Immigrants are central to American identity. America is a nation comprised almost entirely of immigrants, which is something that cannot be said for many countries in the world. However; America also, paradoxically, has a history of anti-immigration sentiment. This sentiment is generally maintained by white Protestants who object to the number, national origin, religious practices, or race of other immigrants. This nativist sentiment is embodied in the Know Nothing Party of the 1850s, and although that party became defunct relatively quickly, the sentiment remained. The old immigrants, or those who immigrated between 1815 and 1880, tended to be white Protestants from England or the other north eastern European countries. These people tended
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It is the idea that anyone can come into America and make a successful life, as long as one works hard enough. Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The New Colossus,” romanticizes Lady Liberty and how she is welcoming to all, especially the poor and the needy. In Lazarus’ work, Lady Liberty seems to take on a Messianic cast, come to rescue the poor masses from the oppressive European nations. Many believed that this rescue would come in the form of farmland, however; that became less and less possible as the twentieth century grew closer. (Document …show more content…
The anti-immigration sentiment that began to take shape in this time period is reflected even in modern day in political campaigns and elsewhere. The urban poor still exist today, and migrant workers and immigrants are still some of the poorest and most exploited members of American society. Chinatowns are still prevalent, as well as other ethnic communities that allow people of a shared background to bond over familiar customs as strangers in a strange land. All of these social forces are extraordinarily important, even 150 years later. The forces that shaped society then are shaping society now, and as immigration becomes a larger political issue, Americans would be wise to look back into history with a critical eye and apply that knowledge to the current
It is the idea that anyone can come into America and make a successful life, as long as one works hard enough. Emma Lazarus’ poem, “The New Colossus,” romanticizes Lady Liberty and how she is welcoming to all, especially the poor and the needy. In Lazarus’ work, Lady Liberty seems to take on a Messianic cast, come to rescue the poor masses from the oppressive European nations. Many believed that this rescue would come in the form of farmland, however; that became less and less possible as the twentieth century grew closer. (Document …show more content…
The anti-immigration sentiment that began to take shape in this time period is reflected even in modern day in political campaigns and elsewhere. The urban poor still exist today, and migrant workers and immigrants are still some of the poorest and most exploited members of American society. Chinatowns are still prevalent, as well as other ethnic communities that allow people of a shared background to bond over familiar customs as strangers in a strange land. All of these social forces are extraordinarily important, even 150 years later. The forces that shaped society then are shaping society now, and as immigration becomes a larger political issue, Americans would be wise to look back into history with a critical eye and apply that knowledge to the current