Immigration Discrimination In America

Lady Liberty stood tall over Ellis Island and welcomed immigrants with the motto, “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free [...]” She was the hope of suffering people from all over the world, and their first sight upon entering America (Hoffman, 73). Immigrants flocked to America, tempted by the promise of becoming rich, of living the American Dream. Disasters, like the Irish Potato Famine in the 1840s that saw millions of Irish emigrating, were another leading cause of immigration to America. However, for immigrants, life in the “country of wizards,” wasn’t all it had cracked up to be (Hoffman, 72). They faced harsh discrimination along with the poor living and working conditions that the working class in
With industrialization came urbanization; mass amounts of people migrated to cities, and with the influx of immigrants entering the country, cities became overcrowded, especially with the advent of the working class. Immigrants, often at the bottom of the social ladder, struggled to find sufficient work and housing, and often worked grueling 12-14 hour days, only to go home to a tenement housing up to 16 other families. In one case, a 10 by 50 foot building near Detroit housed 127 immigrant workers (Hoffman, 89). This was, however, a necessity for most if they wanted to save up money or send funds back to their family abroad. For some families, it was a necessity in order to stay alive. Document three from chapter three of Major Problems in American History details the struggle of immigrant Thomas O’Donnell to support his family on his meager wages. His trade, mule-spinning, was replaced by ring-spinning as machines started to take over many trades that had previously been done by skilled workers. O’Donnell even states, “whoever has a boy can have work, and whoever has no boy stands no chance.” due to the mills’ desire for boys to accomplish the work that men are not needed for. Also, children and women often worked for less pay than grown men, which benefited mill owners. As such, O’Donnell struggled to
According to Wyman’s essay in Major Problems in American History, “the lower levels of America’s booming industries were filling up with persons who willingly endured lower wages, coarse treatment, and poor conditions.” and America’s workers resented them for it (89). Most non-white immigrants suffered from racism on top of the already poor opinion of immigrants. Chinese immigrants faced especially harsh intolerance on U.S. soil. Large numbers of Chinese emigrated to the U.S. after the Civil War, aiming to escape poverty and unrest in their home nation, but were met with racism and contempt. Fellow workers, including other immigrants, were often antagonistic towards their Chinese counterparts because Chinese workers were willing to work for extremely low wages which made it difficult for other workers to get the wages they desired. In addition, Chinese workers often refused to take part in strikes, thus nulling the effect. In 1882, the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed barring Chinese laborers from entering the country. This was the start of exclusionary immigration policies, however it was the only to completely prevent an entire group of people from entering the United