Immigrants In The 19th Century

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Even though there were hundreds of immigrants coming to America, from the 1800's to the 1900's, each group was stereotyped once they arrived. In order for immigrants to get to America, they had to journey a harsh trip. People from all over the world came to America, either to get away from diseases or to get new chances in the growing industries. Once they arrived in the United States they were met with worse conditions than from what they were fleeing. Certain legislations were formed by the Americans against these Immigrants. Immigrant groups such as the Irish, Russians, and Chinese came to America for good opportunities or an escape but, instead were met with discrimination. The Irish were suffering from the Potato Famine and as a result …show more content…

Cholera is a disease that was caused because of the lack of sanitation in food and water (Alchin). Due to Cholera the Russians had a disadvantage and decided to immigrate. Also, Russians were going through religious persecutions. Russian-Jews were being killed by 'progroms' or riots aimed at the persecution of Jews(Alchin). This was a terrible time period for them and it made them immigrate. In addition to the Russians wanting an escape, they were going through a revolution against the British.(Alchin). America's industrial revolution was an influential factor in their decision to leave Russia. They wanted to flee all the persecutions, revolutions, and diseases and get a new life through these industrial revolutions. The reaction of Americans to the Russians when they arrived was not good, they were limited in the opportunities they had hoped for. There were reports against the immigrants which created more prejudice against them. The Russians were not accepted by the Americans after escaping horrors from …show more content…

The Chinese Exclusionary Act of 1882 was directly aimed at the Chinese. It was the first act to directly attack a certain race of nationality(Wu). This federal legislation prohibited Chinese laborers from entering, prevented Chinese laborers who left from returning, and made a path for more acts to be passed against specific nationalities(Wu). This act was an example of discrimination against the Chinese. It had major impacts on the Chinese living in America. These result were that it increased the amount of prejudice against them, forced families apart, Chinese immigrated illegally, businesses were closed, and young men were traveling alone because of female restrictions(Wu). The Chinese came to America with good motives but, were faced with this negative legislation. The Immigration Act of 1965 was extremely different because its motives was to reunite immigrant families. It wanted to help the immigrants instead of hurt them. Any former quota system was destroyed and made a policy based on bringing families together and attracting skilled labor in the United States(History.com Staff). However, this had negative impacts on America because it grew the amount of illegal immigration. This issue is still debated on today. A break between the past immigration policy was also a conclusion of the act(History.com Staff).

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