Immigration - an international movement Essay

Introduction

Immigration is the term for the worldwide movement of people who are not citizens or natives of the country to which they are moving in order to live, work, or settle. In this instance, the social, political, and economic aspects of migration have sparked debates about the economic advantages, ethnicity, settlement patterns, non-immigrant employment, upward social mobility, and voting habits. (Haugen & Musser, 2009). With a few notable exceptions, there is proof that immigration benefits the economy. Additionally, research indicates that compared to many other Western nations, the United States is better at assimilating first- and second-generation immigrants. This essay will further elaborate the different groups that migrated to the U.S, the reasons for the migration and the impact it has on Americans.

The immigration of the Irish

The Irish-Catholic immigrants went to America because of their living conditions. In 1845, the Irish experienced the Potato blight which was a fungus that decimated the potato crisps during a famine. Within five years, the starvation that plagued Ireland killed over a million Irish people. The living conditions in Ireland made the Irish to shift their attention to America, and the majority of the Immigrants are women (McGee &West-Owen, 2010).

The Impact of the Irish to the U.S

The Irish contributed to the U.S economic expansion in the early 1800’s because of the available working hands. With the full support of the hands, factories, canals, and railways were built because the Irish hard work contributed to the rapid expansion of the country. The immigrants also brought the Catholic faith to the U.S. New Catholic churches, in this case, were established in places like New York City and the Illinois Valley. There were also new customs that were introduced like St. Patrick’s Day which was put on 17th March every year. The newcomers from Ireland were very poor to afford their own land. They later gathered in cheap accommodations centers such as cellars and crumbling houses thus contributing to the growth and expansion in the U.S. When the Irish settled in their properties, they experienced a lot of hardships because they had to cope with the discomforts of the English-Americans. This brought riots and rows because of the sentiments of the religious groups which were the Protestants and the English-Americans (McGee & West-Owen, 2010).

The immigration of the Germans

Between the years 1820 to 1840, Germans were the second groups that migrated to the U.S after the Irish. The Germans went to the United States to seek religious and political freedom as well as to explore economic opportunities that were found in Europe (Dolmetsch, 2013).

Factors that influenced the Germans to migrate

There are many reasons why the Germans went to the U.S. For instance, in the 1800’s the Germans immigrated to America when the Protestant German immigrant wave to place from Wuerttemberg to Pennsylvania. Most immigrants, in this case, were grouped that were separated from the German Lutheran church known as the Rappists when George Rapp their leaser purchased 30,000 acres of land In Indiana (Dolmetsch, 2013). The Germans also moved to America after the Adelsverein was organized in 1842 as they tried to establish a new Germany in the U.S-Texas border. In the year 1861 to 1865, the great waves of German occurred to the American civil war. Like every other European country, German also suffered from crop failures like the Potato Blight which lead to poverty and destitution (Dolmetsch, 2013).

The Impact of the German immigration to the U.S

The German culture cultivated the U.S education system because of their dedication and commitment of the immigrants. For instance, in 1855, the immigrants launched their first kindergarten, introduced the early vocational and physical education in public schools and included gymnasiums in school buildings. The Germans also brought the zeal to America’s recreational life. The immigrants also introduced recreational facilities that appeared in the U.S. Most of them included bandstands, picnic grounds, bowling alleys, concert halls sports clubs and playgrounds that were all suitable for family fun days on weekends (Dolmetsch, 2013).

Background of Jewish Immigration into the United States

From the year 1820 to 1924 there was an increasingly steady flow of Jews who came to the United States which resulted in a massive flow of immigrants towards the start of the twentieth century. Millions of Jews from Europe embarked on an onerous journey from their towns and villages to the Golden land of America. The Jewish immigrants settled in Baltimore, New York, and Philadelphia while those from Germany settled in Albany, Cincinnati, Cleveland, Minneapolis, New Orleans, Louisville, San Francisco, and many other small towns in the United States (Epstein, 2015). The Jewish population in America increased from 3,000 in 1820 to 300,000 in 1880. The Jewish immigrants established garment industries, worked as peddlers, and introduced the Jewish religion to the United States. The immigration period stopped after restrictive laws were passed in the years 1921 and 1924 (Epstein, 2015).

Factors that Influenced the Jewish Immigration

The Jewish immigrants were pushed into migrating to the United States because of persecution, economic hardship, and significant political and social turmoil of the 19th century which was composed of industrialization, urbanization, and overpopulation (Epstein, 2015).

Italian Immigration into the United States

The Italian immigration into the United States from 1890 was known as the New Immigration which was the third and most significant immigration wave from Europe and consisted of Italians, Jews, and Slavs (Cavaioli, 2008). There were five million immigrants who came to the United States between 1876 and 1930 of which a small percentage of this number were from the South from regions like Abruzzi, Campania, Calabria, Molise, and Sicily. The majority of the Italian immigrants were contadini or farm labourers. There was also a small population of immigrants who were craftsmen and had a higher status than that of contadini. Most Italian immigrants went back to Italy between 1901 and 1920 after they had earned enough money in the United States (Cavaioli, 2008).

Reasons for Italian Immigration to the United States

The main reason for the immigrating was poverty, but they were also motivated by the dream making enough money and returning to Italy and purchase land. Most families lived in harsh conditions, peasants were isolated because of lack of roads, and the landlords charged high rents, paid low wages, and provided very unreliable employment. The United States was attractive to Italian immigrants because of the higher wages that the workers were offered there (Cavaioli, 2008).

The Impact of Italian Immigration

The Italians established a Catholic church in 1891 which observed the tradition of Italians, and they also developed Little Italy in lower Manhattan which has Italian-run food stores and markets (Cavaioli, 2008).

Chinese Immigration to the United States

Large groups of Chinese immigrants came to the United States from the start of the California gold rush in 1849 to 1882 when the federal law halted their immigration. Many of the Chinese immigrants were single men who prospected for gold on their own or provided labour for the minors (Vernon, 2012). After a while, most of them opened their own restaurants, laundries, and other personal service concerns. When the gold rush came to an end, the Chinese immigrants turned to agricultural work, railroad constructions in the West, and low-paying industrial jobs.

Factors that Influenced the Chinese Immigration to the United States

The first immigrants were influenced by the Civil war and famine, so they moved to the United States to work and send money back to their families. The Chinese provided cheap labor for the building of railroads which contributed to the growth of the economy in the United States. They also established China town which has big population of Chinese population who have opened up stores and restaurants (Vernon, 2012).

The Impact of Immigration in the U.S today

The most avidly and essential debate of the effects of immigration involves the economy and labor force in the U.S. It is estimated that about 12 million immigrants exist in America today without legal documentation. The impact of the Economy, in this case, are perceived to be both negative and positive. The main argument in support of the immigrants without the required documents is that most migrant workers do jobs that the Americans reject. Given the fact that most Americans do not compete with the undocumented immigrants, there hasn’t been significant in the wage rate (Reimers, 2014). For instance, those without the diplomas from high schools are the ones who are most affected.

There have been several attempts that were designed to secure the borders as well as securing the systems that encouraged legal immigration to fulfill the economic and labor needs. For instance, in 1965 on October third, President Lyndon Johnson signed the Nationality and Immigration Act which was later passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress. In 1986, President Ronald Reagan signed the immigration control and reform act which was known as the ’amnesty’ which allowed more than 2.7 million immigrants to legalize their status (Reimers, 2014). From 1994 up to date, there have been numerous attempts to legalize and update immigration in America.

Conclusion

Immigration in the U.S as elaborated in the essay is seen to have controversial challenges. For instance, the movement has affected the economic, social and political stability of the country. Various groups migrated to the U.S, and all group had different reasons for their moves. As a result, America has expanded its territories and became a powerful country. However, there are many debated that still struggle to cut done the rate of immigration taking place in the U.S. This essay elaborated and emphasized more on the impact of immigration to the United States.