Research Paper On America A Melting Pot

America: The Melting Pot

The term the melting pot was coined in 1782 by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur. It was a term used to describe the new country and all of its new inhabitants. Where people from different countries and different races and ethnicities could come together to form a new race of people; the American. It encompassed taking the good, strong qualities from each culture and keeping them to form an overall new culture.
“Across four centuries, the steady arrival of millions of immigrants into North America created a human alloy, in which different metals combined to make something stronger than each individual component . . . And each immigrant wave gave the United States great gifts in return: music, laughter, theater,
Many people became ill on the ships and died. Children were frequently the victims, especially those between one and seven years old (8). Measles and smallpox were the cause of death for many children. Food and water would often run low or become contaminated before the journey was over leaving even more people susceptible to death and disease. The food was so dirty as to hardly be palatable and the water was often black, full of worms and foul smelling (8). Death onboard was caused by many different things; childbirth, dysentery, cholera, typhus, inadequate and poor quality food and water, sickness, accidents, fire, and shipwrecks. Captains and other officers had a bad habit of exploiting their passengers. They would withhold rations from some women to try and coerce them into sexual relations. Over time there was legislation and laws passed to help protect passengers (1). The journey to America could take anywhere from six weeks to four months depending on how many customs houses the ship had to stop at before getting out to open sea and what kind of weather was encountered along the way. Living conditions on the boats were horrible. Each ship carried between four and six hundred passengers (8), as well as many other supplies. Space was very limited and with so many people aboard the sounds and smells from those who were sick and dying could become very
They had to fight to earn the rights that white men enjoyed. They had to fight for a right to education, a right to vote, and the right to own property and work. One of the first movements in which women took an active hand was the female seminary movement which began its serious phase about 1815 (5). This movement was meant to improve the quality of women’s educations. It was still very segregated as far as men and women would be educated separately and in different matters, but it was a step in the right direction for women. Women also participated in the movement to abolish slavery. And in the 1830’s when more women were joining the work force women’s unions were formed to fight for better working conditions and better pay. Sarah Grimke once wrote “All I ask our brethren is that they take their feet from off our neck and permit us to stand upright on the ground which God destined for us to occupy” (5). Women were no longer willing to sit back and be docile and demure as men deemed proper. They wanted to their rights and they wanted to be seen as