Immigration In My Antonia
MLA CITATION INCLUDED WITH SOURCES
Historical look at the the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather
My Antonia: An In Depth Analysis of Immigration in the 1800s
The novel My Antonia by the author Willa Cather is set in the late eighteen hundreds. In the story it described an age of change indicating a progression in the social rankings of foreigners. During that time, immigrating to America was quite popular among European nations. There were several factors that inspired this mass movement. Immigrants found opportunities throughout the United States but preferred that of the rural west compared to those of the settled east. This idea brought on a diverse metamorphosis to cultural aspects of the west.
Traversing west was quite harrowing …show more content…
to early pioneers. It obligated them to travel long distances just to reach the varying small communities. Once California was settled it was decided that feasible transportation between there and the settled east was imperative.The first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. was built between 1863 and 1869. Railroad expansion such as this enticed many immigrants luring them in for track laying jobs. After it was built, people thought that it “revolutionized population and economy of the American west” (“First”). The railroad was to thank for furthering accessibility to the west’s opportunities including for immigrants.
Willa Cather, author of My Antonia, herself used the train as a form of transportation.
At age nine she traveled by this railroad to Red Cloud: the location of one of the railroad’s headquarters. That same railway provided the route for others such as Margie Anderson, a hired girl. Annie Sadilek, who was Cather’s inspiration when writing My Antonia, and her family also traveled by this rail line to reach Red Cloud. Red Cloud, renamed Black Hawk in Cather’s story, was described as, “the end of the railroad” (Cather 142). Jim Burden moved there to live with his grandparents and met Antonia indirectly while both were traveling to Black …show more content…
Hawk.
Small towns like Red Cloud offered hope to many immigrants. In 1862 the Homestead Act proclaimed it possible for any adult American citizen to requisition up to and including 160 acres of land owned by the government. With this declaration immigrants could build a solid foundation for their future in this young country. This act attracted many to Black Hawk in My Antonia. The Shimerdas came because they wanted better opportunities for Ambrosch and Antonia. Russian Pete came to escape his old country. Statistics from the University of Minnesota say that about or over one half of people that farmed requisitioned land were immigrants.
Immigrants struggled to buy things like farm equipment and were troubled by the mouths they had to feed.
Although it was hard they thought it was better to “farm the cheap land” (“History”), then to be living back in Europe. A lot of times older siblings had to take jobs to help their parents feed all the mouths at home. These hired girls and sometimes boys were described as being, “early awakened and made observant by coming at a tender age from an old country to a new” (Cather 127). They were considered a nuisance by the wealthy. It caused a “curious social situation in Black Hawk” (Cather 127). Fortunately, thanks to their hard work, their siblings and the generations to come after them were wildly
successful.
Although many had said, “foreigners were ignorant people who couldn’t speak English” (Cather 129). The foreigners paid no heed to them and made a way for themselves in this country. America was built on the success of immigrants. A great historically correct example of this is Willa Cather’s novel. My Antonia contained the stories of actual people who had to survive in our brutal social structure and came out the victors winning what is considered the American dream.
MLA Bibliography
Cather, Willa. My Antonia. Boston: Houghton, 1988. Print. “First Transcontinental Railroad.” Wikipedia: the free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.
“History of Immigration in Nebraska.” Midwest Coalition immigration and the Region’s Future. Univ. of Minnesota, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.
“Homestead Act (1862).” ourdocuments.gov. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.
Opatrny, Josef. “Problems in the History of Czech Immigration to America in the second
Half of the Nineteenth Century.” Nebraska State Historical Society. n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.
“Willa Cather Timeline.” The Willa Cather Foundation Website. n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.
Historical look at the the novel My Antonia by Willa Cather
My Antonia: An In Depth Analysis of Immigration in the 1800s
The novel My Antonia by the author Willa Cather is set in the late eighteen hundreds. In the story it described an age of change indicating a progression in the social rankings of foreigners. During that time, immigrating to America was quite popular among European nations. There were several factors that inspired this mass movement. Immigrants found opportunities throughout the United States but preferred that of the rural west compared to those of the settled east. This idea brought on a diverse metamorphosis to cultural aspects of the west.
Traversing west was quite harrowing …show more content…
to early pioneers. It obligated them to travel long distances just to reach the varying small communities. Once California was settled it was decided that feasible transportation between there and the settled east was imperative.The first transcontinental railroad in the U.S. was built between 1863 and 1869. Railroad expansion such as this enticed many immigrants luring them in for track laying jobs. After it was built, people thought that it “revolutionized population and economy of the American west” (“First”). The railroad was to thank for furthering accessibility to the west’s opportunities including for immigrants.
Willa Cather, author of My Antonia, herself used the train as a form of transportation.
At age nine she traveled by this railroad to Red Cloud: the location of one of the railroad’s headquarters. That same railway provided the route for others such as Margie Anderson, a hired girl. Annie Sadilek, who was Cather’s inspiration when writing My Antonia, and her family also traveled by this rail line to reach Red Cloud. Red Cloud, renamed Black Hawk in Cather’s story, was described as, “the end of the railroad” (Cather 142). Jim Burden moved there to live with his grandparents and met Antonia indirectly while both were traveling to Black …show more content…
Hawk.
Small towns like Red Cloud offered hope to many immigrants. In 1862 the Homestead Act proclaimed it possible for any adult American citizen to requisition up to and including 160 acres of land owned by the government. With this declaration immigrants could build a solid foundation for their future in this young country. This act attracted many to Black Hawk in My Antonia. The Shimerdas came because they wanted better opportunities for Ambrosch and Antonia. Russian Pete came to escape his old country. Statistics from the University of Minnesota say that about or over one half of people that farmed requisitioned land were immigrants.
Immigrants struggled to buy things like farm equipment and were troubled by the mouths they had to feed.
Although it was hard they thought it was better to “farm the cheap land” (“History”), then to be living back in Europe. A lot of times older siblings had to take jobs to help their parents feed all the mouths at home. These hired girls and sometimes boys were described as being, “early awakened and made observant by coming at a tender age from an old country to a new” (Cather 127). They were considered a nuisance by the wealthy. It caused a “curious social situation in Black Hawk” (Cather 127). Fortunately, thanks to their hard work, their siblings and the generations to come after them were wildly
successful.
Although many had said, “foreigners were ignorant people who couldn’t speak English” (Cather 129). The foreigners paid no heed to them and made a way for themselves in this country. America was built on the success of immigrants. A great historically correct example of this is Willa Cather’s novel. My Antonia contained the stories of actual people who had to survive in our brutal social structure and came out the victors winning what is considered the American dream.
MLA Bibliography
Cather, Willa. My Antonia. Boston: Houghton, 1988. Print. “First Transcontinental Railroad.” Wikipedia: the free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 24 Jan. 2013. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.
“History of Immigration in Nebraska.” Midwest Coalition immigration and the Region’s Future. Univ. of Minnesota, 2010. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.
“Homestead Act (1862).” ourdocuments.gov. U.S. National Archives and Records Administration, n.d. Web. 25 Jan. 2013.
Opatrny, Josef. “Problems in the History of Czech Immigration to America in the second
Half of the Nineteenth Century.” Nebraska State Historical Society. n.d. Web. 24 Jan. 2013.
“Willa Cather Timeline.” The Willa Cather Foundation Website. n.d. Web. 26 Jan. 2013.