Difficulties in Immigration to London - Essay Example

? Life and Cultural Transformations Associated With Immigration to London Introduction Research has shown that immigrationto the city of London has impacted on culture and lifestyle in the area. In addition to this, researchers have found that immigration can have negative and positive impacts on a place. This write up looks at some of the impacts that immigration has had on the city of London. One of the impacts that immigration has had on London include children of immigrants having and embracing a different culture. Children grow split between two lives, which in most cases are religion and language. As children attend school, they copy and even acquire the culture of classmates and even that of neighbors. Most of the parents who moved to London within the last 150 years have had difficulties in communication, and they make use of their children as translators. Children attending schools engage in socializing activities from where they learn and acquire new cultures. The young generation within the city of London has had its life molded on what the young people believe. In fact, they are not influenced by their parents who would want them to follow their footsteps. Therefore, there has been conflict between children and parents in the city of London. However, parents should know that they cannot influence the behavior of their children or even their actions (Museum of London). As a city, London has lost its culture because of immigration activities. London has become a host of many people from different countries of the universe making it have different cultures. For instance being a Muslim in London can prove hectic for a Muslim faithful. This is because the city has entirely different ideas and those professing the Muslim faith may feel out of place or as outcast. This issue has caused many people to abandon their beliefs for those that are commonly practiced in the area. This has been the case among the young generation within the city. The result of loss of the culture within the city is the development of multicultural aspects. Many people from other continents and even other countries within Europe have found their way to London. Some of the reasons that have caused immigration are aspects of business and studies. Therefore, diversity has come up in terms of clothing, food and even language. Different foods have been brought to London and a new method of cooking adapted by the city dwellers (Museum of London). There has been an improvement in the business and trade sectors. For instance, new technologies have been brought by foreigners to the city. Migrants would include the Chinese, American and even the Russians. This has transformed many lives within the city by making work easy and efficient. For instance, exchange of cultural aspects has seen exchange of technology that has made improvements in the transport and sector within the city. Immigration to London has also affected the social aspects of the city. As a result of people moving to the city to look for jobs, there were high levels of unemployment during the start of the twenty century that saw crime levels going up within the city. The young people have been perpetrators or victims that have been associated with crime in London. This was a result of young men and women lacking jobs within the city. In addition to this, there was poor sanitation related issues within the city as a result of many immigrants. The population within the city was large to an extent that the city would not handle all the people in terms of providing social amenities. In an effort to fight that, institution were established to deal with infectious diseases within the city. The past 150 years have also seen a change in the medical field. For instance, physicians and other medical personnel sought to reach the whole community unlike earlier times where these people were concerned with those who came to the hospital. There have been increased levels of drug and alcohol use within the city. This has been facilitated by the opening of many pubs and other social places that provide services that would encourage the above activities. In addition to this, issue of diversity has aggravated the situation within the city. Within the past 150 years, poverty and inequality has been on the increase. This is because the rich and those who are able in the community exploit immigrants within London. Immigrants work in industries where they are paid low wages while their white counterparts receive high wages. Migration to the city of London has also seen the occurrence of individualism within in England. This has been directed toward the rich and middle class people within the city. Immigrants who are minority within the city are the victims of the issue above. For instance, there still exists discrimination on the minority when it comes to hospitals and treatment issues. Greed has also emerged within London as a result of immigrants finding their ways into the city. The rich and the middle class within the city do not want to be associated with the poor or the lowly ranked in the society. In fact, the rich exploit the poor at the expense of making personal gains. Initially, greed was not part of the social life of Britons, but because of competition as a result of immigration, it has emerged within the city. There has been a decline of the family and values within the city. In fact, research has shown that most Britons in London had neglected common values and had lost their moral values. Parents can no longer have control over their children who have been exposed to different cultures within the city. This is because of the establishment of multicultural practices within the city. Immigrants came into the city with their lifestyles, and since then the Britons have been influenced. Moreover, negative attitudes have emerged towards the immigrants. This has resulted to lack of support for the immigrants within the city. The British society, according to research, has become selfish and greedy and does not want to contribute to community development. This would be because they have lost the battle for scarce resources with the immigrants in the city. Epidemics and Endemics in shaping the History of London In the period between 1664 and 1665, there was a plague within the city of London that resulted to more men losing their lives than women each day. The action taken during this time was locking the infected patients and the diseased in their homes. The result of that action was that there were more deaths in poor families because medication was limited for them. The disease would be traced back to poor sanitation within the city that by then had many rats in households. The disease is believed to have spread from the city to the surrounding environments (Hays, 2005). Between 1700 and 1830, plague was not a treat to the city, but there were other endemic infections such as smallpox and fever that continued to fluctuate in terms of prevalence and severity. The city would not provide for its inhabitants, and the population was getting out of control. Proper frame work on health concerns was lacking within the city. In addition to this, there was poor administration and London’s salubrity was left to the city which passed the same to the parishes. In the early 1700s doctor and physicians proposed changes that saw the establishment of health institutions. This aspect was achieved in two ways within the city of London. The first approach was the establishment of dispensaries and the second approach involved the establishment of hospitals that dealt with infectious fever. Most of those who received treatment in such hospital were the middle class and those that were well off in society. In rare instances, the poor were also treated free of charge upon acquiring subscription tickets. However, cases involving infectious diseases were not accepted in such hospitals. For instance, between 1720 and 1745, five public hospitals were established within London that included Westminster, Middlesex, St. George’s and the Guy’s and the London hospitals. This stimulated more research on diseases than before. Attention moved from individual treatment to the whole community treatments, and extra studies were done on smallpox. The disease above was found to infect all people and was found to be contagious within the human race (Hardy, 1993). However, there were issues of infectious fever within the city and those that were infected by the disease. The hospitals failed to address infectious fever and the related poverty issues. In addition to this, there was consensus of removing patients from the site of contagion and instruction of family members in hygienic environments. The result of this was the provincial fever hospital movement and dispensary movement. These movements were led by doctors, and they served to establish isolation wards for fever patients within the provincial hospitals. By 1800, there were about 16 general dispensaries that handled not only fever infections but also other diseases. Doctors were also involved in travel from house to the house where they found conditions to be deficient in relation to fever infections (Hardy, 1993). This led to the development of the London fever hospital in the year 1801 that was intended to remove infections from the city and its surroundings. In summary, the medical responses to epidemic in London were shaped by the doctors’ concern patients and the general well being of these patients. Epidemics and endemics shaped the history of London because policies were enacted that change public ethos from being individualistic to community oriented. Moreover, diseases saw the development of health infrastructure within the city of London. International Trade and Finance in shaping the history of London By 18th century, Britain was actively involved in the industrial revolution that included the use of coal and steam as sources of energy and mechanization in the textile industry. Research has shown that, at that period, England was the best country within Europe in terms of trade activities. For instance, the countries activities overseas had doubled in the years between 1700 and 1780. The most common commodities traded during that time included tea, coffee, sugar and even tobacco. Trade activities led to the creation of commodity markets that were linked to the commodity market. Establishment of international trade within London, England led to the establishment of the insurance markets. An example of this was the establishment of the marine insurance market and the Royal Exchange Assurance Company. The other companies dealing in the same market included Lloyd’s and the London Assurance Company. These companies were given a Royal Charter to conduct their business in the year 1720. International trade within this period saw the development of private banks that financed the governments and other business people within London. In addition to the above, there was the linkage between banking activities and trading activities by the use of the bill of exchange (Kaminsky, 2009). In the 1820s, merchant banks led by Rothschilds and Barings were involved in floating foreign bonds. Similarly, private bankers focused on the domestic economy within England. A radical breakthrough was made in 1823 when foreign loans were granted rights to be listed in the London Stock Exchange market. That period also saw the increase of liquidity that was a result of decline in military spending and financial injections by the Bank of England. Other countries were able to able to tap resources from London. For example, some of the countries that tapped funds from London included Chile, Mexico and Gran Colombia. Historical records show that France had a positive balance of trade with Anglo-Saxon, whereas the others had a negative balance of trade (Kaminsky, 2009). Therefore, France took up the role of financing international and local or domestic trades. This also saw the buying of bills of exchange on Paris aiming to pay for their purchases. This also enabled British and Americans to clear amount overdue in Anglo-Saxon countries. International trade saw the movement from the use of the sterling pound to the use of the dollar. In addition to this, use of the dollar became difficult in international trade activities. Prior to this, city of London increased its banks and other financial institutions. For instance, in the year 1979, the number of banks within London was found to be 328. In addition to that, new regulation within the international trade saw the arrival of new firms that dealt in money within London. They included Tokyo and Singapore and even Hong Kong. The new arrivals in London served to make the money market competitive and transform the business world within London. Therefore, monopoly was eliminated within the city as more competitors were allowed to conduct their activities within London. This saw the city grow in terms of business activities. There were many sources of finance from where business people would borrow money from to carry out their activities. In summary, international trade and finance saw an increase in economic growth, domestic savings and economic development within the London. It also enabled onshore and offshore financial centers to compete and complement one another. London was able to acquire experts in the money markets and trade from foreign countries enabling it to perform its activities efficiently. In addition to this, city was able to acquire goods and services from foreign countries in the form of exports. This increased the choices of goods and services that were available for customers. How has Migration and immigration shaped history of London? Since the roman times, migrants have found their way into the United Kingdom occupying places like Wales, south East, Humber, Yorkshire and even the city of London. However, research has shown that migration to the UK has been concentrated in the city of London. The result of this is that; migration has impacted on the city in various ways. This write up looks at the impact of migration and immigrants on the history of London. The city of London has been named to be among the cities having large numbers of people. For instance by the year 1913, the population of London was about seven million and the number was increasing upwards. Most of the inhabitants of London during that time were from the neighbors of England such as Wales, South East, Yorkshire and even Irish. In addition to this, most of the inhabitants were young men and women either in their early twenties or even in their teens. Research has also shown that migration in the 17th century was global and long distance. This meant that people from other continents started migrating to London. Therefore, at that period the population of London was characterized by the youth and from different parts of the world enhancing aspects of diversity within the city. The aspects above lead to London having low dependency rates and low fertility rates. This was because most of those found within the city were young and energetic hence they would work and earn a living (Museum of London). There was steady population growth up to around 1720s after which there was stagnation in the population that was later followed by strong growth rates in the 1750s. High population within the city during that time led to poor hygiene that resulted to high rates of child mortality. Stagnation of population at that period would also be related to depression that was experienced in the building industry within England. In an effort to change attitudes towards child mortality during that period, health facilities were set up within London. An example of such institution was foundling hospital that was established in 1741. In addition to this, efforts were made towards supporting single mothers instead of shaming and neglecting them. Between 1760 and 1815, migration into London and fertility rates increased within the city. International and global migration became significant during that time because of the end the wars in 1963 and 1973. This saw a large number of black women and men from North America and the Caribbean settling within London. Moreover, there was evolution in the marriage setting that involved change in the age of marriage. There was a change in that; people would marry at age of below 25 years instead of at late twenties. High levels of illegitimacy were also experienced together with high levels of fertility in those within marriage and outside marriage (Museum of London). The other impact of migration is that, at that period, women formed a large portion of the population. This was a reflection of increased domestic services within the city that had about 54% of its inhabitants being women. Similarly, patterns of courtship and fertility were affected during that time making their effect be felt more than before. By 1789, the population of London was subjugated by young women and men from different parts of the world. This period also saw the emergence of increased crimes within the city most of which were young men compared to women. This also saw the change of the court structure within the city of London because interpreters were required to ease court proceedings. Interpreters were meant to assist immigrants in understanding the prosecution and other court activities. Therefore, when dealing with issues regarding the history of London, migration and immigrants must be taken into consideration because they form part of that history. References Hardy A. (1993). The medical response to epidemic disease during the long eighteenth century Retrieved on 17 March 2012from: Hays, J. (2005). Epidemics and pandemics: Their impacts on human history. Santa Barbara, Calif: ABC-CLIO. Kaminsky G. (2009). Financial centers: lessons from history Museum of London. Migration and citizenship Retrieved on 17 March, 2012 from: < www.museumoflondon.org.uk/Collections-Research/.../1386/> Museum of London: The Development of London’s Port Retrieved on 17 March 2012 from: < www.museumoflondon.org.uk/.../The-development-of-Londons-port-docks. htm> Read More