Opinion
*These are our views on the topic of immigration and how it has affected the U.S today! Feel free to comment.
During the 19th and 20th century, immigration was a huge factor to the growth of the United States. Between 1865 and 1915, around 25 million immigrants came to the U.S. Though it did lead to several benefits such as expanding mass transportation, several new inventions, and supportive ethnic sections of cities like Chinatown, it also caused major problems in big cities, and social tension throughout the country.
Because of the huge amount of immigrants coming to the United States in a short amount of time, cities were overcrowded and good paying jobs were a rarity. Immigrants were willing to work for dirt-cheap wages, and the economy struggled. Most immigrant families were living in row houses, which were extremely unsanitary and overcrowded. Water was polluted, and streets were filled with manure and trash. Fire hazards, crime and disease were also issues. Most immigrants saved up their money and traveled on disgusting steerage ships to get here, and then many were crushed. We think that it is disappointing that these immigrants came here hoping for a better life, but when they arrived it was a huge struggle. Don DeLillo, an American writer stated that, "America was and is the immigrant's dream." We disagree with this statement. America could have had the potential to be an immigrant’s dream, but we chose to restrict immigrants’ opportunities, and crush this precious image that people had about America.
Political Machines were a big cause of problems that occurred from immigration. Though the Machines provided immigrants with housing, jobs, and naturalization, they were in terrible living conditions, and once these immigrants got a job, the Boss determined whether they were successful. Once a political machine was in place, getting rid of it was near impossible. Machines also led to crime, such as prostitution and drugs. These immigrants were also living with other people of their same ethnicity. The United States became a huge “melting pot,” and we think that if our goal was to Americanize these immigrants, then we should have tried to mix them up a little bit, without forcing them to ditch their religion or cultures. If everyone worked together, things would have been so much easier.
Along with living conditions, the mass immigration era caused discrimination and racial tension throughout the country. One of the reasons that immigrants left their home country was to escape religious persecution, only to find when they got to America that they would face the same issues. It is ridiculous that groups were formed just to restrict certain groups such as Irish-Catholics and Jews. For years, racial discrimination in America had been an issue, but after the Civil War and the installation of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments you would think that people would start to cooperate with other races. For example, people were so concerned about Chinese taking their jobs that they just decided to ban them from entering the country for about 60 years. America is supposed to be “the land of the free,” so why was it so hard for us to accept other cultures. Nativism, which is favoring native-born Americans, put a stop to immigrants’ hopes and dreams. Honestly, the only people that can be called “native-born Americans,” are the Native Americans. The people who are making such a huge effort to restrict these new immigrants are really just immigrants themselves. Their parents or grandparents were immigrating for the very same reason, but they were not put under such terrible conditions and restrictions when they got here. We know that with 25 million new individuals entering a country in a short amount of time, problems are going to arise, but people handled this new change in the wrong way. The choices that certain citizens and government officials of the U.S made affected our country greatly, and the consequences still stand today.
Sources besides textbook:
http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/delillo/
http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2008/February/20080307112004ebyessedo0.1716272.html
During the 19th and 20th century, immigration was a huge factor to the growth of the United States. Between 1865 and 1915, around 25 million immigrants came to the U.S. Though it did lead to several benefits such as expanding mass transportation, several new inventions, and supportive ethnic sections of cities like Chinatown, it also caused major problems in big cities, and social tension throughout the country.
Because of the huge amount of immigrants coming to the United States in a short amount of time, cities were overcrowded and good paying jobs were a rarity. Immigrants were willing to work for dirt-cheap wages, and the economy struggled. Most immigrant families were living in row houses, which were extremely unsanitary and overcrowded. Water was polluted, and streets were filled with manure and trash. Fire hazards, crime and disease were also issues. Most immigrants saved up their money and traveled on disgusting steerage ships to get here, and then many were crushed. We think that it is disappointing that these immigrants came here hoping for a better life, but when they arrived it was a huge struggle. Don DeLillo, an American writer stated that, "America was and is the immigrant's dream." We disagree with this statement. America could have had the potential to be an immigrant’s dream, but we chose to restrict immigrants’ opportunities, and crush this precious image that people had about America.
Political Machines were a big cause of problems that occurred from immigration. Though the Machines provided immigrants with housing, jobs, and naturalization, they were in terrible living conditions, and once these immigrants got a job, the Boss determined whether they were successful. Once a political machine was in place, getting rid of it was near impossible. Machines also led to crime, such as prostitution and drugs. These immigrants were also living with other people of their same ethnicity. The United States became a huge “melting pot,” and we think that if our goal was to Americanize these immigrants, then we should have tried to mix them up a little bit, without forcing them to ditch their religion or cultures. If everyone worked together, things would have been so much easier.
Along with living conditions, the mass immigration era caused discrimination and racial tension throughout the country. One of the reasons that immigrants left their home country was to escape religious persecution, only to find when they got to America that they would face the same issues. It is ridiculous that groups were formed just to restrict certain groups such as Irish-Catholics and Jews. For years, racial discrimination in America had been an issue, but after the Civil War and the installation of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments you would think that people would start to cooperate with other races. For example, people were so concerned about Chinese taking their jobs that they just decided to ban them from entering the country for about 60 years. America is supposed to be “the land of the free,” so why was it so hard for us to accept other cultures. Nativism, which is favoring native-born Americans, put a stop to immigrants’ hopes and dreams. Honestly, the only people that can be called “native-born Americans,” are the Native Americans. The people who are making such a huge effort to restrict these new immigrants are really just immigrants themselves. Their parents or grandparents were immigrating for the very same reason, but they were not put under such terrible conditions and restrictions when they got here. We know that with 25 million new individuals entering a country in a short amount of time, problems are going to arise, but people handled this new change in the wrong way. The choices that certain citizens and government officials of the U.S made affected our country greatly, and the consequences still stand today.
Sources besides textbook:
http://www.k-state.edu/english/nelp/delillo/
http://www.america.gov/st/peopleplace-english/2008/February/20080307112004ebyessedo0.1716272.html
