports rampant with contagious disease.Port communities feared their arrival each year. The North American cholera epidemics of the 1830s and typhus epidemics of the 1840s were likely imported on boats carrying immigrants. 32. Where, how, and why did one of the greatest immigration tragedies in Canadian history…

Words 464 - Pages 2

Immigration: Immigration to the United States Essay

American Immigration The United States formally belonged to native Indians before European explorers ‘discovered’ the Americas. Because of this, it would be un-ethical to talk about The United States without mentioning one or two things about immigration. The term immigration means the introduction of new people as new populace. Immigration is different from migration and emigration on different perspectives. Just like in many other European states, Immigration is a source of growth in population…

Words 1978 - Pages 8

Essay on annotated bib

Immigration in America HIS204: American History Since 1865 (GSN1442E) Instructor: Steven Harn Sarah Budetich November 17, 2014 Moore, H. (2009). Contagion from Abroad: U.S. Newspaper Framings of Immigrants and Epidemics, 1891 to 1893. Atlanta Review Of Journalism History, 832-89. In this article it explains that the “Americans” were scared of the diseases that may be brought over from by “immigrates” that were coming from afar lands that some did not know anything about. There were four different…

Words 1698 - Pages 7

San Francisco Chinatown A Guide To Its History And Architecture

grueling test that he must pass--without stuttering--at California's Angel Island, where strict officials strive to keep out unwanted immigrants; Including facts about immigration from China and the experiences of the author's family. Snow flower and the secret fan Snow flower and the secret fan is written by See Lisa, the book is concerns a story set in nineteenth-century China and focusing on the life-long friendship between two girls who develop their own secret code as a way to contend with the rigid…

Words 381 - Pages 2

Heaven's Door Summary

J. Heaven's Door: Immigration Policy and the American Economy. Princeton, NJ: Princeton UP, 1999. Print. The author, Cuban economist and Pforzheimer Professor of Economics and Public Policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, uses his previous work and data from the 1996-98 Current Population Surveys (CPSs) and occasional backdating to include the 1970 census to support his argument that immigration could be more beneficial with a different type of immigration policy. He finds…

Words 621 - Pages 3