Background Analytical

To escape prejudice, dictatorships, famine, and more, immigrants came to America from across the globe. America was the land of opportunity; a place where any hard working man could find a job and plenty of land was available. But, America wasn’t exactly as they imagined. They faced racism, discrimination, hatred, and terrible working and living conditions. Americans soon began to fear the mass amounts of foreigners coming to live in their country. “By the mid-19th century, as more second-, third-, and fourth-generation Americans began to feel a strong sense of an increasingly American heritage and national identity, they began to regard immigrants as foreign elements who competed with native-born Americans for jobs and corrupted American traditions.” (“Immigration”) They were scared of losing their culture when it mixed with different cultures. We felt we lived the American Dream and when immigrants came we worried about having to compete for it. Some Americans, like Henry Cabot Lodge, believe that immigrants will lower the standard of American life, just don’t fit into the American race, and jeopardize American’s jobs. So, his advice is to restrict immigration. “The gates which admit men to the United States and to citizenship in the great republic should no longer be left unguarded.” He is saying here that to restrict immigration, we need to be regulating how many people are allowed to immigrate into the country and what needs to be done for them to become citizens.
“Despite prejudice and problems, immigrants still found in the United States a promised land of opportunity,” (“The Promised Land…”) After anti-immigration laws were passed and destroyed such as the Homestead Act of 1862 which promised land to those who would work for it, the Chinese Exclusion Act (1882-1943) which forbade Chinese laborers from entering the United States, and civil rights acts were passed, immigration in America changed. It has gotten more diverse and more accepting of other cultures; a melting pot. But, “many scholars argue that the melting pot metaphor is inaccurate; it would be better to refer to the American experiment as a salad bowl, or a mixing of cultures over the years.” (“The Melting Pot”) America as described here is a salad of many different cultures and people that is mixed more and more thoroughly after every generation and year passes, combining all these different people into one nation.

Immigration

Immigration began as something America welcomed. Early America needed immigrants to jumpstart the economy and populate the country. But, not long after the creation of this country, Americans began the recurring anti-immigration sentiment. "This periodic hostility toward immigration has been sparked by a variety of motives, from simple anti-alian prejudice to fears of job competition and concerns about real or imagined threats to traditional American culture." After a few generations of immigrants thrived in America, they began to fear what would happen if too many people came in from other countries; that the solidifying American culture and freedoms they have would disappear. Because of these fears, those who immigrated from other countries would not be considered American until they had lived here for generations. This article also describes a little about illegal immigration, which is an issue discussed here a lot lately. The largest amount of illegal immigrants come in from Mexico, which most people know. Because illegal and legal immigrants are mostly living in California, Florida, Illinois, New Jersey, New York, or Texas, a "disprportionate share of the economic costs and social strains associated with high illegal immigrant populations" is put on a small number of states and localities. Although many economic problems can be associated with illegal immigration, this article also shows how they have benefited the economy. Slavery is illegal, and for good reason, but a large percent of farm workers in California are illegal immigrants. "Without them, many crops in California and similar states would either go unharvested or be forced up so dramatically in price, due to the increased costs of native-born labor, as to put a heavy burden on the nation's food consumers." Despite all the criticism of illegal immigration, I don't really understand why people don't look at the big picture and realize that these men and women are doing many jobs that a lot of us would rather not be doing such as mowing lawns, doing construction, and apparently, farming. "Regardless of the benefits and drawbacks of both legal and illegal immigration, the issue promises to retain its position as one of the most controversial in American society for some time to come." For all the years immigration has been discussed and changed, it is not suprising that it is and probably always will be a problem. To the world, America shows itself as a country of freedom, happiness, and opportunity. Why wouldn't people from countries where the people have little food, choice, and opportunity want to live here?

"immigration." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .

For Immigration Restrictions

In his speech about a bill he introduced to restrict immigration, Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge further explained why immigration should be restricted and how. Lodge wanted all immigrants to be required to pass a literacy test in order to enter America. When i first read this, I was not really surprised. I knew before that eventually literacy tests were given to immigrants, but I never really heard an explanation before. Later on in his speech, Lodge explains how illiterate and unskilled immigrants are a threat to workers in America. I never really thought immigration in this way, and before only really looked at how bad their conditions were and how low of wages they worked. But, because they weren't able to get the same education and training as they could have received in America, they put themselves in the situation they found themselves in. It's not really their fault, but it's still not difficult to see the negative impact this could have on the economy and workforce already established in America. Because they lack skills and training, these immigrants are willing to work in bad conditions, for more hours, and for less money. Because of this, those Americans who worked hard and are qualified for a similar job may not get hired because they would be asking for more money and less hours because those are the working conditions they are used to here. "But there is an appalling danger to the American wage earner from the flood of low, unskilled, ignorant, foreign labor which has poured into the country for some years past, and which not only takes lower wages but accepts a standard of life and living so low that the American workingman can not compete with it." What Lodge said here validates the fears Americans have because of immigration. If Americans start needing to start working more and for less money in order to get a job, the standard of living in America would shoot down. Before reading this article, I had questioned what was meant by the American race, and how these foreigners could tarnish it. Lodge explained this and gave a definition for what amkes a race. "What makes a race are their mental and, aboce all, their moral characteristcs, the slow growth and accumulation of centuries of toil and conflict." This definition of a race shows a snowball affect. A race starts off with a little snowball and grows with similar people who share similar morals and values and keeps growing with hard work and overcoming conflicts and difficulties. According to Lodge, the qualities and characteristics of a race, no matter how high they get, can be weakened if a lower race mixes with a higher one. He says that the lower race will absorb the higher one if they are both about the same size. "In other words, there is a limit to the capacity of any race for assimilating and elevating an inferior race, and when you begin to pour in unlimited numbers people of alien or lower races of less social efficiency and less moral force, you are running the most frightful risk that any people can run. The lowering of a great race means not only its own decline but that of human civilization...." He warns here that all the years that were put into the growth and creation of a great race or culture could be wiped away with the negative influence and exposure to those of lesser races. Although some of these ideas make sense to me, it is still hard for me to believe that the complete separation of cultures and races is a good idea. If the only people who lived in this country were Americans, not only would our population drop, but we would also lose the influence of other cultures that teach us new and different things and expose us to more than ourselves. Learning and interacting with people from other places helps our country to grow and learn from others' mistakes and be sure that we don't make them ourselves. But, in the end I think Lodge understands this as well. "In careless strength, with generous hand, we have kept our gates wide open to all the world. If we do not close them, we should at least place sentinels beside them to challenge those who would pass through. The gates which admit men to the United States and to citizenship in the great republic should no longer be left unguarded."

Henry Cabot Lodge " For Immigration Restrictions," Annals of American History.

[Accessed February 1, 2010].

Melting Pot

This article describes the metaphor of American and a melting pot. Not just one culture or group of people, it is mixture or combination of many different cultures and people from all over the world. "The term 'melting pot' refers to the idea that the different peoples of the world who immigrated it America would mix together and become one nation." But, of course, America and the people who lived here during waves of immigration weren't too into the melting pot. The problem here is culture. Those who lived in America for generations and feel they can call themselves Americans want only to maintain whatever they feel is American culture. But, those from other countries want to keep their heritage and culture from the countries they traveled from, but still merge into this society and be able to also call themselves American. A main problem with immigration was the clashing of cultures, and people not being able to see past cultural differences and live together as one nation. Because of the oppression and discrimination immigrants received here in America, they began to form their own little communities each with its own cultural identity. The United States of America was supposed to be united and welcoming to those who wanted to be American. But, as history has shown us, those who differ from what is considered 'American' are not welcomed into this country and offered all the opportunities they were told they would have. Instead, they were refused work and housing, forced to work in terrible conditions and live in way too crowded housing. I'm not really sure that most American's could describe one distinct American culture like you could find in most other countries. Instead, despite efforts and fighting it, America is composed of all different cultures and religions and people. It is the result of all the history and all the different people that have come here from places all over the world combining into this melting pot where all the people are somehow combined and united, even if they don't see or believe it. "The system has not been perfect, and not all have succeeded, nor has the culture become one, but the goals of political liberty and financial success do bind Americans together."

"melting pot." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .

The Promised Land, 1860-1900 (Overview)

To come and live in America, immigrants had to go through a lot to get to the place they thought would change their lives and open up doors they didn't even believe existed. They did all they could to find enough money to bring them, and if they're lucky, their families. For all different reasons and hardships they endured in their native countries, they traveled here to escape and have the freedom of new opportunities. They were promised jobs, coming from lands where jobs are scarce. But when they arrived in America, the jobs they could get were in crowded factories working all day, every day in terrible conditions. Entire families had to work in order for them to live in crowded, uncomfortable apartments. They saved every penny they made in order to achieve the opportunities that would otherwise never be available to them. But, the reality is, they really didn't have the opportunities most other Americans had and they couldn't achieve as much in their lifetimes. How immigrants were treated by other Americans really proves how we feel that every other person is inferior to anyone lucky enough to call themselves an American. This furthers the definition of being an American. But, it also complicates it. There's a state of mind most Americans have and a picture in their heads of what an American is, and anyone who doesn’t fit that description is and never will be as good as they are. It seems that Americans are always looking for some group to discriminate and hate. At the time immigrants first began arriving in America, blacks were still slaves. Because the immigrants traveled here of their own will and not taken here to be slaves, they were repressed and separated from the rest of the country, making it impossible for them to achieve everything they wanted to in the country they worked so hard to come to. But, "despite prejudice and problems, immigrants still found in the United States a promised land of opportunity." This shows that instead of fighting back and trying to be seen as equals, immigrants accepted that they were strangers in this country and that they would not be treated the same and still saw America as the best place they could be in. This also proves how no matter how bad things get here, there is another place in the world that is doing way worse. Through terrible labor and living situations and unmerciful discrimination, immigrants chose to work with the cards they were dealt and believe that whatever happened here, if they had stayed in their former country things would be worse.

"The Promised Land, 1860-1900 (Overview)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 28 Jan. 2010. .