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Short essay on american culture
Short essay on american culture
Reflection of American culture
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Ellis island brought millions of immigrants to America between the years 1892 and 1954. It is said that 40% of our population today can trace their ancestors to Ellis Island. Many people of many nationalities came to The United States get a chance at having the “American Dream”. Whilst pursuing their dreams, they left their marks on American culture. No one has influenced us so much as the Italians and their way of life. The 18th Century was a time where most immigrants were of Irish, British, and German descent. From the 1890’s, through the next couple decade, Italians, and Jews would be the cause a new wave of immigration. Between 1900 and 1915, 3 million immigrants would take the journey, and travel to America. They would come through the famed “Ellis …show more content…
He was a photographer who brought attention to the living conditions of immigrants in america. Immigrants were living upwards of 12 people in a room. Rooms without ventilation, or indoor plumbing, the unsanitary conditions made for an unhealthy cycle of disease. Cholera, and tuberculosis were very common in this time, because they lacked the knowledge we know today. The italians had never encountered such problems as this. In Italy, while they lived in close quarters, they also spent a large portion of their time outside. Not only were there homes unsafe, but also their work places. When the Italian immigrants came to America for work they were desperate. They had already come for jobs, they were determined and hardworking. They would take the lowest class jobs wherever they could. City projects like building subway systems, and digging pipelines were not uncommon among the immigrants. Even children at young ages, would take jobs in factories, or even selling newspapers on the streets. Their work ethic and determination was unwavering. They opened the doors for future generations of immigrants. Although, they still had a long way to
He worked hard for every part of life he earned as an Italian-American in the early 20th century. His life would pave the way, quite literally, for millions of Americans, including my father. My father is a proud American who works everyday to sew his own piece of cloth into the fabric of history this nation wears. A famous Italian- American songwriter, Bruce Springsteen, writes, “There’s diamonds in the sidewalks, the gutter’s lined in song.” In a way, he was right. There are riches to be had but only if one chooses to see all of the potential in the settings around himself and put in effort. My great-grandfather knew this and chose to forge his own destiny. A destiny many immigrants strive toward
“Between 1880 and 1920 more than 4.1 million Italians were recorded as entering the United States” (Daniels, p. 188). The Italian immigrants of post-1880 were different from other immigrant groups by these topics of religion, labor, family orientation, politics, and education. The 1880s brought a change not only in the amount of Italian immigrants but also the characteristic of them as a group. This group of immigrants was incredibly male dominated, in comparison to the other immigrants of this time, most settling in New York and Chicago. The living conditions that these Italians encountered were not pleasant. It was common for them to live in very crowded four bedroom apartments. Compared to other immigrants, they had one of the worsts living conditions usually very close to industrial working sites. These apartments commonly did not have plumbing. As unskilled workers, they tended to work in manual labor, on the railroad and in steel companies with dangerous conditions. These work areas were so dangerous that over forty deaths were common for each year. Sometimes Italians in construction would live in boxcars while working on a long-term project. This can be seen in the third picture of the additional links, Italian Laborers, Padrones, and Pernicious Pasta. The boxcar is not very large space and is being shared by three workers. There is obviously no plumbing, very filthy, and most likely without furniture inside. The men look grimy and worn out in the photo. The workday would usually be over ten hours a day, more than five days a week so it is understandable why some would opt just to live on the worksite. Although they worked all these hours, many still picked through garbage for food and scrap resources. Many of these im...
...they will not settle for less. Time is wasting. For, “Time which brings us from the lowest condition up to the highest civilization; time, so that we can raise men to a higher plane” (Reading 10, p. 2). Gompers has greater aims, for he wants to better America to keep advancing and creating. Of all of America, Chicago was the fastest growing city because of its railroad factory, which needed unskilled laborers like Italian immigrants. “The production of steel defined industrial Chicago” (Slideshow 7: Italian Immigrants in Chicago). If Italian immigrants were not in New York City, they were in Chicago. Wherever they lived they were experiencing horrifying working environments. In order to understand why these changes in conditions were so necessary between, it is essential to analyze the experiences of pre and post 1880 immigrants, especially that of the Italians.
Throughout the 1800’s many restrictive religious laws and economic conditions wore away and started to fuel the largest human migration in history of the world.
Last but not least, the Italian-American’s contributed greatly to America’s past and left quite an imprint on our ‘melting pot’ culture. The Italian-Americans came to America following a dream; whether it be temporarily ‘escaping’ South Italy or a lifelong aspirations toward music. There perseverance and bravery left an impact stronger than words can express which assisted our future successes. Slowly yet steadily, Italians rose up the social ladder, opening up like a blossoming flower to their fellow Americans. Establishing their roots, then blossoming into a beautiful flower, revealing all beyond everyone’s expectations. Today, Italians have surpassed all the other ethnic groups in average job income and job prestigious, a true example of hard work paying off. As for, “Chi la dura la vince,”-He who perseveres wins at last...
Ellis Island, what was once one of the world’s most important gateways to America, remains a visiting site. Ellis Island has many long but interesting histories. Located in the bay near New York City, it was the gateway to millions of immigrants from all over the world. One of the first things that you would witness as you pass through the gateway to a better life is the statue of liberty, standing strong and proud. Going through Ellis Island was also a huge risk to take. In this essay, you will find out why as well as many other interesting facts.
Many are unaware of the discrimination that Italian Immigrants had to face during their first wave to America, and even today. During their earliest times in America, labor struggles were forced upon them. Just like today with the Mexicans coming to America to make money for their loved ones back home, Italians traveled across seas to make a living to send home to their families. And just like today, many felt the Italians stole jobs away because they were willing to work for the lowest wages. This was only the beginning of Anti-Italianism discrimination in America (Salvatore J., 1999).
The United States experienced major waves of immigration during the colonial era, the first part of the 19th century and from the 1880s to 1920. Many people immigrated to America for
Nicola Sacco and Barolmeo Vanzetti arrived in America as Italian immigrants in 1908. Sacco was seventeen working at a shoe...
During the last 10-15 years of the Progressive Era, more than 15 million immigrants arrived in the United States— a number equal to the total number of immigrants that arrived in the previous 40 years. In 1910, three-fourths of New York City's population was made up of either immigrants or first generation Americans. Unlike earlier immigrants, the majority of the newcomers during this time came from non-English speaking European countries. Immigrants mostly traveled in from...
Until the 1860s, the early immigrants not only wanted to come to America, but they also meticulously planned to come. These immigrants known as the “Old Immigrants” immigrated to America from many countries in Northern and Western Europe, known as, Sweden, Norway, Scandinavia, Wales and Ireland. Some of them traveled to Canada, but most of them came to the U.S. seeking freedom they didn’t get in their own countries. Ireland had also recently suffered through a potato famine, where the citizens were left poor and starving. Most settled in New York City and other large cities, where they worked in factories and other low-paying jobs. The immigrants caused a great increase in population in these areas. The “Old Immigrants” tried not to cluster themselves with others of their own nationality. They would mostly try to fit in with Americans as best as they could. Many of them had a plan to come to America, so they saved their money and resources before they arrived so they could have a chance at a better life. On the other hand, another group of immigrants began to arrive
Most immigrants wanted to farm because it was a way of life they were familiar with, and they believed they could make enough money to survive. Unlike most of the immigrants, Italians did not want to farm, they preferred to work in the cities. The Italians immigrants never expected to stay in the United States and therefore ended up living as cheaply possible doing construction jobs. Half of the 1900-1910 Italian immigrants were manual laborers. They dug out tunnels, laid railroad tracks, built bridges and roads, and made the first skyscrapers(McNeil, S, Digital history). Italian immigrants took over the United States in terms of immigration population. The women did work but were almost never domestic servants. To reconcile the needs to earn money and maintain a backbone for the family, they would take piece work into their homes. Italians, like most immigrant groups, small business served as help for moving up in the immigrant status. Due to a lack of ethnic cohesiveness in America, politics for the immigrants were not pr...
In a time of social and economic reform, many different groups of people traveled from their homeland in search for a better life in America. Between 1840’s and 1880’s, began the introduction of now known as today the “old” immigrants, most generally known as the Irish and German. In contrast, later in 1880’s and 1920’s arrived the “new” immigrants, which includes mostly Southern and Eastern Europeans, as well as Asians. The new immigrants differentiated from the old immigrants in many different ways but yet faced similar struggles that impacted American history we know as today. In this paper, I will contrast the different experiences and obstacles both the “new” and “old” immigrants faced as they come to America and how they are both significantly important in the social era.
When Italian immigrants came to America, many were not welcomed in the communities of the Germans and Irish. The neighborhoods that the Itali...
Experiencing unrivaled growth, immigration reached its peak prosperity in the late 1800’s and specifically the early 1900’s. Prior to 1875, the majority of immigrants entering into the United States were financially stable middle to upper class individuals who spoke English and primarily gained a living through skilled labor. Moreover, these pre-1875 immigrants, largely form Ireland and