The United States is a country known for its variation of nationalities and ethnic races. After extensive research, and questioning I discovered that my ancestors originated from Norway and Switzerland. My family migrated to the United States in the late 1800’s from Norway due to social, economic, and religion reforms as well as, a surplus in the population. Learning of my ancestor’s migration to America has very much influenced my views on the existing immigration problems that the U.S. currently faces. Like many Norwegians in the late 1800’s my ancestors made the expedition from Norway to America in pursuit of a better life. The most common route that most Norwegian natives would voyage was from Norway to New York, and then they would colonize in the Great Plains in the upper Midwest. Which encompassed states such as Minnesota, Wisconsin, or the Dakotas. Most Norwegians preferred to settle in rural a area, which was what these states offered, as well as the possibility to stay in close proximity with other Norwegian immigrants. Succeeding the traditional Norwegian migration patterns my Great Grandfather traveled from Norway to America. He arrived in New York then journeyed to Minnesota. My Great Grandfather stayed in Minnesota for the remaining of his life. As a young boy my Grandfather, Christian Olaf Johnson migrated from Minnesota to Karvel Colorado in the early 1900’s during the homestead era, and became a first generation homesteader. After living in Colorado for approximately 30 years, the Dust Bowl hit and due to the harsh effects that the drought had on their living conditions such as starvation my Grandfather made the decision to migrate to California, which is where my family is settled to this day. This migration bra... ... middle of paper ... ...ch is why, it is necessary that we should make more efforts to allow immigrants to come to America, and have a chance at a better future. America has made such strict regulations, laws and, to migrate to America legally which I imagine is the cause of the large amount of illegal immigrants in our country today. In conclusion, migration is part of everyone’s life, had it not been for immigrants, and migrations of our ancestors the United States would not be known as country with a variation of different nationalities, and ethnicities. Without my Great Grand Father’s migration to America my family would not be where it is today and I most likely would not have all of the opportunities that I currently have when it comes to school and religious freedoms. I am very indebted to my ancestors for migrating and permitting my family to live the life that we have in America.
America is a land filled with immigrants coming from different corners of the worlds, all in hopes of finding a better life in the country. However, No one had an easy transition from his or her home country to this foreign land. Not every race thrived the same way—some were luckier than others, while some have faced enormous obstacles in settling down and being part of the American society. Many people have suffered
It always amazes me how our forebears managed to find their way to Oklee, Minnesota. There were no roads, no cars, and no railroads. People from France, Norway, Sweden, and other European countries landed on the east coast, as they flocked to our country. When it became crowded, they moved west using the waterways and rivers for transportation. Much of the land was still wilderness. Many traveled up the Mississippi River and along the Red River, settling in the Red River Valley.
Mark Wyman, the author of the brief essay known as Coming and Going: Round-Trip to America, had a different perspective about immigration to America from the various counties during the 1880’s through the 1930’s. A common belief, regarding the immigration to America, held that immigrates stayed in America during the massive shift of population, due to the enormous creation of factories and cities that erupted in America. The past day literature entices readers to believe that all immigrates came to America to work and eventually settled down to create their own families. It’s taught that all of these families stayed in America for their entire life span. Although despite the common belief, Wyman held to his own thoughts on the controversial debate and pioneered a new way of thinking. He believed that countless immigrates, which came from all over the world, actually only
In the eyes of the early American colonists and the founders of the Constitution, the United States was to represent the ideals of acceptance and tolerance to those of all walks of life. When the immigration rush began in the mid-1800's, America proved to be everything but that. The millions of immigrants would soon realize the meaning of hardship and rejection as newcomers, as they attempted to assimilate into American culture. For countless immigrants, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the existing American population.
The Rollag family, originating from Norway, came to the US because her husband, Ole, was assigned five years of military service, their farms were being reduced in size every generation, and for a better life for their children. In Norway, the firstborn son has a much easier life because he is granted a bonde gaard, allowing him to be given the valley parcels. Gro and Ole chose to settle at Decorah in Winneshiek County because of the other Norwegian immigrants who had been there longer. Since their family was known to have a farming background as well, they had no reason to refuse going to Decorah. The factors that pulled them in to settle were apparent reports of there being no pests, such as grasshoppers, or prairie fires and being filled with free land, along with healthy soil, rich loam, and plenty of wheat. Unfortunately by the time they had arrived all the free land was gone so they decided to continue their journey on to Rock County, Minnesota which they heard had some land for them and a lot of potential to grow.
There is no denying that immigration will always be a factor in the development of the United States. Whether it is due to religious beliefs, economic problems or even war in their native country, emigrants will always come to America with hopes of starting a new life in the “Land of the Free”. Fortunately, the people who do choose to legally migrate to America are generally motivated for success and well-educated. Even the immigrants who are not well educated are motivated to succeed, work hard and take jobs in areas where labor forces are low or jobs that a native-born American may not even consider, effectively making them a contributing member of society.
The Great Migration to northern states subtly began in the 1920’s, during the Jim Crow era (J. Stevenson, personal communication, November 12, 2013). An economic boom in the 1940’s during World War II generated the second Great Migration as families in the South were facing structural and environmental violence (J. Stevenson, personal communication, November 18, 2013). Poor infrastructure, lack of opportunities and jobs and incessant poverty inspired migration towards the northern and northwestern part of the country (J. Stevenson, personal communication, November 12, 2013), however Stack’s ethnography primarily focuses on families and individuals that have migrated to northern stat...
During the late 1800’s, the United States was undergoing major change. Reconstruction was occurring in the southern states, and sizeable groups were migrating westward away from the large, eastern cities and homesteading on new western lands. This migration caused many new states to appear in the next 50 years. Like the history of most states, Minnesota’s history is not an easy one to tell. Although it is complex, Minnesotans have a major group of people to thank for the creation of their state. The massive set of immigrants who would play a huge role in the formation of Minnesota arrived in the late 1800’s after millions of acres of land west of the Mississippi was acquired by the United States government (Early Settlement). These immigrants
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...
What kind of effects did migrating have on the people who did it? Many people and races immigrated to the U.S in the search for a better living condition. Most went for job opportunities and the struggle of racial discrimination. Although these are two factors behind the reason of immigration, there's many more that caused these people to feel the need to leave their homeland. One similarity between all the immigration groups is that they all were pushed and pulled by some factor. The Japanese we're pushed to America hearing news that “money grew on trees”. The Japanese first emigrated to the hawaiian islands, because of reasons such as hunger, debts, high taxes, economic hardship and the search for jobs. Alike the Japanese, the Mexican and Irish immigrated because of similar reasons. Those groups struggled
“We are nation of immigrants. Some came here willingly, some unwillingly. Nonetheless, we are immigrants, or the descendants of immigrants, one, and all. Even the natives came from somewhere else, originally. All of the people who come to this country come for freedom, or for some product of that extraordinary, illusory condition. That is what we offer here—freedom and opportunity in a land of relative plenty.” (Middletown Journal 2005)
My parents and I were the last in my immediate family to travel to New England. My grandfather was a stubborn man and did not want to leave the old country so he planted his feet and refused to follow many of his family and friends. I guess my dad was the same way for quite some time until finally he saw more opportunities awaiting him across the Atlantic. I think it had something to do with a letter he received from my Uncle Rui. I ran across the letter one day before we left. In the letter Uncle Rui was telling my father about the factories that were hiring and paying much more than what dad was making then and that there were farming communities down further on the cape that also had great working opportunities. Uncle Rui went on and on about the factories though and how much happier he and the family were.
My parents are from Oaxaca, Mexico who migrated to the United States, specifically Los Angeles, looking for the American Dream. Both parents grew up in a poor town called San Andres Yaa and San Cristobal Lachirioag. Unfortunately my dad went to the wrong path. Instead of coming here to live a better life he made his life worse. My dad fell in to alcoholism and he made our life undesirable. My life, my world, and my home depended on an alcoholic father. To make things worse my family suffered economically since my dad was the only one who worked. I had to resist the arguments and violence that my dad would do towards us when he came home all drunk up. My dad had two persons living in one body, one would be the loving father, and the other would
“What makes someone American isn 't just blood or birth, but allegiance to our founding principles and faith in the idea that anyone form anywhere can write the next chapter of our story” –Barack Obama. Immigration is flawed in the United Sates. Most North Americans have a feeling of hate towards immigrants from all over the world, because they think that immigrants are taking their jobs. The fact is that immigrants actually play a huge role in the economy and development of a country. The whole United States is built on immigrants. Throughout American history, millions of people around the world have left their home countries for a chance to start a new life in the U.S and they continue to emigrate. There are some theories as to why people
I interview my father who arrive to the united states from Mexico The major problem that motive my father to migrate to the U.S.A were as he mention on pages (1-2) was an economically problem has he said since he was a child he grew up in a farm with his parents and brothers and sisters and had many struggles since the only one that work was his father. My grandfather did all he could to give him an education and a better life that he had that’s the same idea he view for me when he become a father he was young and money was like the priority to care for the necessary that a child has, but to get money you need to have a job. With salary he earned at my grandfather farm he knew was not enough to support himself and a child and he could get any better job since he had not yet finish school so the only job he probably might had was a job that pay the same he was been pay at my grandfather farm.