Immigration into America
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.It has been said that immigration is as old as America itself. Immigration traces back as far as the 1500's when the West faced the coming of the Spanish. At that time, the Americas had been settled by the Indians, who were soon threatened by the first immigrants of America. These Spanish conquerors threatened to undermine the culture of the Indians as well as their way of life. Evidently, immigration started from the beginning of our country's time and has had an everlasting effect on America today.Between 1880 and 1920 almost twenty-four million immigrants came to the United States. Between better salaries, religious freedom, and a chance to
Fear, ignorance, and post-Civil War depression combined to create a secluded atmosphere and eventually, a hostile home. "The Chinese are aliens, born in a foreign land, speak a foreign tongue, owe allegiance to a foreign government, are idolaters in religion, have a different civilization from ours, do not and will not assimilate with our people, come only to get money, and return; and they are inimical to our laws, evade them whenever and wherever possible. The law suspended all immigration of Chinese workers for ten years and barred Chinese immigrants then living in the U. As America continued to recruit workers from other countries, they continually worried about an immigration problem. One of the largest groups ever to immigrate to the United States was the Chinese. Many were aspired to come to the "land of honey where all the streets were paved with gold". Chinese immigrants now had yet another incentive to go west in search of their fortune. For the most part, these immigrants were young male peasants who came in search of economic success. The United States took action yet again, by creating an informal treaty with Japan, restricting Japanese immigration to the U. Eventually 12 treaty ports were opened to Westerners and Western missionaries begin to arrive in China, paving the way for Chinese youth to receive western training abroad. During the mid-1800's and early 1900's, the labor and farm hands in Eastern Europe were only earning about 15 to 30 a day. While some worked as panhandlers searching for the elusive "Gold Mountain" of California, most moved to fill the low paid labor created by America's rapidly expanding industries. The British were given the power to preside over the immigration of the Chinese people.
Common topics in this essay:
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Chinese Chinese,
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Mountain California,
Constitution United,
Japanese Americans,
California Chinese,
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post-civil war,
chinese workers,
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peasant farmers,
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Acceptance Essays
