The Alienation Of Immigrant Culture In The 19th And 20th Century

The Alienation of Immigrant Cultures The 19th and 20th century America had waves of immigration, and with new people came new cultures. People around the world were making extreme efforts to immigrate to this new land to set up a new life. This drive towards America was caused by seemingly limitless job opportunities and due to horrific troubles from their home country. Many cultures were compelled to leave their home country because of famine, economical issues, and discrimination. These factors made America a prime place for immigrants to set up a new life. Between 1820 and 1900 there were over 19 million legal immigrants comprised mainly of Jews, Chinese, and Italians. These immigrants came with whatever they had, rich and poor,
The Jewish religion wasn’t well accepted in America. Jews were often blamed for “America’s growing urban problems.” In order to survive, many poor Jews would go to markets on Saturdays to try and sell their services. Prostitution became a common source of work for women even though this is something that goes against their cultural beliefs. However, they were forced to do this because it was the only way to survive. This is a perfect example of how the Jews had to give up their culture and adapts to survive in American. Although the Jews managed to keep in touch with their culture through popular activities, such as musicals and theater, as the second generation of Jews came to life their culture took a huge turn. “But the young, eager to be accepted into American society, despised the old ways… Fathers began to view their sons as ‘free- thinkers,’” This desire to be more accepted into American society led young Jews to drift away from their parents culture. Many ignored the Sabbath, danced in non-traditionally, and ate non-kosher foods. The 1st generation Jewish community felt threaten and discriminated against by American society. This discrimination kept the Jews to themselves and that helped preserve their culture. However, when the next generation of Jews wanted to integrate into American society, many cultural traditions became obsolete and ignored. The Italians were able to maintain their culture the best out of the three groups because they didn’t have any desire to integrate into American society. The majority of Italian immigrants came from southern Italy. Upon arrival in America they faced much discrimination and racism because they were considered “ignorant, lazy, destitute, and superstitious. In addition, a considerable percentage of those from cities are criminal.” This kind of stereotyping had a huge effect on the Italian culture and society. These ideas of southern