The Biggest Migration in Global History

In 1886, the Statue of Liberty Enligh going the World, a gift from the people of France, was dedicated by President Grover Cleve republic. Set at the entrance of New York, the statue was just in time to greet the biggest migration in global history. Between the years of 1860-1910, more than twenty-two million immigrants had entered the country . This influx of in-migration became cognize as the New Immigration. Industrialization had taken over agriculture and American industries were experiencing one of their greatest booms, thusly a greater demand for workers .Immigrants from all over Europe came in hopes of securing for themselves money to return d riseing house with, or in rough cases, a permanent position in a country of great opportunity. Although this increase in immigration eventually led to restrictive immigration truths, ultimately, this group of New Immigrants non only issued a much- essential economic service, but also added to the diversity of our melting-pot coun try. The promise of immediate employment and policy-making and economic freedom were more than enough reasons to entice immigrants to come to the United States in 1864, some 194,000 immigrants foreshorten in America .Until 1897, ninety part of all overseas immigrants arrived more or lessly from northern and western Europe, chiefly from Great Britain, Ireland, Germany, and Scandinavia . Most of these new immigrants came from lands with democratic traditions and education systems and were welcomed by the native-born Americans because they possessed much needed industrial skills. The new immigrants, primarily the Scandinavians, apply the Homestead Act to receive land in the middle west and start small farms .They had families and skills to offer and were not a migrant group they planned to stay and stag it in America. However, by 1905, partially encouraged by the new technology of steamships and cheaper ocean passage rates, the chip of immigrants had risen to 1,285,000 people annually . More than a million immigrants arrived in each of the years 1905, 1907, and 1910, some fleeing the pogroms (organized massacres) taking place in Eastern Europe, and early(a)s seeking a life that they could never have at bottom the borders of their poverty-stricken countries .These later immigrants, arriving from southern and eastern Europe, were Czechs, Poles, Ukrainians, Serbs, Slovaks and Russian, as well as Italians, Greeks, Hungarians, and Rumanians. Approximately ten percent of them were Jews fleeing from the repressive policies of Czarist Russia under Alexander III, although Roman and Orthodox Catholics were among the arrivals . The masses of immigrants were overwhelming. By 1887, it became obvious that fortification garden (immigrant receiving station) was too small to process the large public figures of immigrants pouring into the country .Castle Garden had because so small, that criminals were simply hanging out at the receiving station to rob the immigrants inside, instead of waiting for them to get on the streets. Thus, the government built Ellis Island and immigrants continued pouring in. The number of immigrants was so great that by 1910 immigrants and their families quiet over half the total macrocosm of 18 major cities . In Chicago, eight out of ten residents were immigrants or children of immigrants . The response to these newcomers was unfriendly and inhospitable.The Americans who saw their job security challenged by immigrants that were willing to work thirster hours for lower wages did not welcome them. The newcomers did not have the same culture as the beginning(a) immigrants that had come from Northern and Western Europe. Most lacked skills and very few spoke English, some could not interpret or write in any language. The Slavic and Polish (excluding Jewish) immigrant groups were viewed as unskilled, ill-informed, and transient and were seen as a bigger threat to American institutions than the other European ethnic gr oups.They were not ambitious people, tended to keep to themselves, and were argue to the American idea of materialism. Many of the Slavs and Poles distrusted American public schools they withdrew their children from school and encouraged them to seek training in a trade, thus allowing a high rate of dropouts. Likewise, Italians were discriminated against because they also provided cheap labor and, naturally of a clannish nature, tended to move and settle as a group in Italian communities where they only worked with better half countrymen and did not learn the moods of urban life.Americans persuasion that Italians did not assimilate into the American culture well since they held on their old-country traditions and cultures so strongly. Assimilation was important to the Americans because they were fearful of the change that came with other cultures, not to mention their ire towards the new languages already replacing English in several parts of the cities. The Italians also broug ht the Mafia, which although in Italy apply justice, came under the control of criminals in the US, and became known for racketeering, blackmail, and extortion.The immigrants were blamed for creating disorder and violence in the cities, and in general, were thought to be birds of passage who would use the American economy to make their fortunes, then return to their native land taking American dollars. The ever-growing influx of immigrants disturbed many native-born Americans who were annoyed by the newcomers appearance and way of life. They expected these people, no matter what their place of origin, to conform to Anglo-Saxon patterns of behavior and to cherish the institutions of America.These anti-immigrant, nativist, sentiments, and the hatred and prejudice toward these immigrants led to the passing of immigration laws that greatly restricted the flow of immigration . The first restrictive law prevented immigration of lunatics, criminals, polygamists, people with diseases, and those likely to be public charges. In August of 1882, the first federal immigration law was adopted. This law put a head tax on all immigrant passengers.In February of 1885, a law prohibiting the importation of contract labor, called the Foran Act, was enacted. In 1906, leaders of the Boston Immigration Restriction League used the arguments of racial superiority to limit immigration. Finally, in 1924, the Fundamentalists succeeded in passing the National Origins act, which allowed the US to restrict the number of immigrants to 164,000 a year, and also favor immigrants from Western Europe over those from Eastern Europe .Many American believed that these immigration restrictions were necessary to keep the American institution cities from deteriorating. The population living in cities of over 30,000 increase from ten percent of the total in 1860 to more than twenty-five percent of the total US population by 1900 . The pressure of the tremendous inflow of immigrants quickly outstripped the ability of the nations established institutions to escape with them.Already poor in the Old Country, for the most part, they arrived in America penniless and made their homes in the growing tenements of Americas major cities. The severe strain on the housing situation conjugate with discriminatory practices eventually led to the creation of ghettos. Women and children were often sent to work to contribute to the survival of the family, old-world views that eventually led to wholesale exploitation of child labor. Poverty on a never-before-seen scale became the norm in Americas urban centers.Perplexed, poor, and lacking knowledge of the American lifestyle, these immigrants were used as a low-paid labor force for dirty jobs that nobody else wanted and felt the harshness of Industrialism the most. They did not know their bosses, grade animosity often divided management and labor, and their interests and wants were of little concern to the corporations. Because these people did not have the fitting education, many of them remained unskilled or semi-unskilled throughout their lives.Although many could not attain the work skills they needed, they gained many other things. By the early 1900s, ninety percent of those who could not speak English learned to do so in less than ten years after they arrived, and only a third was still illiterate . Despite their many hardships, the new immigrants were determined to make it in the New World. For example, the Slavs ability to take the castigate jobs and stick with them enabled them to become one of the top two ethnic groups representing employees of Americas leading industries .It was the concussion of old-world views with those of new-world ideas that forced compromises that helped to advance social and political thoughts. The cities would not have grown without people to provide cheap labor in the factories, and it was the willingness to provide a cheap source of labor and to work the most difficult and menial jo bs that helped enable the United Stated to make the economic gains that she made.