Treatment of the African American, Native American and Immigrant Population in America in the late 1800s.

In the late 1800's, the evolving United States did not have that great of living conditions, especially for a Native American, immigrant, or African-American. Forced from their rightful lands, Native Americans were brutally marched to reservations. The new immigrants suffered a tremendous deal of persecution and a poor quality of life living in the packed cities. Even though African Americans had been constitutionally declared citizens and equals, the South was still segregated and blacks couldn't vote.

As settlers pushed west, and the population grew, Native Americans were forced from their homelands and into the frontier. This was legal because of the "Indian Removal Act" of 1830, signed by President Jackson. In attempt to save themselves and their homes, the Native Americans formed an independent Cherokee nation and tried to fight the Supreme Court. America shut this down quickly, arguing that they were not a sovereign nation and refused to hear their case in court. Indians were relocated into the brutal west.

Because so many Americans opposed the Indian Removal Act, the country tried to redeem its self with the Dawes Act of 1887. As a 'privilege', each Indian family was to be given 160 acres of land to farm. Americans didn't consider that the Indians were not farmers and couldn't cultivate the land well, especially with out tools. Native American health issues were neglected with lack of medical attention, and education was offered by a poorly trained teacher speaking only English. The Dawes Act was a total failure to the Indian lifestyle.

Just getting into the United States was a grueling task for immigrants. For example, when Ellis Island opened in 1892, every immigrant coming to America had to pass through its doors. In one day, up to 10,000 foreigners seeking citizenship would be processed through. One can only imagine the pandemonium in this small building. After waiting on the boat for days outside of America, immigrants were finally herded through the front doors and sorted by sex. They then waited in line for at least 4 hours to pass a 6 second medical exam. If the doctor thought something was wrong, you were marked with chalk and sent into another examining room. Then a mental test was given to you. Some tests were counting and reading, but completing puzzles was the most popular. After that, you were ordered to a booth for legal inspection. Inspectors grilled you with rapid-fire questions, and often times changed your name. All of these tests usually took a full day, but in the end you were set free in America.

Rumor had it that America's streets were paved with gold, and it was all you see when you first stepped off the ship. Immigrants had that dream squashed when they actually set foot in the country. Cities were extremely filthy, trash lined the gutter and unemployed roamed the streets. Diseases were quite common such as cholera, malaria, tuberculosis and typhoid fever. Crime flourished in major cities, such as New York.

Even after the Civil War when African Americans were granted rights, laws were still being passed to restrict their life styles. As a prime example, the Jim Crow law was passed in the 1870s. This mandated strict segregation in parks, hospitals, restaurants, water fountains, all public buildings, schools, and many other places. The law was tested when Homer Plessey, a Negro convicted of riding on a while railway train, brought the case to the Supreme Court. In the end, it was ruled that separate facilities for different races were indeed allowed, as long as they were identical. The black's facilities were never up to par. Also, laws depriving black the right to vote were passed. Although the right to vote was in the Constitution, southern states made laws on top of those. They required the African Americans to own land, pay a poll tax, take a literacy test, and even guess the number of marbles in a jar! This ensured that the black population did not have a political voice in their own country. Being an African American in this time was terrible because you were caught in between being a slave and being free.

Whether you were Indian, African American, or any other immigrant in America, life was very trying in the late 1800s. Living conditions, persecution or just plain ridiculous laws passed by our very own government made the quality of life appalling.