Labor Inequality

Mandy Truelock
History 1103
MWF 8:30
Dr. Kristen Shedd
Monti Adams
September 11th, 2015
Word Count: 826

Labor Inequality in the New World

In the colonial era everyone viewed America as a place of freedom and opportunity; the opportunity to make a better life for themselves and for their families. Unfortunately, the New World was not what it seemed to many groups that were arriving in the colonies. These groups did not find the liberty and equality in the economic structure that was advertised. Groups such as African-Americans and non-English immigrants were often deprived of sought-after economic opportunities and civil rights because of “British superiority”. Not all immigrants were in search of a better life, if anything forced immigration
From the beginning of colonization to the formation of the new nation, immigrants came from all around Europe, a majority from countries like Germany and Ireland. While immigration was widely encouraged, it soon became apparent that the non-English immigrants were vastly outnumbering the amount of English settlers. Many English settlers even accused the non-English of intruding on their land and jobs, as one English settler said regarding the actions of a small group of non-English immigrants, the Mennonites, they “transported themselves into the Providence of Pennsylvania from Holland in British shipping, and purchased Lands at low rates towards the River Susquehanna.” Another concern of the English immigrants toward their other European neighbors was their lack of assimilation; “they generally adhere to their own customs.” While in their original arrival many were able to generally make money for themselves, the prejudice against non-English immigrants grew as time went on. As prejudices increased, it became very difficult for the immigrants to find employment in the colonies. This became a very apparent problem after the potato famine in Ireland, and companies began advertising for “non-Irish workers”. The disdain of non-English immigrants by the English goes deep enough for the English to request, “a general provision against all Foreigners.”
Because there was a huge difference in the wages that immigrants were rewarded for their labor, they were unable to make a decent enough living to bring their families over from their native countries. While the immigrants simply struggled financially to unite their families, the families of the African slaves were brutally ripped apart. One slave remarks “Are the dearest friends and relations, now rendered more dear by their separation from their kindred, still to be parted from each other, and thus prevented from cheering the gloom of slavery with the small comfort of being together and mingling their sufferings and sorrows?” The oppression of the culture that the immigrants brought over, which eventually led to the assimilation of German, Irish, and African culture into the common English