America, in its earliest stages was full of racial tensions that shaped the course of its entire history and led it to become one of the worst places in the world in regards to discriminating and racist feelings towards immigrating people. However, dreams of making their fortunes, finding a better way of life, and the prospects for jobs made it difficult for the incoming people to want to go anywhere else. Some came willingly while others were brought here or forced here against their will. Comparing two of these immigrant groups that are easily the most different, the Irish and the Blacks, creates a good demonstration of the absolutely unique and yet strangely similar attempts to survive and thrive in an America that in the simplest of terms …show more content…
(Takaki pg. 138) The Irish were often hired as railroad, construction, mining, and other similar types of workers where death rates were high. The Irish solution for doing the dangerous work that many were unwilling to ask their expensive slave to do was to form labor unions. Starting with the Crispin’s in the 1860’s and 70’s, (Takaki pg. 140) and forming more specialized unions in cities across the nation, the Irish began to achieve improved working conditions and better pay over the course of …show more content…
In fact the years between 1860 and 1940 were highlighted by ‘the nadir’ of racism in America. (Takaki pg. 130) Although they were free, they were continually put down, abused, and discriminated against. Most of the free Blacks, in the South particularly, ended up having to go to work for their old masters, and spending all of their wages on rent and food from their old masters. They quickly became slaves once again as they could do nothing to better their situation. Another way in which they literally became slaves was through new laws passed in the south that got around emancipation by a loophole called convict lease. This allowed for anyone who committed a crime to be assigned to labor without wages on a chain gain. So by being falsely accused of a crime they could be enslaved by plantation and business owners and assigned to dangerous jobs where their life was of no value. (Lecture
Immigration to America from Europe was at an all time high in the mid-1800s. After the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, a large group of Irish immigrated to the United States. Since then, increasing numbers of Irish people have been moving to the United States, especially in Chicago. The Irish had come to realize that the United States really is the land of opportunity. With jobs being available to the immigrants, many more shipped in to start new lives for their families. However, for quite a while they did not live in the nicest of areas in Chicago. Many of the Irish resided in low-class areas such as overcrowded parts around the Loop, and out in the West Side. Not only did the West Side shelter the Irish, but many Germans and Jews lived in that area.
In the late 19th century African Americans were no longer slaves, but they were definitely not free. When we think of freedom today, we think of something totally different than what they endured in the late 19th century and early 20th century. For about 80 years, black southerners had to deal with these changes and hard times. Most would say that for those 80 years, it was worse than blacks being actual slaves. There are so many things that held down African Americans during this time. Some examples of this would be the involvement of the Jim Crow laws, not having the right to vote, and the lynching and peonage among African Americans.
These groups fought continuously against the restrictions imposed onto them, a discriminatory government, and the forced mixture of American culture and that of the minorities culture in which resulted in the “Melting Pot.” Additionally, Limerick used excerpts of documentations from several governments in which imposed these restrictions and acts on the afore discussed minorities in addition to personal experiences from both ends of the spectrum. Moreover, through the use of these personal statements, we are allotted the insight to the original discrimination minority Americans experienced in addition to explaining parts of history that most people do not often
Starting in the 1830s, many immigrants came flooding into the United States of America due to hard times, famines, and economic opportunities. Everyday, thousands of underprivileged citizens would take on the task of being an American. To begin, many immigrants were Irish due to the Irish Famine in the late 1840s (Doc 2). According to Catherine Moran McNamara, “The Irish lived under awful stress. I’ve seen the family thrown out (Doc 2).” Meanwhile during the Irish Famine, many potato crops died, leaving families without a source of food or income(OI). However, the Irish were not the only culture going through tough times. In Greece, the pay was unbearable with only five dollars a day(Doc 3). Also, George Kokkas explains that Greece lacked education for the youth. He stated that “I was concerned for the education of my kids.
Reconstruction(1865-1877) was the time period in which the US rebuilt after the Civil War. During this time, the question the rights of freed slaves in the United States were highly debated. Freedom, in my terms, is the privilege of doing as you please without restriction as long as it stays within the law. However, in this sense, black Americans during the Reconstruction period were not truly free despite Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation in 1863. While legally free, black Americans were still viewed through the lens of racism and deeply-rooted social biases/stigmas that prevented them from exercising their legal rights as citizens of the United States. For example, black Americans were unable to wholly participate in the government as a
While the formal abolition of slavery, on the 6th of December 1865 freed black Americans from their slave labour, they were still unequal to and discriminated by white Americans for the next century. This ‘freedom’, meant that black Americans ‘felt like a bird out of a cage’ , but this freedom from slavery did not equate to their complete liberty, rather they were kept in destitute through their economic, social, and political state.
Even with the many roadblocks in their lives, free Northern blacks still held some rights when compared to their southern counterparts. Political freedom existed through their right to vote. Social freedom allowed them to mingle among their own kind and peacefully gather. Their economic rights were few in number, but they could have jobs and own property. Today, many races are still being downplayed as inferior. They are being denied rights that they are entitled to as human beings. This is still happening today in countries like Africa. They are caught in a limbo, trapped between free and slave.
We see this most notably socially, but also politically. Very often, Irish describe the a form of abuse they endure at the hands of the “native” Americans. This is unfortunate, but the reality of immigrant live for the Irish in the 1800’s. At the core of “natives” concerns was a shift from political power in the hands of “natives” to political power in the hands of the Irish immigrants, who could be loyal to the pope in Europe. Despite this, the Irish still enjoyed the benefits of the United States nation state and celebrated in the benefits, far superior to those of Ireland at the time.vi As was seen in the movie Gangs of New York, many corrupt politicians persuaded immigrants for support in elections and often employed illegal and manipulative tactics on election day to cast multiple votes.vii There were even political cartoons included in immigration reading excerpts depicting the irish as barbaric monkeys and blaming them for election day violence as well as showing them tear apart the democratic system established by “native” Americans.viii These were likely intended for distribution amongst “native” Americans,
Blacks in the south were not free. Southern blacks were forced to work all day for no pay. As soon as the sunrise the slaves had to work until sunset. Blacks in the south had no choice to take a day off or not.
Beginning in the late 1700’s and growing rapidly even today, labor unions form the backbone for the American workforce and continue to fight for the common interests of workers around the country. As we look at the history of these unions, we see powerful individuals such as Terrence Powderly, Samuel Gompers, and Eugene Debs rise up as leaders in a newfound movement that protected the rights of the common worker and ensured better wages, more reasonable hours, and safer working conditions for those people (History). The rise of these labor unions also warranted new legislation that would protect against child labor in factories and give health benefits to workers who were either retired or injured, but everyone was not on board with the idea of foundations working to protect the interests of the common worker. Conflict with their industries lead to many strikes across the country in the coal, steel, and railroad industries, and several of these would ultimately end up leading to bloodshed. However, the existence of labor unions in the United States and their influence on their respective industries still resonates today, and many of our modern ideals that we have today carry over from what these labor unions fought for during through the Industrial Revolution.
After the emancipation of slaves in 1862, the status of African-Americans in post civil war America up until the beginning of the twentieth century did not go through a great deal of change. Much legislation was passed to help blacks in this period. The Civil Rights act of 1875 prohibited segregation in public facilities and various government amendments gave African-Americans even more guaranteed rights. Even with this government legislation, the newly dubbed 'freedmen' were still discriminated against by most people and, ironically, they were soon to be restricted and segregated once again under government rulings in important court cases of the era.
This delayed them from becoming American citizens as they had to finish their debt first. Even so, through the Naturalization Law of 1790 they were able to gain citizenship. This law stated that “Any alien, being a free white person, who shall have resided within the limits and under the jurisdiction of the United States for the term of two years, may be admitted to become a citizen” (1790 Naturalization act). This differs from the Chinese as the Chinese were blocked in every way possible to gain their American citizenship. Both immigrants arrived the same time and worked in similar jobs. They equally worked as hard when contributing to America, such as the building of the transcontinental railroad, but the Irish were given the first privilege because they were white. Having Takaki share this again shows how the Master Narrative does not provide the meaning of an American as being white should not be the main reason. The Irish were chosen because, as Toni Morrison observed, the Master Narrative states that “‘American’ has been defined as ‘white’” and “Not to be ‘white’ is to be designated as the ‘Other’- different, inferior, and unassimilable” (Takaki, 4). Therefore, the Chinese were seen un-American because they were different. This then caused the white Europeans to believe that they are unworthy to be involved in America’s history when it comes to the Master Narrative. Now this country consists of different races that have done a lot to build up what America is today. These minorities are Americans, like the Chinese, but the Master Narrative was not able to see that these
Being African American in the 1930’s, how free you were was determined by the half you lived in - the North or South. In that time period there was a significant amount of racism, segregation, and prejudice occurring. However, racism was on a whole different level in the South than it was in the North of the United States. In the North colored people had rights like freedom of speech, but in the South they had no rights. In the book To Kill A Mockingbird the author, Harper Lee, did a wonderful job of vividly portraying how Negro’s lived in the South, particularly in the state of Mississippi in Maycomb county. In the society of Maycomb white folk hated the blacks. For many people racism changed their life dramatically. The grass really was greener on the other side for colored folks - the North. For Calpurnia, Tom Robinson, and Mr. Dolphus Raymond racism dramatically affected their lifestyle.
Until the 1860s, the early immigrants not only wanted to come to America, but they also meticulously planned to come. These immigrants known as the “Old Immigrants” immigrated to America from many countries in Northern and Western Europe, known as, Sweden, Norway, Scandinavia, Wales and Ireland. Some of them traveled to Canada, but most of them came to the U.S. seeking freedom they didn’t get in their own countries. Ireland had also recently suffered through a potato famine, where the citizens were left poor and starving. Most settled in New York City and other large cities, where they worked in factories and other low-paying jobs. The immigrants caused a great increase in population in these areas. The “Old Immigrants” tried not to cluster themselves with others of their own nationality. They would mostly try to fit in with Americans as best as they could. Many of them had a plan to come to America, so they saved their money and resources before they arrived so they could have a chance at a better life. On the other hand, another group of immigrants began to arrive
For decades, African Americans have been on a racial discrimination and extremely deadly roller coaster ride for justice and equality. In this new day and age, racial tendencies and prejudice has improved since the 1700-1800s,however, they are slowly going back to certain old ways with voting laws and restaurants having the option to serve blacks or not. It all began with the start of slavery around 1619. The start of the New World, the settlers needed resources England and other countries had, which started the Triangle Trade. The New England settlers manufactured and shipped rum to West Africa; West Africa traded slaves to the West Indies for molasses and money . From the very beginning, they treated African Americans like an object or animals instead of another human being with feelings and emotions. Women that were pregnant gave birth to children already classified as slaves. After the American Revolution, people in the north started to realize the oppression and treatment of blacks to how the British was treating them. In 1787, the Northwest Territory made slavery illegal and the US Constitution states that congress could no longer ban the trade of slaves until 1808 (Brunner). However, since the invention of the cotton gin, the increase for labor on the field increased the demand for slave workers. Soon the South went thru an economic crisis with the soil, tobacco, and cash crops with dropped the prices of slaves and increased slave labor even more. To ensure that the slaves do not start a rebellion, congress passed the Fugitive Slave Act in 1793 that made it a federal crime to assist a slave in escaping (Black History Milestones). This is the first of many Acts that is applied to only African-Americans and the start of many ...