Immigration Dbq Research Paper

During the late 19th century to the early 20th century, the United States experienced an influx of immigrants, largely increasing the diversity of religious and ethnic groups in the country. When Ellis Island opened in 1892 and Angel Island opened in 1910, many people from Europe and Asia, including the Chinese, Catholics, and Jews, were part of the third wave of immigrants to the United States. These immigrants were not always welcome in the United States. They were financially challenged and found it hard to assimilate with others and white Protestants. Although the United States is a very diverse nation today and the poem at the bottom of the Statue of Liberty welcomed them through a “golden door”, immigrants and new groups coming to the
country faced several economic hardships, encountered many problems due to their religion, and experienced discriminated caused by the feelings and thoughts of anti-immigrant groups.
Immigrants encountered several economic struggles upon their arrival in the United States. Many immigrants tried to assimilate into American culture, but they often found it difficult because of language barriers, discrimination, poverty, and a lack of skills and education, similarly to the Polish man who wrote a letter about his struggles as an immigrant to the United States (Doc. 3). Because of these obstacles, countless immigrants were left jobless and unhired. Immigrants would also be economically hurt because not many people were willing to hire them. Employers only preferred to hire white-Protestants, as shown in the classified section of the New York Times from 1855 (Doc. 6). The ads asking for employees in this section specified that no Irish needed to apply for household jobs and how Protestants (and Germans) were preferred, explaining how many tried to avoid immigrants, which left them with even less economic opportunities. Part of the reason immigrants had very less economic opportunities was that a large part of the country tried to prevent non-Protestants from holding public offices and positions. Several groups and associations even went as far as making an oath to protect public offices and open jobs from those who were not protestants, clearly exhibiting the racism and discrimination that was deemed acceptable by most. For instance, the members of the American Protective Associations (APA) made an oath in 1893 stating that to the utmost of their ability, they will protect the United States (and its jobs/public offices) from Roman Catholics and will only act in the interests of Protestants (Doc. 8). This made it very difficult for immigrants to find a job and be financially stable. A poem by Paul S. Taylor about a Mexican immigrant explained the hardships immigrants faced while leaving their country (Doc. 7). The Mexican immigrant left his country unwillingly and blamed poverty and necessity for the reason of why he had to leave. It was explained that the immigrant was going to the United States to earn a living and make up for the poverty, but many nativists took that dream/opportunity from them, again leaving the immigrant jobless and economically unstable.
Race and ethnicity were the roots of most of the discrimination the immigrants had to face. A large population of the United States was opposed to immigrants because they came from places like Southern and Eastern Europe and Asia, or they were non-Protestants. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan clearly exhibited their thoughts toward non-Protestants, publicizing that they had no right to stay in the United States, and they showed a lot of hostility toward “aliens”, such as Jews and Catholics (Doc. 1). IN his article in the North American Review (“The Klan’s Fight for Americanism”), Hiram Wesley Evans, who showed possible connection to the Klan, told about the Klan’s opposition and intolerance towards anything alien or loyal toward foreign powers or religions, and it was obvious that the KKK were proud of their thoughts. The hate of Protestants toward Roman Catholics led organizations like the APA to make an oath to act in the interest of Protestants only because according to them Catholics would show more loyalty to the pope than to the well-being of the country, showing the open discrimination and mistrust towards immigrants (Doc. 8). Americans’ reluctance to let immigrants into the United States was proven by Uncle Sam’s unhappiness in letting an immigrant in the cartoon “The Immigrant: The Stranger at our Gate” (Doc. 2). In the cartoon, it was shown that the immigrant asking for entrance to the US was Jewish, and this highlighted the mistrust toward Jews and people coming from poverty. Because of their religion and race, immigrants were not even given jobs. A set of ads in the New York Times specified that only Protestants were wanted for jobs like being a nurse or a cook and that no Irish people would be given the job (Doc. 6).
Immigrants experienced a lot of discrimination and racism caused by many anti-immigrants groups and their feelings.
One of these groups was the KKK, which was mentioned earlier. The KKK was a white supremacist group that was biased towards white Protestants and belligerent towards people of other religions and races. This group was proud about their thoughts for “aliens”, who, according to them, had no right to stay in the United States, and were feared by many for their violent thoughts and ideas (Doc. 1). Another group that was like the KKK, but not as extreme, was the APA. The APA was a secret agency that was formed to protect the United States by keeping Roman Catholics out of public positions (Doc. 8). Groups like this made it difficult for immigrants to live in peace and make a living. A cartoon exhibiting Uncle Sam, a symbol representing the Americans, showed the anti-immigrant sentiments showed how Americans were opposed to the idea of letting immigrants. The immigrant asking for entrance to the United States was a symbol representing all immigrants, who came from poverty, brought in diseases, wanted desegregation, and were of different religions. Uncle Sam was also plugging his nose, conveying how many Americans were disgusted with the immigrants. A pamphlet from 1885, that showed the open hatred towards immigrants in the United States, tried to convince American citizens to restrict immigration by saying “Protect yourself and your children against ruinous labor
and business competition through unrestricted immigration.” (Doc. 4) Nativists like the authors of this pamphlet tried to get others to agree with his or her thoughts on immigration by playing with the emotions of the reader, immigration could eventually be removed. Opposition towards immigration went as far as the fact that parts of the U.S. government tried to suspend immigration. The Select Committee on Immigration (that was part of the Fifty-Second Congress in the early 1890s) tried to convince Congress to continue the Chinese Exclusion Act by expressing that fact that the Chinese are dangerous to the country, and they were not interested in American prosperity; therefore they would not be able to assimilate (Doc. 5). This report explained the common opinions and fears about the Chinese and how discrimination against immigrants was considered acceptable. The United States government tried to make many actions against immigration and was included in these anti-immigrant groups, and if the government showed discrimination against immigrants, others thought that it was acceptable to exhibit their anti-immigrant feelings.
Regardless of America’s augmenting diversity in the 21st Century, new groups of immigrants continue to face hardships as immigrants 3rd wave did.
Countless immigrants were hated for their race and ethnicity, and because of this, immigrants found it hard to
assimilate.