Immigrants traveled hundreds of miles from their homes, only with what possessions they could carry, in order to obtain the rights and chase the promise that America had to offer. Mary Antin illustrates in The Promised Land how if given the chance, immigrants will represent the promises and virtues of American society. Antin shows that public education, freedom from religious persecution, and freedom of expression as a citizen are aspects of life Americans may take for granted but immigrants certainly do not.
One of the promises of coming to America was the public education. Upon arrival, children of immigrants who could go to school were promptly registered in the public school system. Before coming to America, some immigrant children had
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In the Old World, these children did not have the opportunity to attend school, thus this restricted their knowledge base to only the knowledge of the community. To many immigrants, schooling and education was of the utmost importance as it provided the potential for upward mobility for the entire family: “He could send his children to school, to learn all those things that he knew by fame to be desirable” (Antin, 161). Often times, the older children would have to work, and would in turn become stuck in the Old World, in order for the younger ones to go to school. This allowed the younger children to escape into the New World and in turn embody the promises of a better life in America. Mary Antin’s family was no exception. While, Mary was allowed the privilege of receiving an education, the same privilege was not given to her older sister Frieda, who had to work in a factory making garments in order to help support the family: “[Mary] was led to the schoolroom, with its sunshine…while, [Frieda] was led to a workshop, with its foul air, care-lined faces, and the foreman’s stern command” (Antin …show more content…
Mary went from not even attending school in Russia, to star pupil in America, illustrating the promise that America had to offer immigrants. American afforded Mary with opportunities that were impossible in her home country of Russia. Even though Frieda also lived in America, her circumstances represent the realities of the Old World. For instance, Frieda’s only way of learning about American history was through Mary, as she was not afforded time to read while working. By not attending school, Frieda did not only became stuck in the Old World mentality in terms of education but also in terms of marriage. Her father “had put Frieda to work out of necessity. The necessity was hardly lifted when she had an offer of marriage, but my father would not stand in the way of what he considered her welfare” (Antin, 218). Frieda was not given the opportunity to marry for love, as was the American way, but was married out of necessity for her welfare, reminiscent of the Old World mentality. Public education provided Mary with the opportunity to marry not because she had to in order to survive, but because she wanted to. The stark contrast between the lives of Frieda, representing life in the
“Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness”, three common goals immigrants came to America seeking with hopes of the promise to prosper and gain success. However, during the Gilded Age it seemed as though these were attainable only for the select few, while others left the land they knew to spend their lives toiling away in pursuit of the American dream, many never understanding how unattainable it really was. While the Gilded Age was a time of an industrial boom and a growing economy, those working by the sweat of their brow to make the success of this time possible, were not actually ever grasping this wealth, but rather putting right back into the pockets of the wealthy. The Gilded Age compromised the American Dream by limiting the chances of the immigrant working class, and thus creating a cycle of missed opportunities keeping the immigrants from progressing much further then when they came to America to begin with.
This historical document, The Frontier as a Place of Conquest and Conflict, focuses on the 19th Century in which a large portion of society faced discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and religion. Its author, Patricia N. Limerick, describes the differences seen between the group of Anglo Americans and the minority groups of Native Americans, Asian Americans, Hispanics Americans and African Americans. It is noted that through this document, Limerick exposes us to the laws and restrictions imposed in addition to the men and women who endured and fought against the oppression in many different ways. Overall, the author, Limerick, exposes the readers to the effects that the growth and over flow of people from the Eastern on to the Western states
The 1920s was a hard and painstaking era in American history. Many family's throughout New York lived in absolute poverty and saved week to week just to make enough to eat and pay the rent. Many Immigrants flooded the streets desperate for work while living conditions were harsh and many starved. This is just the case of the novel Bread Givers, written by Anzia Yezierska. In this story we follow Sarah Smolinsky, an ambiguous independent Jewish girl "trapped" by her religious traditions. Her story unfolds as she breaks away from her controlling parents and moves to work and go to school for hopes of being a school teacher. Her life is not easy and she must endure countless sacrifices just to get by. With the determination of her will she graduates college, but returns to her father to take care of him in his old age. In the begging of the story Sarah hates her father, and everything about him, and this relates to her hatred of his God and his traditions. From hatred of her father she refuses her Jewish traditions and religious beliefs to make a better life for her self in America. After accomplishing her goals, she can't ignore the emptiness of her fathers love. Sarah yearns with a wanting to be loved by her father. She begins feels remorse for him, and starts to remember her past and where she came from, returning slowly to her once lost traditions.
In a lively account filled that is with personal accounts and the voices of people that were in the past left out of the historical armament, Ronald Takaki proffers us a new perspective of America’s envisioned past. Mr. Takaki confronts and disputes the Anglo-centric historical point of view. This dispute and confrontation is started in the within the seventeenth-century arrival of the colonists from England as witnessed by the Powhatan Indians of Virginia and the Wamapanoag Indians from the Massachusetts area. From there, Mr. Takaki turns our attention to several different cultures and how they had been affected by North America. The English colonists had brought the African people with force to the Atlantic coasts of America. The Irish women that sought to facilitate their need to work in factory settings and maids for our towns. The Chinese who migrated with ideas of a golden mountain and the Japanese who came and labored in the cane fields of Hawaii and on the farms of California. The Jewish people that fled from shtetls of Russia and created new urban communities here. The Latinos who crossed the border had come in search of the mythic and fabulous life El Norte.
During the late 1800's and early 1900's hundreds of thousands of European immigrants migrated to the United States of America. They had aspirations of success, prosperity and their own conception of the American Dream. The majority of the immigrants believed that their lives would completely change for the better and the new world would bring nothing but happiness. Advertisements that appeared in Europe offered a bright future and economic stability to these naive and hopeful people. Jobs with excellent wages and working conditions, prime safety, and other benefits seemed like a chance in a lifetime to these struggling foreigners. Little did these people know that what they would confront would be the complete antithesis of what they dreamed of.
As the hostility toward immigrants had begun to relax, the residency period was reduced to two years by 1824. More reforms were made over several decades, and by 1870 new legislation gave persons of African descent, Asians and other non-white groups access to citizenship. As the country matured and became more multiracial, additional legislation would be passed to prevent “protected groups” from discrimination and exclusion. Present day, the United States is still a country of immigrants and continues to expand its laws to be inclusive of all its citizens and residents. All participants who contributed to the diversity of this county helped to create the vibrant economy and democracy that we know
John Higham wrote, Strangers in the Land: Patterns of American Nativism, 1860-1925, to expose, or paint a picture on, the history and origin of the rejection of immigrants by native-born Americans. Higham discusses many different kinds of immigrants that are affected by one of the three stylized themes which are: anti-Catholicism, anti-radicalism and people Anglo Saxon ethnocentrism. He shows us how these three groups are affected and also displays how native born Americans face a crisis, and in return that these groups suffer even more. Higham poses a great argument and backs himself with good sources to get his point across. Through his vivid examples and emotional appealing tone, he catches the attention of those who might have not realized
Roark, James, et al. The American Promise: A History of the United States, 4th ed. Boston:
Portes, Alejandro and Ruben G. Rumbaut, “Immigrant America: A Portrait.” Kiniry and Rose 336-337. Print.
As America began to industrialize and the American Dream became a reality for some, immigrants flocked to the New World. As they transitioned from the Old World to this New World in the U.S., many new issues arose surrounding the breaking away from old beliefs and discovering gender equality. Although the female protagonists in both Bread Givers and Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy come from different backgrounds, both women struggle to break away from the traditional role of Jewish women. From the Old World, Yentl, from Yentl, the Yeshiva Boy, was blessed to have a father that encouraged her education but a society that did not. Oppositely, Sara, from Bread Givers, had many opportunities in America, but had to gain footing in the New World without her
To say that immigrants in America have experienced discrimination would be an understatement. Ever since the country formed, they have been seen as inferior, such as African-Americans that were unwillingly brought to the 13 colonies in the 17th century with the intention to be used as slaves. However, post-1965, immigrants, mainly from Central and South America, came here by choice. Many came with their families, fleeing from their native land’s poverty; these immigrants were in search of new opportunities, and more importantly, a new life. They faced abuse and Cesar Chavez fought to help bring equality to minorities.
Immigrant women often wore themselves out trying to care for their children, maintain their home, and manage finances all with the husband’s little wages that came in. Few immigrant women, like Sara, dreamed of becoming a more than a mere housekeeper and set out to achieve their goals even if it meant violating the expectations of her father and own community. The first thing Sara set out to do once she was on her own without her family and father was to find a room where she could live alone. In Sara’s eyes, renting a private room that she did not have to share with anyone else was a thing that rich Americans had the luxury of and immediately felt a since of accomplishment when her landlord handed her the keys to her new room. It was not easy, but eventually Sara acquired the material possessions she deemed necessary in order to fit into the American lifestyle. She had a private room to herself and the same clothes women during that time wore. Sara’s transformation away from the Old World became evident at her mother’s funeral. It was a Jewish tradition to have their clothes torn and Sara was the only one who refused. Her material possession of clothes meant more than the tradition she grew up with and it showed when she said “I don't believe in this, It’s my only suit, and I need it for work. Tearing it wouldn't bring Mother back to life again”(Yezierska 255). Sara achieved material success that she wanted and was not going to let Old World traditions ruin what she worked
Ronald Regan describes America as, “…a place in the divine scheme that was set aside as a promised land” (“Loosing the American Dream”). Do Regan’s words have any truth to them? How can America be a promised land when immigrants are still fighting for the chance to pursue the American Dream and social acceptance? Immigrants have different motives for coming to America some may seek citizenship for political freedoms that they once did not have due to uprising civil wars in their native country. Others may come for social freedoms that they were not awarded in their home country due to sexual orientation. Others may come for economic freedoms that allows them to go from rags to riches. No matter the reason, immigrants risk everything for a chance to pursue the American dream. So why is it so hard for immigrants to earn a spot as a citizen of the United States of America? Why are immigrants still facing narrow-mindedness criticism for being foreign? It is time for Americans to change their prejudice views of immigrants.
In early American history, society believed that women did not have a place in education and high-level learning. They were told not to bother their brains with such advanced thinking. Middle and upper class women learned to read and write, but their education ended there. A woman’s place was said to be in the home, cooking, sewing, and taking care of the children. In the case of upper class women, their “to-do” list was cut even shorter with the servants present to do the work.
Will and in this essay the author challenges the citizenship status of children born to illegal immigrants. Will argues that the 14th Amendment, which grants citizenship to any person born in the United States, is being misinterpreted. He explains how this misinterpretation leads to the actual act of illegal immigration. For example, by essentially rewarding the children of illegal immigrants with an American citizenship Will demonstrates how this provides an incentive for illegal immigration. The author makes clear the idea that when the 14th Amendment was written in 1866 it could not have included illegal immigrants since that concept did not exist at that time. He continues by using Indians as an example of people not included in the 14th Amendment since Indians and their children owed allegiance to their tribes. Finally, the author uses a decision by the Supreme Court in 1884 that declared both person and country must consent to the citizenship; therefore, if the source is illegal then the child should not be considered a