Assimilation Dbq Analysis

During the late 1800s, there was a huge increase of immigration from Southern and Eastern Europe looking for opportunities in America (Doc A). Majority of these foreigners were victims of religious oppression, famine, and instability caused by political issues. To them, America was a beacon of hope, the land of opportunity, and a haven with open doors for them. But soon they would realize the hardship of surviving in the new world because of their inability to assimilate to the new society. Although the immigrants experienced some success in assimilation through job opportunities and free education, there were still; however, discrimination, and lack of action from both the newcomers and the Americans that proved to become a great obstacle
The immigrants came to America and isolated themselves in their enclave. One of the factors that contributed to this phenomenon was because the second surge of immigration had much more diversity: Austro-Hungarians, Italians, Russians, Polishes, and Bohemians being a few of the many. They had a distinctive physical appearance that distinguished them from the natives of Americans. This proved to be a small obstacle for them; however, the immigrants were all so closely knitted together that they gave no real effort to assimilate to the new society. Some advocates such as Jane Addams even supported ideas opposite to assimilation as she believed that giving independence of the immigrants was a better way for them to survive in the competitive society of America (Doc H). In addition, the Nativists who believed in the supremacy of the Anglo-Saxons, constructed a superiority pyramid that further solidified the line between the new immigrants and the Americans. It was partly because of the immigrants’ ignorance towards the new American society that discrimination flourished instead of
Although America gave free education for the foreign children (Doc J) and the Court ruled for the 14th Amendment in the Yick Wo v. Hopkins, Sheriff, etc case (Doc E) , they were still discriminated. The efforts were not strongly enforced enough to help the foreigners to assimilate effectively. And one of the reason why the attempts were fruitless was because the American interaction with the foreigners were so small that a chance for the immigrant to make any contact with them was close to zero (Doc G). Not only were the immigrants socially cut off from the Americans, they were also separated economically. Former immigrant Andrew Carnegie, in his speech advised the new immigrants to never consume alcohol nor ever enter a bar-room if they desired to become successful (Doc D). However, how can the immigrants follow his advice if there is no open gateway except for the saloons and the brothels in the first place (Doc C)? On the other hand, some immigrants were able to work in factories. The wave immigration had brought numerous unskilled labours and the political machine kept up with the oncoming workers by providing jobs for them (Doc I). However, the treatments of the unskilled labors were dehumanizing as they were seen as a part of a machine that can be easily replaced by another. There were some efforts from the Americans, but the effect were not drastic enough