The nineteenth century in the US

The nineteenth ampere-second in the US had an unmistakable theme, immigration. Over 20 genius million million million immigrants, virtuallyly European, came to the United States between 1820 and 1900. They came for a variety of reasons. Most came because the economies of any(prenominal)(prenominal) European countries were in crisis and workers had a rattling hard time determination work. As substantially, whatever fled religious and heathen persecution. Most of them heady to pursue to the US because of the opportunities they had heard abounded in the US.One immigrant empower it well when he said, We are in such bad shape and in motivation of so much that in that respect is nothing left for us here, we essential go. Once they arrived in the US, the immigrants were seen as second class citizens by the extensive legal age of US citizens. As one American put it, I cant understand those scum, those immigrants, for they talk unalikely and do things differently than I do. The submerge tide of Europeans also overwhelmed the limited charitable services available at the time. One historian referred to the settlement house soundment as, effective as bailing out the ocean with a teaspoon.Immigrants emigrated to America for the probability to improve themselves and run aground horrible working and upkeep conditions that were a self-aggrandising price, although it was one they were easy to pay. Immigrants came to the US because of political persecution and economic hardships at home. Some European countries persecuted accredited 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 natural law and as a result sought political asylum in the land of the free, the United States. It was also extrem ely difficult for galore(postnominal) a(prenominal) 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 encourage to go to the US because of pamphlets that gave such promises as Good work, a free deportment, 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. cardinal four to thirty two families were packed inside these six to octad storey structures, often referred to as dumbbell buildings due t o the air chisel between the buildings that make 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 cant even talk without my entire building knowing what I said, the walls are so thin. Bathrooms were also usually outside, although around the vacate of the century, some began to appear inside. Tenements were also susceptible to fires. Due to the required air pecker 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 we re also horrific. The immigrants generally did two kinds of work. The first were the jobs Americans wouldnt do and the second were the unskilled jobs that almost any person, American or immigrant, could do. Immigrants were also automatic to be paid less money for the aforesaid(prenominal) work.Immigrants were often used as strike breakers because many of them didnt understand the concept of strikes since it wasnt part of their culture. The immigrants saw these jobs as ones that had been toss 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 darkened region, there were so few jobs and so many workers. Also, immigrants misunderstood the process of liaison because it was hard to organize people who spoke different languages. Immigrants also had very little in the way of political power.This was not much of a problem, however, for as one immigrant said, I just want to s ucceed, and then Ill irritation about how much political power I have. With the exception of some groups like the Irish, the immigrants had no political power at first. However, near the turn of the century, immigrant votes became a factor as they represented 15% of the voting general in New York alone. This caused the immigrants to gain ontogenesisd political power by means of the vote. The Chinese were often called the devils of the immigrants. They were different than all the other immigrant groups because they had a different complexion.As a result, they were subject to more prejudice. The Chinese, who mainly lived and worked in California, took many railroad jobs away from the preexisting Americans. This resulted in their being stoned and having their houses fire to the ground. Such actions were supported by both major parties. As a Democratic National Committee spokesman said, We must fight to rid the kingdom of the evil Chinese. This was significant because even the p arty of the immigrants, the Democrats, were against the Chinese. Also, most Chinese, unlike most Europeans, wanted to go to the US, earn money and then go top to China.The American public resented the Chinese and labeled them as a inferior race. As a result of all this prejudice, the Chinese were largely tabu from immigrating. As Robert Ingersoll said, the Chinese were not allowed to follow the national progression that benefitted primitively immigrants. Immigrants hoped that by coming to America, they could still retain their culture which they were unable to do in large part due to the upbringing system. Immigrants hoped that they could both move up socially to the same level as the Americans as well as keep their individuation intact.When they first arrived, immigrants kept their cultural identity intact by creating ethnic neighborhoods such as Little Frances or Little Italies. These were places for people of one ethnic group, or even one town or one province, to retain the ir cultural values. These were very prominent, with 17 little Italies in Chicago alone. It was essential for these immigrants to have these places to attempt to neutralise assimilation. As Italian immigrant Verduccio Marsongeri put it, I need my little Italy because the old country is still so important to me. In this way, the free instruction given in the US to most children, American or immigrant, was a mixed blessing. While it certainly prepared immigrant children for separate jobs due to better education than their parents had had, education also resulted in a loss of cultural identity. Those children who were educated in the US were instilled with American and not old country values as well as English as the basal language. This was in fact an intended consequence of the education expansion, that the immigrant children be assimilated into American culture so as to eliminate the foreign influence on the US.While immigrants certainly didnt want their children to be assimilate d into American culture, they were willing to pay the price if it meant better education. This accounted largely for the 3 fold increase in students from 7 million in 1870 to 22 million in 1920, as well as a rise in partnership from 57 to 78 percent. While the doors of primary education were open, the doors of higher education remained largely closed to the immigrant. Immigrants could go to some lower tier occult colleges and state universities, but not in general to the big names such as Yale, Harvard or Stanford.Yet, still it was a major returns for now the immigrants could be educated the same as Americans. In conclusion, the immigrants came to the US in search of opportunity but found harsh conditions. The opportunity and advances the immigrants made in the US came at a large price. mill workers were not able to move up and were forced to work in horrid conditions for low pay. Many despaired and wanted to move back, but they couldnt due to lack of money. Many more, however , willingly stayed. The real benefits of American opportunity and culture would be passed down to the succeeding generations.Overall, the immigration from the Europe and Asia to the US was the largest in world history. As Christa Jackstone, historian, said about the affect immigrants had on the US, Immigration in the late 19th and early 20th century really made this country because they literally built this country. As the blacks had through in the years before the Civil War, the immigrants were doing the hard work hindquarters the scenes while other people took credit for it. Although the immigrants themselves paid a large price, they willingly took the first steps that would benefit future generations.