...America in the early 1800s, specifically 1800 to 1850, was beginning to move towards an industrialized society, with the factory system in the North, the cotton gin in the South, and more people moving out West. People came from all over to come to the US to find a new life, and because of this the US became a diverse country. Yet with all these improvements, the US didn't improve for everyone. Slavery was still practiced in a horrible amount in the South, especially because cotton was money, women had little say in anything, the US government was forcing Native Americans from their land to make room for new white settlers, immigrants into the country faced prejudice, and so many other groups lacked the rights that America is known...
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...Americanization of Immigrants and Native Americans In the late 1800’s immigration has increased immensely. Not only was the population growing but substantial problems went along with the immigration. In restatement, the immigrants came to America to find better opportunity upon a future they want to achieve. The types of immigrants were the Irish, Germans, Chinese, etc. These people wanted to seek for an opportunity to escape their religion, harsh government in their native country, and own land. As the population grew, the society had to change and step up to it’s capability of becoming a stable nation. Some of the significant things that occurred in the life of an immigrant in the society were economical and political problems. Some of the economical changes the immigrants have made, for example were the jobs they had to make money. Many of the 25 million immigrants that entered America between 1866 and 1915 became factory workers. However, for immigrants in the cities, factory work was one of the few options available. Agriculture jobs and factory jobs were the main areas of employment for a lot of former slaves and immigrants. In factories, they had poor lighting, unsanitary conditions, and the jobs were highly dangerous. Women, men and children were able to work in these conditions for up to 12 hours per day. As soon as one became ill or died another person would step over into their past job without a second thought. Another problem that occurred was the population...
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...“America was founded on immigrants. The immigrant experience is common to us all.” (Nia Vardalos) It is true that America was founded on immigrants. Most Americans have relatives that immigrated here to the U.S. Each had their own reason, whether that be in search of wealth, freedom, a fresh start and more. Life for the immigrants in the late 1800’s was extremely difficult. Immigrants either arrived through Ellis Island or Angel Island. Ellis Island was located in the East coast while Angel Island was located in the west coast. The U.S. received a huge amount of immigrants in the 1860s and the 1890s (Cayton, et. al., 299). Steam powered ships played a huge role in the 1800s. These ships could cross the Atlantic Ocean in two to three weeks....
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...In the late 1800s, people in many parts of the world decided to leave their homes and immigrate to the United States. Fleeing crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many came to the U. S. because it was perceived as the land of economic opportunity. Others came seeking personal freedom or relief from political and religious persecution. With hope for a brighter future, nearly 12 million immigrants arrived in the United States between 1870 and 1900 with such huge members arriving many Americans began to grow apprehensive and began to wonder if the presence of so many immigrants might somehow weaken the U.S. society. Coming to the United States was a difficult task. Usually only men would come. People would come in steerage because of lack of money. The conditions they faced there were devastating. People were crammed up together in dirty, small decks. Coming to America was a dangerous journey where many got sick, and some even died. But still, people from Spain, Ireland, Germany, Sweden, Denmark, and China, came to America. Push and pull factors are said to be the cause of Immigrants in the U.S. Once settled, immigrants looked for work. There were never enough jobs, and employers often took advantage of the immigrants. Men were generally paid less than other workers, and women less than men. Social tensions were also part of the immigrant experience. Often stereotyped and discriminated against, many immigrants suffered verbal and physical...
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...Fact and Fiction of Irish Americans History of the Immigration Beginning almost 300 years ago Irish immigrants were among the first large groups of people to migrate to the New World. With years of wars, famine, and religious persecution in Ireland, these people came to America to build a new life. Not afraid of hard work the Irish came and built a life they could be proud of; although the Irish American believes that they have been victim of discrimination. NINA ‘No Irish Need Apply’ and WASP ‘White Anglo Saxon Protestant’ is and ingrained belief that the Irish American’s “remember” (Jenson, 2004). Another current issue is the unjust treatment of the Irish seeking political asylum in the United States (McElrath, 1997). The first Irish immigrants came in the 1580s to the Carolinas long before the founding of the United States of America. It is believed that possibly hundreds of thousands of Protestant Irish immigrated in these early years. This is contrary to the urban myth of the Irish Catholic American origins (Meagher, 2009). The next big migration of Irish to America was in the 1700s to 1820s. These immigrants assimilated easily into the American way of life as most prospered at a rate that could not have been conceived in Ireland. “Nearly half of General Washington’s continental arm, including 1492 officers and 22 generals, were of Irish descent” (American Immigration law Foundation, 2001, p. 1). Even with the influx of Irish throughout early history of America...
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...John Winthrop departed from all over Europe and set sail for America landed north than what they intended, and founded the “Massachusetts Bay Colony” Native American population across the New England region decreased due to disease from foreigners. The Massachusetts Bay Colony observed that the land around them was empty, they founded 6 towns in the area including Roxbury. The area was originally a salt marsh but was later filled in. The process of filling in the Boston Harbor the early days was known as “land making”. There were many important reasons the locals filled in the land. Some reasons are, commercial developments, new residential areas, transportation routes, parks, facilities. Roxbury was named after...
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...“America’s industrial might was built principally on immigrant labour”. Discuss with reference to the period from the 1880s to through World War I. The backbone of America’s Might A variety of factors contributed to the preeminence of American industrial power in the late 19th and early twentieth century. Whereas the United States enjoyed an abundance of domestic raw materials, technological advancements by scientific entrepreneurs, and a battery of talented business entrepreneurs assisted by a compliant federal government, the most convenient and probably most critical progressive factor was the influx of a cheap, non-American immigrant labour force. Brinkley in his work “The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People” is careful to point out that America rise in industrialization occurred in half the period of time that England took to achieve the same. Though some scholars argue that the U.S. was already steering toward industrial prominence since the early 1800s, the majority agree that last three decades prior to the 1920s witnessed an incredible surge in economic growth that heralded America’s supremacy thereafter. By 1900, over $3.4 billion in foreign wealth fueled the economy of the US.Of course, a comparison of England’s and America’s progress in industrialization is wanted, and would yield points that support the main thesis. One way to understand the rapid growth of American industries as opposed to English industries is to view the industrial...
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...Chicago’s Polania Polish American Immigrants In Chicago I will be writing my final paper on Polish American Immigrants who settle in Chicago Illinois. I will be referring to Polish American Immigrants in this essay as (Poles) periodically. The majority of Polish immigrants emigrating to the United States of America was in the 1800’s. This period was considered the first out of three waves of Polish immigrants to settle in America. The first major wave was between 1800 and 1860, many of the emigrating Poles were fleeing for America because of political revolution in their homeland. Many Poles liked the idea of a self governing political system that The United States of America had to offer. The Polish people had to endure many hardships in their homeland of Poland. From civil wars, political uprisings, and occupations from enemy countries (Germany, Russia, Prussia) invading their homeland. Along with these invasions and occupations came persecution of the Polish people. “This group fled their country mainly because of political insurrections. The U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service have estimated that fewer than 2,000 Poles immigrated during this wave.” (Into America) They sought refuge and a new life in America. During this wave it is estimated that 0nly 2,000 Poles had immigrated to America. The next two waves of Polish American immigrants to arrive in the United States were after World War II (WWII). The Polish people lost 12% of its population during WWII...
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...Immigration Experience HIS/125 My Home in Italy was becoming hard to live in, especially with the news of the opportunity that existed in America; I had seen a poster that was created by the railroad and steamship companies that portrayed this method of travel as the most affordable way to travel. Many of the steamship lines offered their tickets to be all inclusive to make it a more affordable package to travel to America. With all the stories of opportunity this was the way I wanted to travel to reach my opportunities. The price of the tickets for the steerage or third class was about $25 which was almost three weeks of works pay. There was protocol to follow if you were taking a trip on these steamships, those protocols were as followed: I was expected to reach the port that I would depart from approximately one day prior to the day I would depart for America. This was so that I could go through an extensive medical examination to assure that I had no lice and that I was as well as my luggage be disinfected and fumigated so that I would not transport any disease with me. I was also vaccinated. The trip by ship took us almost 12 days. My quarters that I would sleep and spend most of the trip in were in the steerage class, which were on the lower decks of the ship very close to the engine rooms. I was given a mattress of burlap stuffed with hay and a life preserver that was to be used as my pillow. The beds in my quarters were like bunk...
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...in 150 to 350 words each: * Throughout most of U.S. history in most locations, what race has been the majority? What is the common ancestral background of most members of this group? The Caucasian race has been the majority. Before the “Great Immigration”, the majority of immigrants were from Western and Northern European nations. They were mostly English but also included Germans, Irish, Swedish, Swiss, Italian, Polish, Scottish, Scandinavian, and Russian. The Irish and Germans came in second and third as the most populated immigrants during the Great Immigration due to famine in their crops. Chinese migrated as well but were categorized as a lower class or race of people. Most of the immigrants from Europe were either Protestant or Roman Catholic. The common religions brought them together to build communities and local governing bodies as they began growing in towns and cities. I believe these European immigrants assimilated into what is called the “white” race. They brought over Africans as slaves but made them less than ‘human’ because of the way they were treated. This treatment created prejudice to new immigrants after the civil war such as the Irish and Chinese and these immigrants were categorized as...
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...Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History in column C. See complete instructions in the Syllabus for the Module 3 assignment entitled. “Timeline Part II.” NOTE: The timeline project does not need to be submitted to turnitin. NOTE: Please write your answers in a clear and concise manner. Limit your submission of the Timeline Part II up to 250 words per topic/subtopic. For example, if a topic is divided into 3 subtopics, you may write a maximum of 250 per subtopic listed. Be sure to cite all sources. Major Event/Epoch in American History | Time Period/Date(s) | Description and Significance of the People/Event(s) to American History | 1) The evolution of the institution of slavery from the Colonial Period to the 1860s. | 1600s-1860s | Slavery was the main source of manual labors in the southern territories after the invention of cotton gin; since the machine increase the profitable cash and required more manual labor- leading to the plantation system. Prior to this event, slave trade was mostly involved in New England- the triangle trade, which keep the flow of slaves to Europe in exchange for molasses; the main ingredient for rum making. | 2) The socio-cultural impact of the abolitionist movement including: a) The effect of Uncle Tom’s Cabin b) The Kansas-Nebraska Act c) The Compromise of 1850 d) The Underground Railroad | a) 1851-1852 b) 1854 c) 1850 d) 1800s | A- The abolitionism movement opposes the idea...
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...Becoming American: The Chinese Experience SOCY 100 February 18, 2012 Introduction The Chinese Experience records the history of the Chinese in the United States. The three-part documentary shows how the first arrivals from China, their descendants, and recent immigrants have “become American.” It is a story about identity and belonging that is relative to all Americans. The documentary is divided into three programs, each with a focus on a particular time in history. Program 1 describes the first arrivals from China, beginning in the early 1800’s and ending in 1882, the year Congress passed the first Chinese exclusion act. Program 2, which details the years of exclusion and the way they shaped and distorted Chinese American life, opens in 1882 and ends soon after Congress repealed the exclusion acts in 1943. Program 3 examines life during the Cold War, in the wake of immigration reform in 1965, through the years of the Civil Rights Movement, and to the present day with new opportunities and new challenges for Chinese Americans. These three themes discussing the history will be the focus of this paper documenting the journey of the Chinese American dream. Becoming American: The Chinese Experience Program 1 begins in the mid-1800s a time of civil war and famine in southern China. Young Chinese men left their villages to search for better opportunities in other parts of the world. When the news of a gold rush in California reached China in 1849, thousands headed...
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...Through out the mid 1800’s American drinking had begun to reach an all time high. In 1790 Americans on average would drink five gallons of spirits per year, but by 1830 the average had almost doubled to nine and a half gallons. (Sissmondo, 125) America was starting to be known as being “drunk as a beggar.” This was in part because grog shops, saloons, and taverns were controlled by public offices and acted as voting blocs. There had also been a massive wave of Irish and German Catholic immigration. However, even with the massive wave of drinking came a reform from Maine instituting a prohibition on alcohol. There were those who were against the consumption of alcohol known as the Know-Nothings and then there were the Democrats who were known for “Rum, Romanism, and Rebellion.” In 1838 Boston continued on the path of trying to improve the nations drinking habits by coming up with a law to try to deter people from drinking as much. This law stated that it was illegal to sell spirits in quantities under fifteen gallons. This created an immense amount of opposition because it was seen as an attack on the poor because the rich would be able to buy fifteen gallons at a time, but the poor were unable to buy that much at one time. Tavern owners found a way around this law by allowing patrons to by the fifteen gallons of spirits as well as one drink and then they would be able to return the fifteen gallons after they finished their drink. Another way around this law was offering...
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...America Needs More Immigrants After political security, there is nothing that the Republic needs so much as bone and sinew, for the development of its vast resources . . . we want flesh and blood, men, women, and children, to assist in fulfilling that intention. —Editorial from the Commercial and Financial Chronicle, published in August 12, 1865—as the re-United States reels back from the divisiveness of the Civil War (Abbott 156) When my ancestors came to the U.S. in the 1800s to help build the transcontinental railroad (enabling intracontinental commerce on an unprecedented scale), it was very true that immigrants contributed to America’s economic prosperity. Does this remain true today? Today is a very different time than the aftermath of the Civil War. Or is it? Now, the U.S. is also reeling back from wars, albeit of very different sorts: the Cold War and the latest series of riots in the cities. The U.S. is turning inwards, wanting to rebuild its infrastructure and inner cities. Pre-eminence in various scientific areas and the education of its citizens, who are, by world standards, lagging educationally, are again prime national goals—much as they were following the Civil War. Skills and labor are needed. Although not as powerfully delineated as in a North-South segregation, the American population is still bitterly divided over many issues—one of which is immigration. Would immigration aggravate our problems, especially unemployment and social tension, or benefit us...
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...March 9, 2012 Asian Americans have been living among us for many decades. We see them throughout our everyday lives, we see their colorful culture. When was the last time we have asked ourselves what their experiences are today and throughout American history? Or, What have been the political, social, and cultural issues and concerns of Asian Americans throughout American history? Or how about what legislation meant to constrain race within prejudicial boundaries was enacted? How did the Asian American fight this legislation? And what legislation meant to alleviate prejudicial boundaries has been enacted? How did the they promote this legislation? During the beginning of the Gold Rush in California in the 1800s, the Asian American immigrant was welcomed, but had to live under restricted laws. One could assume that the Asian American did not have it easy in the beginning. From violence to being denied citizenship, the typical Asian person in America did not seem welcomed anymore. This is why there was no arrival from any Asian countries from the late 1800s and the end of WW2. However Asians were still not the most welcomed people in America, since they were thought to be spies and were ordered to live in camps much like the Jews in Eastern Europe during the war. Today in the 21st century, an Asian American is as much as an American as an child born on American soil. Though the experience throughout American history that includes Asian immigrants, Asian individuals are tougher...
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