Problems Due to the Mechanism Placed by the Americans During the Germans Migration - Research Paper Example

? Challenges Facing German Immigrants in Chicago Institute of Affiliate Challenges Facing German Immigrants in Chicago Defining the world’sonly superpower, its composition, and its influence, presents compelling tasks for the nineteenth century. Talk of globalization of culture, of the colonization of the whole world within the compass of an American value system, makes the discovery of what "America" is and it is of key importance to those who celebrate and those who fear the United States. Effective emulation of or resistance to Americanization begins with a sense of the people and the ethos that informs them, the cultural values that they treasure the goals that move them. During this period, the Germans faced numerous problems due to the mechanism placed by the Americans for immigrants. This report seeks to identify the challenges faced by German Immigrants in Chicago in the 1800s. The problem that immediately arises from defining America is one of frame of reference. The person or nation doing the analysis brings unexamined assumptions that mirror one another. Those who offer definitions assume both that the target group can be identified in a coherent way and that the position of one defining does not need to be examined. Even more problematic is the assumption that the two cultures are clearly distinct from one another, especially given that the United States is composed Almost entirely of individuals whose origins can be tracked to other lands. No people has more readily posed the question of what America is and how it acts in the world, nor had a more difficult time finding a workable answer, than Germans. Certain that their own culture afforded them a standard against which to measure other cultures, other peoples, elite German thinkers (who often had little or no direct experience in the United States) developed ways of processing the idea of the America that they imagined into categories that they could mobilize for their own cultural and political purposes. These phenomena were only possible if the Germans have a chance to preserve and maintain their foreign language. This raised serious concerns regarding to the public instructions on language use in Chicago. It was not possible for them to mobilize their own cultural and political agendas. However, communities were to be the realization of what could have what should have been in Germany, had the political and natural landscape been more cooperative (Fuller, 2010, p.130). Those notions of an ideal Germany in the United States helped to maintain the early coherence of the new colonies that the new settlers established; the process of interaction between those communities and their neighbors, who had other ideas about life and culture and politics, helped to produce what is now America. This process which changed both the German Americans and their neighbors, was not without conflict and not without consequences and it complicates the categories of what American and German The central tenets of what has become American, and perhaps exactly those key notions that inform the concern of those who lament and those whose celebrate Americanization may have sprung from the interaction that became (German) America. This posed as a big treat to the German culture since the German children sought to elementary schools and embrace Americanization. The loss of German cultural values was eminent. “Heartland values" from the Midwest, which move seamlessly into anti-abortion and other Christian politics were wiped out. The German part of American history is more than a part; it is embodied into the fabric of America. They help to make America clearer and at the same time more baffling to critics who think they stand outside of the frame, just as the interactions between German immigrants and their descendants with the larger population that surrounded them made the ideal notions that Germans brought with them less recognition. The Germans faced a serious problem of unemployment. Most of the immigrants were unemployed and lived a low quality life. The attribute for this menace rose because of the social perceptions of the Americans and racial aspects they portrayed towards the Germans. The language barrier was another contributing factor to this problem. During this time, there was the presence of graft and corruption. This led a biased system, which saw the American citizen favored and the German Immigrant oppressed. The right given to the Germans a chance to vote with them created an ideal notion of what was possible in the United States and but soon became part of mainstream political ideology. Third-party politics, the ascendancy of local issues, and the inertia of German American voters all would move in the direction of appealing to ethnic identity and cultural preservation. Conflicting interests, shifting goals, and practical possibilities were seen as real world of American politics. A real continuum between the liberal Americans in Chicago and German working-class radicalism describes a process of integration that moved through a few steps in improving their relationship. However, the political power was never fully given the Germans. Furthermore, only the Americans were allowed to participate in the city and state affairs. Any German immigrants soon became unhappy with their life in the United States. They wanted better working and living conditions. To achieve this goal, they decided to form labor unions. Labor unions are organizations that strive to make sure that all workers in a business are treated fairly (Heiss, 1984, p.175). Although people from many backgrounds joined the labor unions, the majority in most unions were German. The labor unions were not popular with American businesses. Labor unions demanded higher wages, shorter working hours, as well as safer working conditions. These changes meant that businesses had to spend money to improve their factories or increase their workers’ pay. The fact that many Germans were part of the labor unions aroused some anti-German sentiment in America. That meant that a large number of people did not like or approve of the German Americans living and working in their communities. This was not the only time that German immigrants had faced prejudice from other Americans. Some Americans whose families had settled in the United States for generations considered themselves true Americans who were superior to immigrants that are more recent. These nativists were not just against German immigrants. They were opposed to all immigrants. They wanted the government to set up immigration laws that would prevent further immigration. They wanted to limit the number of immigrants who could enter the country. Antisemitism is discrimination against Jews. It has been a decisive factor in German American relationship particularly since 1833. During this period, Antisemitism, along with economic factors, spurred immigration of German Jews to Chicago. With the rise of National Socialism, the American Jewish community worked to call attention to German Antisemitism and make it a central issue in German American political relations (Obermann, 1980, p.187). However, there was the rise of anti-Jew communities, which saw the German Jews experiencing problems during their religious activities. This brought discrimination towards the Germans based on religion. Other religious practices were prohibited, and since they did not fit the ‘American Culture.’ This kind of discrimination went as far as not being employed alienation and sometimes regarded as criminal activities. Conclusion Apart from the problems experience in the administration and language and cultural isolation, their initial problems stared from the beginning of the migration process. These problems were imminent even as they left their country to find new settlement. The trips were expensive thus altered family economic status. The settlement itself was costly and due to the need to sustain the family, they had to establish sources of income in Chicago, which were also expensive to set up. After the decision to emigrate from Germany, they had to abandon their family and friends including their customs, which was hard on those who made a decision to leave. The trip to Chicago was horrible, especially before the creation of the steamboat. The trip initially lasted between 40 and 60 days. With the use of steamboats, the length full the trip was reduced in about I7 days. Duration was not the only limitation experienced by Germans, many people died since the ships were crowded. References Fuller, Bruce (2010). Unions; Politics of Education; Educational Innovation; Change Strategies. Chicago: Education Next, v10 n4 p20-28 Sum. (EJ910558) Heiss, C. (1984). German popular commercial and working class theater in Chicago, 1870-1910. (English). Journal of Amerikastudien. 1984, Vol. 29 (2), p169-182. 14p. Illinois Staats-Zeitung -- January 08, 1861 Great Massmeeting of German Republicans to Be Held in the Hall of the German House. Retrieved from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5418474_4_0368 Illinois Staats-Zeitung -- January 08, 1861 The Union Meeting in Bryan Hall (Editorial). Retrieved from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5418474_5_1477 Illinois Staats-Zeitung -- January 08, 1861. The Nationalen's Knowledge of History (Editorial) http://flps.newberry.org/article/5418474_6_0742 Illinois Staats-Zeitung -- January 09, 1861. Great Massmeeting at the German House. Retrieved from http://flps.newberry.org/article/5418474_10_0350 Obermann, K. (1980). Weydemeyer in America: new materials on the biography of Joseph Weydemeyer (1854-60). International Review of Social History. Vol. 25 (2), p176-208. 33p. Read More