Immigrants In The 1800's Essay

Immigrants in the 1800’s came to America for the economic opportunities and to escape the problems of their native countries. America is also a nation where people could practice whatever religion they wanted. This brought Jews and Catholics to America. “Jews from Eastern Europe fleeing religious persecution -arrived in large numbers; over 2 million entered the United States between 1880 and 1920.” (U.S. Immigration) Additionally, America was an attractive destination for immigrants because it had an abundance of land due to the Mexican Cession. Farmers would come to America to escape the famine in their countries. European immigrants would come to the east while Asian immigrants came through the west. “Many immigrants to a new country first settled in a community made up of people from their native land ... they would keep their old customs and acquire a limited knowledge of their new country's culture, language, and values. Then most immigrants begin to assimilate. Once they assimilated they would usually remain permanently in the new country.” (Bryant)
Some of the opportunities that attracted immigrants included the Homestead Act, and a demand for …show more content…
Anti-immigration laws were designed to stop unwanted immigrants from coming into America and competing with White Protestants for jobs. Legislation including the Chinese Exclusion Act “banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.” (U.S. Immigration) Prejudices against these people led to these immigration quotas. The prejudices led to lynching, anti Semitism, and xenophobia making it more difficult for these immigrants to succeed. Because of the immigrants need for work, they were easily taken advantage of with low pay and unsafe working