Analysis Of The Immigrants

Immigrants have been a vital part of the U.S. ever since the day the country was founded. But perspectives on immigrants have varied through time and one of the most popular ways of presenting them was through political cartoons. From the 1860s-1910s one of the biggest issues the U.S. was facing was how to properly regulate the flow of immigrants into the country. We also see this tying of Americanness and whiteness, where even certain Europeans weren’t considered full American even though they were white. White Americans wanted more white seeming migrants which would help further establish the American identity as white. The political cartoons show the shifting perspective placed on immigrants, from a universal fear of them, to a more divided

The image uses labels to show how different people view immigrants. Groups like average citizens, workmen, and health officers viewed migrants as menaces, labor threats, and disease ridden. While politicians, contractors and Uncle Sam himself see these newcomers as sources of votes, cheap labor and strength. We see whiteness in “The Immigrant” as American society is more willing to consider accepting white European immigrants into American society, while simultaneously refusing to allow chinese immigrants into the country. Migrants of white decent were also allowed U.S. citizenship after remaining in the country for only two years and showing good moral character. This led to an increasing white population which promoted the idea of Americanness and whiteness being nearly interchangeable. When looking at both images side by side we see the biases of white and

If you could afford a magazine and could interpret and image, then the images were made to influence you. When it comes to “The Day We Celebrate” published in Harper’s Weekly, a political magazine, most Americans who bought the magazine felt the same resentment towards migrants as expressed by the cartoon. Many thought of the Irish immigrants as wild and rowdy which is exactly how the artist characterizes them. “The Immigrant” was published in Judge, another political magazine, but in this image it shows the more divided feelings Americans had towards migrants. The general public was now becoming more knowledgeable of the benefits and downsides that migrants brought to