AMH 2097 Paper 2

The White Anglo-Saxon Protestants (WASPs) have been at the top of the social hierarchy ever since they arrived to America in the 1600s. The first wave of immigration consisted of the Germans, Irish and Chinese. The WASPs created a way to measure the success of each immigrant group. They acknowledged four factors of success that would show them whether an immigrant group was successful or not. The first factor of success was how much money an immigrant had when they came to America. The more money they came to America with, the more successful they were. Another factor of an immigrant’s success was how large the group they came with was. The larger the group, the less respect and successful they were. Furthermore, it worried the WASPs because they did not want to lose their power and high-end jobs. A third factor that measured an immigrants’ success was where they located. The further away the immigrants settled from the WASP’s, the more the WASPs respected them. The last factor that determined to the WASPs how successful an immigrant group was, was the stereotypes. Stereotypes were given to immigrant groups who looked different or acted different then the WASPs. The immigrant groups that received harsh stereotypes were not deemed successful. Using these four factors, the WASPs analyzed each immigrant group and determined whether the group was successful or not.
Out of the three immigrant groups to come to America during the first wave of immigration, the Germans were, without a doubt, the most successful. The first Germans arrived in America during the Formative Wave. These Germans set a positive example and allowed the first wave German immigrants to come into America with respect already earned. The Germans came with a lot of money, so they were able to settle away from the WASPs in an area of America known as the “German Triangle.” The Germans settled with other Germans who had similar religious and