This essay will focus on the Italian and Ukrainian immigration to the United States in the late 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century and the Push-pull factors that triggered this migration, (Strangers to These Shores, Pg 150). The United States is known for welcoming Immigrants from all over the world, but in reality, immigrants were treated with hostility. We will also pay close attention the similarities between their assimilations to life in the United States. Like any Outgroup member, both ethnic groups were disrespected for just being foreign and new to the Country, (Strangers to These Shores, Pg 12). Ukrainian and Italians immigrants arrived around the beginning of the 20th century to provide for their families and to escape …show more content…
Ukrainians are slavic people and are eastern slavs. Most of the immigrants came from Western Ukraine. These people searched for a better life, in Ukraine there were advertisements for high pay in the United States which persuaded them to leave, this was the pull factor(Strangers to These Shores, Pg 150) .In order to escape the poverty of peasant life, which would be considered the push factor, men left their families to make their fortune in America, (Strangers to These Shores, Pg 150). This wave of immigration was made possible with the use of steamships. Prior to steamships, intracontinental travel would have taken months by ships, as it was the only way to cross the Atlantic. Ukrainians actually migrated to the United States prior to this mass immigration of the 19th century, during the colonial times. Ivan Bohdan being the first Ukrainian to step on American shores with his friend, Captain John Smith. Like all other European immigrants, they were checked for disease at Ellis Island, those who were not healthy were shipped back to their homeland. The lucky who were accepted worked in rough conditions in the factories and steel mills in cities like Chicago and Detroit. By 1914, 700,000 Ukrainians arrived to the United States. Once the Men who left their wife and children back in Ukraine sent for their families once they …show more content…
Italian emigration was fueled by severe poverty, most immigrants came from Southern Italian Islands, including Sicily and Sardinia. Like the Ukrainians, they came for work to send back home. These Italian peasants had poor crop failure due to unfruitful soil. The low yield lead to malnutrition and disease among the poor. 25,000 Italian immigrants were registered in America by 1870. Between 1880 and 1924, more than 4 Million Italians immigrated to the United States, half of which were between the decade of 1900 to 1910. Italian men experienced Shuttle migration (Strangers To These Shores, pg 171). were they would travel back and forth between Italy and America. Italians were considered bandits and scoundrels. Unfortunately they were also portrayed as having criminality in their genetics. Italians were Catholics, and at the time, the religion was frowned upon by the protestant Americans. Gay Talese, An Italian American writer describes assimilation to American culture as “And so you know the difficulty in becoming an American. It isn’t a sudden process. You get over it. But you don’t ever quite get over it. You carry it with you. That’s the great—and not so great—aspect of being or trying to be an assimilated American.” Today, Italian-Americans ancestry are the fifth-largest ethnic group in the United States. Italians
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
“Columbia’s Unwelcome Guests”, by Frank Beard (February 7, 1885), displays how the unrestricted US policies that were implemented were causing more immigrants to emigrate from Europe. The new aliens are depicted as anarchist, socialist, and the Mafia arriving from the sewers of Italy, Russia, and Germany. In the late nineteenth century, the U.S. government was not only concerned with the racialization of the immigrants entering the country, but also
Immigration has existed around the world for centuries, decades, and included hundreds of cultures. Tired of poverty, a lack of opportunities, unequal treatment, political corruption, and lacking any choice, many decided to emigrate from their country of birth to seek new opportunities and a new and better life in another country, to settle a future for their families, to work hard and earn a place in life. As the nation of the opportunities, land of the dreams, and because of its foundation of a better, more equal world for all, the United States of America has been a point of hope for many of those people. A lot of nationals around the world have ended their research for a place to call home in the United States of America. By analyzing primary sources and the secondary sources to back up the information, one could find out about what Chinese, Italians, Swedish, and Vietnamese immigrants have experienced in the United States in different time periods from 1865 to 1990.
Moving from the unpleasant life in the old country to America is a glorious moment for an immigrant family that is highlighted and told by many personal accounts over the course of history. Many people write about the long boat ride, seeing The Statue of Liberty and the “golden” lined streets of New York City and how it brought them hope and comfort that they too could be successful in American and make it their home. Few authors tend to highlight the social and political developments that they encountered in the new world and how it affected people’s identity and the community that they lived in. Authors from the literature that we read in class highlight these developments in the world around them, more particularly the struggles of assimilating
In the book, Coming to America, by Roger Daniels, he states “Between 1880 and 1920 more than 4.1 million Italians were recorded as entering the United States.” (p188) However, most Italians did not come to America, they mostly immigrated to Argentina and Brazil. The Italian immigrants who did travel to America did not stay permanently. About thirty to fifty percent returned home. The Italians who did come to America were mostly artisans, merchants, businessmen, professional people, musicians, actors, writers and seamen were the occupations most Italians
...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.
Unlike many immigrates, Russians did not necessarily immigrate to the United States overseas. Due to overpopulation, political disruption and famine, many Russian citizens could not endure the lifestyle any long, thus causing them to leave home in search of a new start. This is where the Russians found a large quantity of land and claimed it theirs: Alaska (Library of Congress). Once se...
The political machine was supported by continuing immigration from 1800 to 1920, when more than eighteen million European immigrants flooded into the Untied States in search of economic opportunity and political and religious freedom. At first they came from Northern and Central Europe and then largely from Eastern and Southern Europe. (New Colossus , Pg. 1) New York alone reported that by June 30, 1899 immigrant arrivals from the Russian Empire were around 90,787. Arrivals, from the same year, from all countries of persons of German race were 29,682 and Hebrew arrivals were 60,764. (Changing the Character of Immigration, Pg. 1) Unfortunately, with such a large influx in population during a short amount of time and other variables such as immigrants being unable to speak English, inadequate affordable urban housing, and insufficient jobs a large amount of immigrants ended up in growing slums without the feeling of security or knowledge of how to find help, if there was any, from an unrepresentative government. These factors transformed incoming immigrants into easy prey for patronage from the political machine and sustained it by giving their votes. In the 1930’s mass immigration had stopped and representative government had begun, leading to a decline in patronage needed by then integrated immigrants and a decline in votes for the machine.
Italian immigrants are not very different from what we have learned as the Irish, Native Americans, Jews, Mexicans, and the first settlers. Everyone who came to America was because they wanted a better life and their home country was in chaos, famine, religious persecution, and plain
The United States has been historically a country of immigrants. Since the first British settlers landed on the shores of the eastern United States in the 1600’s, there has been a strong and steady influx of immigrants to North America. They were driven by the promise of a new and better life for themselves and for their families. Over the last 400 years there have been successive waves of immigration that have risen and fallen over time. Historically most immigration has come from the European nations with waves coming to the United States by region and specific countries. In the 1800’s there was a mass migration of Irish, German, British, and French Immigrants. The largest group, the Irish, was escaping the Potato Famine that left Ireland in an awful state of poverty and famine. These groups sought a better life from the poor economic and social times of Europe and were lured to the United States by the hope of land, freedom, opportunity, and jobs. Later improvements in technology in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s led to lower transatlantic fares. Many Slavic people, Greeks, Hungarians, Poles and over 4 million European Jews came over during this time in search of a better quality life, better jobs, and more oppor...
Throughout the history of this nation there are thousands of upon thousands of immigrants coming to this country and achieving the American dream. The Irish immigrated to the United States in 1840 – 1850s in big numbers driven by hunger and by the oppression of the British. Many of them became successful politicians, police officers and businessmen. One of the brightest examples in the history of Irish immigration success is Henry Ford. His grandfather immigrated in the 1840s escaping the potato famine. Henry Ford himself was born in a poor family in Dearborn, Michigan went on to become the most successful car builder in the country (Hennigan). Between 1880 and 1920 the first wave of Italians mainly from South Italy immigrated in the United States (Hendin 13). Many escaped from the poor countryside in Southern Italy to seek better life in America. Shining ex...
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).
“Chi la dura la vince.” This soft-spoken Italian proverb sums up the series of events that Italian immigrants endured on their journey in America. Between 1880 and 1920, more than four million Italian-Americans immigrated to the United States of America in hopes of temporarily escaping Southern Italy’s impoverished and overpopulated society. Once in America, these new Italian-American citizens started ‘Little Italys’ or ethnic enclaves of Italians. Some Little Italies were even large enough to support a full economic structure of their own, providing a plethora of job opportunities. These ‘small’ Italian communities shielded themselves from general stereotypes and provided a sense of belonging which helped Italians establish their roots. America’s attitude toward these new Italian-American citizens can be summed up in part by Congressman James McClintic, a Democrat Oklahoman: "I say the class of immigrants [Italians] coming to the shores of the United States at this time are not the kind of people we want as citizens in this country." Inplace of responding by aggressive human nature, America’s new Italian citizens viewed this as an opportunity to enrich family and community bonds. As for Italian traditions, they struggled to be accustomed between the two Italian generations as the already ‘Americanized’ Italian children clashed with their parents, which resulted in altered traditions. One major example is Italian-American food which chain restaurants have come to paint as a type of restaurant that specializes in spaghetti with meatballs, pizza, and has red checked tablecloths.
Kessner, Thomas and Betty Boyd Caroli, “Today’s Immigrants, Their Stories.” Kiniry and Rose 343-346. Print.
When Italian immigrants came to America, many were not welcomed in the communities of the Germans and Irish. The neighborhoods that the Itali...