African Americans And European Immigrants In The 19th Century
During the late 19th and early 20th centuries, immigration and mass internal migration shaped the experiences of African Americans and European immigrants in the United States. After generations of slavery, the Civil War and Reconstruction finally allowed African Americans to expect inclusion in mainstream white American society and basic rights of citizenship. The African American experience depended heavily on sectionalism and migration patterns and it was consistently marred by racism and discrimination. European immigrants brought their cultures to the United States but with time adopted many American practices. Mainstreet white American inclusion of European immigrants was hindered by popular nativist ideas. Despite the extent to which
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Africans were captured against their will and brought to America. They were isolated from their families and communities to be sold as slaves into plantations with others from disparate backgrounds. Unable to use their own language or to maintain their traditions and culture African Americans rapidly assimilated into American culture by adopting the English language, and Christianity by building Black churches. Despite complete assimilation, African Americans were still denied basic rights and acceptance in society. John Higham compared the ways in which racial thinking manifested throughout the 19th and 20th centuries with both Immigrants and African Americans. When associated to popular emotions through political or literary references, racial thinking remained separate from white-supremacist or nativist ideas, contrasting with more systematic approaches derived from naturalist studies wherein one could distinguish race on the bases of physical features. The latter was closely correlated with the practice of Eugenics, allowing people to discriminate based on the premises that physical features are linked with culture and that “white” people had inherently advantageous traits. The progression of racial thinking towards “scientific” methods of differentiation was consistent with the ideas of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism gave Nativists scientific justification to mistreat people of color on the premises that white people were genetically
Africans were captured against their will and brought to America. They were isolated from their families and communities to be sold as slaves into plantations with others from disparate backgrounds. Unable to use their own language or to maintain their traditions and culture African Americans rapidly assimilated into American culture by adopting the English language, and Christianity by building Black churches. Despite complete assimilation, African Americans were still denied basic rights and acceptance in society. John Higham compared the ways in which racial thinking manifested throughout the 19th and 20th centuries with both Immigrants and African Americans. When associated to popular emotions through political or literary references, racial thinking remained separate from white-supremacist or nativist ideas, contrasting with more systematic approaches derived from naturalist studies wherein one could distinguish race on the bases of physical features. The latter was closely correlated with the practice of Eugenics, allowing people to discriminate based on the premises that physical features are linked with culture and that “white” people had inherently advantageous traits. The progression of racial thinking towards “scientific” methods of differentiation was consistent with the ideas of Social Darwinism. Social Darwinism gave Nativists scientific justification to mistreat people of color on the premises that white people were genetically