Essay --

From the late 1800s and early 1900s immigrants saw the United States as a golden opportunity for success. Between 1880 and 1930, over 27 million new immigrants arrived, mainly from Italy, Germany, Eastern Europe, Russia, Britain, Canada, Ireland, and Sweden. This period in American history caused great change in culture of the neighborhoods and cities humanitarian movements that helped assimilation, laws surrounding immigration, and educational reform. Many factors in other country’s pushed immigrants to the new world. In Italy, many southern farmers had been struggling at the mercy of wealthy land owners and had to face declining health conditions. In Ireland, a great potato famine left the country in utter despair. Jewish immigrants, particularly from Russia, fled to avoid religious persecution. Everyone had their reasons for coming, whether it be expectations of economic success or for freedom, and the American Dream. However, most immigrants were not greeted with success and fortune as they expected upon entering the United States. In reality, many economic, social, and political conditions caused early American immigrants to endure great struggle in order to shape what became a thriving country. The new immigrants arrived imagining the United States as a land of freedom, where people worshiped as they pleased, enjoyed economic opportunity, and had been emancipated from the oppressive social hierarchies of their homelands. However, these new immigrants had no intention to permanently stay in the United States. Most expected to hit gold and promptly return to their homelands. Upon arrival, immigrants began to pile into cities which quickly became overpopulated. Lack of appropriate housing and generally having little money m... ...ng of the 20th century forever changed America. Many of these immigrants came to the country expecting to find the streets paved with gold, and opportunity knocking at their door. However, an evolving system of labor greeted these immigrants, and they were often forced to adjust to unfavorable working conditions and wide spread discrimination. Laws put into legislation further restricted the lives of these people making it even more difficult to assimilate to the American way of life. These hard working men and women truly exemplify the spirit of excellence and effort for without them, we would not be where we are today. Their contributions to society were numerous, and the effects of that era revolutionized the urban landscape of the United States. Immigrants are truly an example of what hard work and determination can achieve when a group of people stick together.