Path To Citizenship Dbq Essay

There are many problems that the United States has right now some of the problems have to with the economy, but the biggest problem of the United States are the 11 million undocumented immigrants living in the U.S. In my opinion the U.S. should let the immigrants stay, but under the watch of the government. Back then the two cities Athens and Rome had many differences between the two. For example, the two had different education and military, but the two that separated the cities apart were government and the path to citizenship. In my opinion, Rome had a better government and path to citizenship.

The Athens had a more direct democracy where the men of the assembly could vote on laws. The Athens chose their Council of 500 by a lot or in other

words they chose random men to be in the Council of 500. In Document E it say, “Athenians chose their official, including the Council of 500 by lot from the general citizenry.” In citizenship native-born men were given citizenship, but native-born women were not. In Document A it shows a chart of the genders that can be citizens or not in both Rome and Athens. The Romans were a bit different instead of the citizens voting on the laws a group called the Senate made the laws for the people. In Document F it says, “The Senate had primary responsibilities for foreign relation, including selecting ambassadors, making treaties, and creating alliances.” Unlike the Athens native-born women and men were given citizenship.

Rome had a better path to citizenship because native-born male and female adults were given citizenship, but only if their parents were married in certain areas of Roman Empire.

In Document C it says, “In other words, the Athenians were more stingy with their citizenship. The Romans more freely gave it away. But gave it away in measured amounts.” This shows that the Athens were very picky to who they gave political rights and citizenship to. The Roman were very generous about giving citizenship and political rights but they also gave it equal amounts. The Romans based one’s privileges and benefits of citizenship by a list of requirements for example they would be based on their wealth, heritage, administrative competence, and e.t.c. In Document D it says, “The censors’ ranking, based on wealth, heritage [family standing], . . . and his military service.” The Athens on the other hand passed a law stating that if the majority of the citizens write the name of a person with the most power they would be exiled from the native land for 10 years. In document D it says, “ And the law is as follows: Each citizen wrote the name of the man . . . to go into exile from his native land for a period of ten

years.”

Ami Bera once said, “Our nation is built upon a history of immigration, dating back to our first pioneers, the Pilgrims.

For more than three centuries, we have welcomed generations of immigrants to our melting pot of hyphenated Americans: British-Americans; Italian-Americans; Irish-Americans; Jewish-Americans; Mexican-Americans; Chinese-Americans; Indian-Americans.” This is why I believe that all those 11 million undocumented immigrants should be allowed to stay in the U.S., but under the conditions of a set of requirements. In those requirements immigrants should have never been convicted of crime, they need to have a high school diploma or a GED, they needed to have completed at least 2 years of college, serve in the U.S. military or served in public services, they need to work at least the minimum of a 100 days, they also need to have an income higher than the federal poverty level, and finally they haven’t spent more than 100 days unemployed. The reason I have chosen these as my requirements is because the U.S. should not take those who have convicted crime just so that they can bring more trouble to the U.S., they need to have a general education, they should also serve the U.S. in a way, and finally I chose the last three because an immigrant should be working to show that they are getting an income at least above the poverty level so that the U.S knows that they can support

themselves.

In conclusion I have come to the say that the Roman had a better form of government and a greater path to citizenship. I have proven my statement with evidence that sources for both Rome and Athens. Even though the Athens allowed anybody to hold office the Romans had a better way of selecting those to join the Senate. And finally the immigrants of the United States might have a complicated time to get themselves legalized, but it is only fair to those who have gone through the long process. Just like how Ami Bera said ," Our nation is built upon a history of immigration, dating back to our first pioneers, the Pilgrims. For more than three centuries, we have welcomed generations of immigrants to our melting pot of hyphenated Americans.” I believe that the United States should give the immigrants a chance to do right and become fully fledged citizens of the United States of America.