For ages, people have been migrating on the Earth’s surface. Resettlement, caused by various reasons from economic to political and cultural ones, has been shaping the countries image and contributing to the development of world society. For the past several centuries the United States of America has been considered as one of the most noticeable migration destinations, with its promise of better opportunities for earning a living and a luring chance of breathing the air of freedom and equality. Each new wave of migration is characterized by its peculiarities, and the late nineteenth-century events constitute no exclusion in that respect.
In the late 19th century, following the stream of the “Gold Rush”, millions of immigrants entered the United States, most of them attracted by the opportunity to earn “easy money” and to escape the hardships they suffered in their homelands. A large share in that-time migration pattern to the US belongs to Europe, which became overcrowded, with its population doubling to 400 million within the century and farming lands becoming scarce (Danzer 255). The American job market, compared to that of Europe, seemed to be a much more plentiful scene at that time. Industrial working conditions contributed to the growth and development of the labor movement defending the rights of workers and thus making work in America still more attractive. Moreover, the rebellious and reformative spirit characteristic of Europeans of that time, which found expression in a wave of revolutions striving for constitutional government, caused them to seek understanding and implementation of their freedom-connected dreams in the politically liberal America. A big share of newcomers who arrived in the US was escaping political persecution, such as pogroms of Jewish villages in Russia (Danzer 255). In the second half of the nineteenth century about twenty million Europeans from Italy, Southeastern Europe, Scandinavia, Russia, Poland, Germany, Ireland, England, and France left their continent for the East Coast of the US.
Immigration from oriental countries also reached a peak. While only small numbers of Chinese arrived on the West Coast between the 1850s and early 1830s, with the new Japanese law allowing Hawaiian planters to hire Japanese workers immigration rates boosted and were even more reinforced by the annexation of Hawaii in 1898. The southeastern and States appeared an attractive destination for immigrants from West Indies: Jamaican, Cuban, and Puerto Rican inhabitants strove for a secure and prosperous future for themselves, promised by the industrial boom in the US.
Despite its wide-open front door, America did not receive the newcomers with open arms. First, they had to pass a thorough medical and legal examination at immigration stations at Ellis Island in New York for the East Coast migrants and Angel Island in San Francisco Bay for the West Coast ones. Being let out into a completely new cultural environment, foreigners tried to survive by forming closed ethnic communities and cooperating in every sphere of life, together with striving for the preservation of their national identity including language and traditions.
Many native-born Americans disliked the way newcomers failed to integrate into the new society, and a strong anti-immigrant feeling rose, shaping into nativism, which recognized only the British, German, and Scandinavian as desirable migrants (Danzer 258). Religious beliefs of immigrants, especially Catholic and Jewish, were also frowned upon by the Protestant society, and some educational and social institutions were closed for the followers of those religions. In 1897 a bill requesting a literacy test for immigrants was passed by Congress and reflected powerfully the public opinion. The economic depression of the early 1880s resulted in anti-Chinese sentiments, as Chinese workers occupied a large segment of the labor market. The Chinese Exclusion Act adopted by the Congress in 1882, prolonged for another ten years in 1892 and extended indefinitely in 1902, banned the Chinese from entering the United States. This law was renounced only in 1943 (Danzer 259).
Nowadays immigration remains the factor that keeps America growing. However, measures are taken to restrict its rate to more controllable numbers: the 1990 Immigration Act limits the annual number of immigrants to 700,000 with family reunification in addition to employment-related immigration emphasized as the main immigration criteria. Public opinion has considerably sunken after the terroristic attacks of September 11, 2001. Immigrants are widely associated with criminal activities and high costs for the national health system and mortgage situation. One of the strictest anti-illegal immigration laws, Oklahoma House Bill 1804 was passed in 2007, making it a felony even to give a person a ride if they know or have grounds to suspect them of being an illegal immigrant. It also forbids the state from providing education, health care, and many other services to illegal immigrants, including infants (Oklahoma House Bill 1804). As it appears from the FOX23 Online Community forum posts, the reaction of OK citizens turned out to be supportive:
“Yes, way to go Oklahoma. Since the federals cannot agree on ANYTHING regarding illegals, it is up to the states to stop the invasion tactics and get this train wreck under control. … I hope this moderate legislation and the implementation of same will be an example to the rest of the U.S.”
All-in-all, immigration was and is a defining factor in shaping the image of the United States as the world’s “melting pot”. However, the attitudes to the newcomers vary depending on the level of integration of the latter into the society that may seem alluring and welcoming from far away, but when examined closely, provides a challenge that is yet to overcome.
Works Cited
Danzer, Gerald A., et al. The Americans: Reconstruction to the 21st Century. CA: McDougal Littell, 2009.
Oklahoma House Bill 1804. Pub. L. 51-1-5519. 2007.
beckey. “State Law 1804 (Immigration Bill)” Online posting. 2007. FOX23 Online Community.Web.