Speaking of America: Readings in U.S. History - Literature review Example

Immigration in America Introduction The United s of America has always been considered a land of opportunities. This explains why many immigrants have sought a chance to gain entry into America. People from different parts of the globe have gained awareness about the American dream, which seeks to provide access to opportunities irrespective of the salient social status. In the years before 1865, America did not have any limitations to the number of immigrants who found their way into the country. This explains why the society became highly heterogeneous. However, 1870 would bring numerous changes to the United States, compelling the government to define immigration policies that would limit the number of people sharing the American dream. Native Americans were against the additional influx of more immigrants into their society. It is unfortunate that most of the reasons used to burr immigrants from gaining entry into America promoted racism. Although it was evident that the population of America was soaring because of the immigrants, proper regulation that did not rely on biased restrictions would have registered a positive impact I reducing the number of immigrants. This paper will discuss the reasons why America should have been more open to immigrants. Prior to 1870, the United States had been more liberal to immigrants without placing any form of restrictions. Worth noting is the fact that many founders of the American nation had been immigrants. They had settled into the American society and been integrated well in an effort to share the American dream. As American was establishing its industrial section, it needed labor. Immigrants served to provide cheap labor during this period. Most of the people going to the United States lacked opportunities in their homeland, a factor compelled them to look for better options. However, in the 1870s, some Native Americans began to view immigrants in a negative way. Many of the immigrants were taking up jobs, irrespective of the wages as long as they could live a decent life (Belmonte 454). This meant that some Native Americans who stated higher wages than the immigrants were left out of many jobs. Moreover, Native Americans argued that America needed to be a homogenous society. They no longer supported the heterogeneity that included the Native Americans and the immigrants. They claimed that immigrants had the potential of challenging their existing social structures. In addition, Native Americans placed emphasis on the need for an upper class society. They opined that allowing immigrants fully would compromise this dream. Since immigrants were in search for better opportunities, Native Americans argued that they had to be fit to join the American society. Despite these claims, some Native Americans still supported immigration and were convicted that immigrants would help with providing cheap labor and other activities that would promote the economic growth (230). The above claims presented many immigrants being locked out of America. The American government responded to the diverse views of the Native Americans by establishing a commission that would govern all the immigration activities. In addition, the government drafted bills that restricted some immigrants from finding their way into America. Notably, the restrictions were very stringent denying immigrants from certain regions entry into the American society. Moreover, the restrictions required an array of test to be conducted on the immigrants in an effort to determine whether they deserved an opportunity to settle down in America. The applications of the restrictions served to promote racist agendas. This is because immigrants from Europe were not restricted while those from other regions such as Africa and Asia faced numerous challenges before they could become legal immigrants in the United States. Rich immigrants did not have to pass all the tests defined by the immigration commission (460). Only poor immigrants who were genuinely seeking for better opportunities had to undertake the different tests and pass if they needed to settle in America. In my opinion, the restrictions produced by the American government in an effort to control immigration levels were unfair and promoted a form of bias. From the book titled Speaking of America authored by Belmonte, the reader comes across numerous readings that depict the real situation surrounding immigration after 1870. Evidently, the Chinese formed one group of immigrants that were not wanted in the United States. Notably, many Chinese immigrants had preferred to move into America during the gold rush period. Many Chinese immigrants who were lucky to gain entry into America provided cheap labor for the highly increasing industries. Compared to the white workers, Chinese immigrants accepted minimal wages and worked for long hours (461). This created a distinctive difference between the white workers and the Chinese immigrants. Their willingness to accept low wages created a conflict of interest because white workers demanded more. This led to many white workers being replaced by the Chinese immigrants. According to one of the readings in Belmonte’s book, Chinese immigrants and their low expectations made them to be considered as unfit in the American society, their willingness to settle for minimum wages were defined as “Evils of Chinese Immigrants”. The article highlights that the evils of the Chinese immigrants resulted from their resistance to be Americanized. Chinese immigrants chose to settle in America as a separate group with its own religion and culture. They were not willing to let go of their culture and traditions. They settled in only specific areas a factor that worried Native Americans. Despite the period they had lived in the United States, they exhibited a minimal understanding of the American governance system. They did not practice the mainstream culture because of the esteem regarded to their culture. These factors made them unwanted immigrants in the United States. Therefore, the existing regulations sought to limit their entry into the country. However, Yan Phou Lee had the conviction that Chinese immigrants deserved a chance in America. In his opinion, they had been judged harshly and they deserved a better chance and an opportunity to make a livinh in America. He highlighted this in his article titled The Chinese must Stay (459). The immigration policies put in place to limit the number of Chinese immigrants did not allow women to move into America. Only Chinese men were allowed into America and there were strict regulations concerning their health and physical ability. In addition, there was a preference for educated immigrants because the Native Americans did not want illiterate immigrants (290). Chinese men who were allowed into America faced the compulsion of staying in America without seeing their families. Chinese individuals who were considered unfit for being legal immigrants were deported back to their country. The immigration policy governing Chinese immigrants served as an example of the unfair restrictions put in place by the American government. From the cartoon work of Grant Hamilton, published in 1891, it became evident that Americans were dissatisfied with the regulations put in place to control immigration (463). The cartoon highlighted that many immigrants were unfairly branded bad names in an effort to ruin their reputation. Many of them were considered as convicts, and paupers. However, it is evident that not all the immigrants lived according to these levels. In the opinion of Hamilton, America needed proper and fair regulations that were not based on racial differences. The targeted audience of the cartoon was the Native Americans who always considered that immigrants did not have a place in the United States. There was an evident need for the American government to reconsider the restrictions that it had imposed in controlling the influx of immigrants. In a different article authored by Walker, it becomes evident that prior to 1865, Americans had relied on immigrants to provide the much needed labor in developing their industries. However, by 1970, the industries had grown immensely. This explains why they no longer needed many immigrants to settle in their society. They began to view them in a negative way and to promote the development of homogeneity. It is critical to understand that many Americans stopped doing manual works after the immigrants had arrived in the years before 1860. In this article, Walker advocated for the needs for the restriction of immigration (466). In his opinion, America no longer needed a high number of immigrants. The fact that immigrants were scrambling for the few available chances served as a disadvantage to the Native Americans. The speech delivered by Booker Washington who was a representative of the African Americans illustrated that immigrants had the opportunity to build their lives as long as they were in America. He discouraged fellow African Americans from forming part of the reconstruction agenda pursued by the Americans at that time (477). He placed emphasis on the need for African Americans to pursue education, as it would serve to liberate them. Conclusion Evidently, immigration into America has exhibited complexities over the years, especially from the 1870s. The American government sought to regulate the number of people who could find entry into the American society. The government was very particular that immigrants qualifying after assessment of different aspects were the only ones who deserved to pursue their dreams in America. With the establishment of their industries, they no longer needed much labor. Moreover, many immigrants such as those from China accepted to work for meager pay, affecting the cumulative pay for other workers. Without doubt, the regulations put in place to limit immigration did not prove efficient. There was a salient need for a balanced view when designing the restrictive policies. Work Cited Belmonte, Laura A. Speaking of America: Readings in U.s. History. Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth, 2005. Print. Read More