Us Immigration

Walter DeCanio

Assignment 1

9/16/16

In the late 19th and early 20th century immigrants from all over the world were searching for better lives and better opportunities. During this time most of the world’s population suffered from slavery, corrupt societies, and horrific working and living conditions. Therefore, there came a point where immigrants finally came to the consensus that the solution was the land of the free, and the home of the brave. Across the Atlantic ocean, a statement like that drew the attention of thousands of individuals to migrate to The United States of America. That being said, for most, expectations were extremely high. With so many positives coming to America, most of these people never put into the thought of the disadvantages that their ethnicity followed. Living in America was great and was the best alternative for a better life, but it was not always easy. If America was such a wonderful place, why was it a struggle for most to live happily and secure? Well, for obvious reasons it was of course a challenge starting over completely fresh in a new developed world. Surprisingly, there was much more adversity than that. “Did industrialized America disempower newcomers, or was immigration a way of seizing control over their destinies”(Author,78)? Immigrants were blinded by the word “freedom” unknowingly lacking the knowledge of the circumstances that they soon would come to experience as a foreigner and therefore, being an immigrant working in America in the late 19th century did not line up with their expectations.

Picture yourself taking a twenty minute nap and then waking up in an open field with only the clothes and shoes you were wearing, no water, no food, and no money. Essentially, that’s what it was like once these immigrants got off the boat in Ellis Island. They boarded a ship with incredibly horrid conditions and sailed to America, hoping to survive once they exited the boat. Moreover, opportunities weren’t knocking on their doors. Immigrants had no direction at all. So where do you start?

One of the main reasons immigrants migrated to the United States was for better living conditions. Better living conditions although were not free. In order to live securely and better than where you previously came from, you had to find a way to earn yourself a daily inflow of income. In order to support yourself and your family, if you are a man, you needed to find a job quickly. Once you got a job you could take a breather, but not for long. Making only $1.50 a day, it is now time to figure out how to ration that to pay for food for you and your family and rent if you were lucky enough to have shelter. In an interview with immigrant Thomas O’Donnel, a Fall River mule-spinner in Boston Massachusetts in October of 1883, the Chairman asks if Thomas has been working frequently. “ ‘No, sir; since that strike we had down in Fall River about three years ago I have not worked much more than half that time, and that has brought my circumstances down very much.’(Author,69).” He goes on to ask why he has not worked much since then. “ ‘ Well, at Fall River if a man has not got a boy to act as “back-boy” it is very hard for him to get along. In a great many cases they discharge men in that work and put in men who have boys. Men who have boys of their own capable enough to work in a mill, to earn 30 or 40 cents a day. There are so many men in the city to work, and whoever has a boy can have work, and whoever has no boy stands no chance’(Author,69).” Now on top of the pressure of finding a job that hopefully pays you a dollar, you now have to face the obstacle of not having a boy that qualifies to work, is healthy, and has the correct clothing. Thomas O’Donnel an immigrant from Ramsbotham, England came to America in search for a better life. Evidently from Thomas’s interview, being an immigrant working in America in the late 19th century did not line up with his expectations.