Immigration In America Essay

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The nineteenth century in the US had an unmistakable theme, immigration. Over 20 million immigrants, mostly European, came to the United States between 1820 and 1900. They came for a variety of reasons. Most came because the economies of many European countries were in crisis and workers had a very hard time finding work. As well, some fled religious and cultural persecution. Most of them decided to come to the US because of the opportunities they had heard abounded in the US. One immigrant put it well when he said, We are in such bad shape and in need of so much that there is nothing left for us here, we must go. Once they arrived in the US, the immigrants were seen as second class citizens by the vast majority of US citizens. As one American put it, I can't understand those scum, those immigrants, for they talk differently and do things differently than I do. The flood tide of Europeans also overwhelmed the limited charitable services available at the time. One historian referred to the settlement house movement as, effective as bailing out the ocean with a teaspoon. Immigrants emigrated to America for the opportunity to improve themselves and found horrible working and living conditions that were a large price, although it was one they were willing to pay.

Immigrants came to the US because of political persecution and economic hardships at home. Some European countries persecuted certain ethnic groups for no apparent reason. For example, both Yugoslavia and France blamed Jews for their economic problems. As the French Secretary of the Treasury put it, Those Evil Jews who befoul our towns shall not work here, for they are second. Christians shall get the right. Jews would get beaten by the police and as a result sought political asylum in the land of the free , the United States. It was also extremely difficult for many to get jobs in Europe where 50% of the workers were unemployed in some countries. The main exception was England which thrived on industry as the US did. Workers were encouraged to go to the US because of pamphlets that gave such promises as Good work, a free life, a good life for all. The demand of factory workers was constantly growing, and immigrants decided to take their chance. As one immigrant said, We have nothing to lose, for we have nothing. The US is our greatest and only chance.

Immigrants came to the US expecting a higher standard of living but were forced into poor living and working conditions. The vast majority of immigrants, who lived in cities, lived in tenements. These were apartment buildings that were shabbily constructed and contained extremely small apartments. Twenty four to thirty two families were packed inside these six to eight storey structures, often referred to as dumbbell buildings due to the air shaft between the buildings that made them look like dumbbells from above. The residents were highly susceptible to disease, and life expectancy was significantly lower, by about 10 years, in these areas. Up to 4,000 people lived on some city blocks. Families had one, maybe two, small rooms. They had no privacy as the walls were thin as well. As one immigrant put it, I can't even talk without my entire building knowing what I said, the walls are so thin. Bathrooms were also usually outside, although around the turn of the century, some began to appear inside.

Tenements were also susceptible to fires. Due to the required air shaft between buildings, the air got trapped which caused more fires. As the material that tenements were made of was very susceptible to fire, widespread fires were common. As one immigrant described it, I watched it and as the flames struck it, the entire block seemed to go up in a flash. It was horrible.

Working conditions for the immigrants were also horrific. The immigrants generally did two kinds of work. The first were the jobs Americans wouldn t do and the second were the unskilled jobs that almost any person, American or immigrant, could do. Immigrants were also willing to be paid less money for the same work. Immigrants were often used as strike breakers because many of them didn t understand the concept of strikes since it wasn t part of their culture. The immigrants saw these jobs as ones that had been abandoned and so they took them, provoking anger in Americans for job stealing . As Guillaume Fouchon said, We do not strike because it challenges our honor. As well, in the old country, there were so few jobs and so many workers. Also, immigrants misunderstood the process of striking because it was hard to organize people who spoke different languages.

Immigrants also had...

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