The Role Of Immigration In The 19th Century

Mia D’Angelica Eustice English 3 CPE Period 8 28 March 2024 My Family History The 19th century saw an immense wave of immigration to the United States as millions of people from around the world sought new opportunities. Like many others, my ancestors made the difficult decision to flee their homeland in search of a better life. The choice to uproot one’s life in a foreign land is undoubtedly very daunting, filled with uncertainty and the potential for triumph and hardship. Not only does their immigration to the United States represent courage and determination, but it builds stepping stones for future generations to grow and succeed. Their story is a tribute to both my identity and the structure of our country. Among the multitude of immigrants
Apart from the fact that there were anti-religious laws against Jews, the number of jobs open to Jews in Russia were very slim, causing countless families to fall into poverty (Imhoff). Leading up to the 1900’s, Russian Jews frequently faced violent attacks against them called pogroms. In Russian, ‘pogrom’ means to demolish violently. Historically, the term came into common usage with the extensive anti-Jewish riots that swept through the Russian empire (Pogroms). Jews were in a constant state of danger as the perpetrators of pogroms would consistently threaten to kill and loot Jewish victims. Ida Berman, my great great grandmother, unfortunately lived through this. Ida grew up in Russia, where her, her brother, her sister, and her parents were victims of Jewish oppression. My grandmother, Arlene D’Angelica, recalls being told how “the Russian czar would kill as many Jews as they could.” Ida and her family, terrified and alone, ran for their lives. Often, many families did not have the money to immigrate all members at the same time, so in 1898 Ida and her sister immigrated to the US together, leaving the rest of their family in
They continued their journey and after weeks of sailing, Ida, her sister, and Sam finally made it to New York. Even though they were now in the Land of the Free, they still faced numerous challenges. Firstly, there was a major language barrier as they did not speak English. Besides speaking Yiddish, the only way to survive was through working. Sam Berman worked selling bags while Ida stayed home with her sister. It was also very difficult for them to start a new life in America because of how poor they were. They never had enough money to go to school or own a house, so they relied on Sam’s income to rent their home and ultimately survive (Arlene D’Angelica). After a couple years of living in New York, the Berman’s finally reached a point where they were financially stable enough to bring the rest of Ida’s family to the United States. “Life was not perfect or free of poverty and persecution, but they had greater opportunities than they did in Russia and future generations are proof of that” (Michael D’Angelica). Even though it wasn’t perfect, the US provided them with significantly more personal, economic, educational, and religious freedoms compared to the repressive conditions they experienced in