The Immigrant Experience-Coming to America.

1. Gottlieb, a German, Describes the Difficulties of Immigration, 1750 In this document, Gottlieb basically describes the journey from Old England to New England. From what I read in the document the “push” (what compelled people to leave England and head to America) was poverty, misery, and lack of resources. Those who boarded on those ships were looking for a better life (the “push”). During the passage, immigrants-to-be experienced hunger, thirst, fear and a great percentage of them also experienced homesickness. Those people probably were not aware of the difficulties that they were going to face on the way to the New World and some of them even regretted leaving home. When arriving in Philadelphia, those who had the money to pay for their freight were let off first. The next ones to be let off of the ship were the ones who were healthy and, consequently, had more chances of getting purchased (redeemptioners). The sick ones were left in the ship until they recovered or died. Those who were purchased had to work for their “owners” from 3 to 7 years depending on age and health. On many occasions, families were sold to different purchasers and they were not able to see each other for years or even for the rest of their lives. In this document, the author let us realize that the decision to come to America was not always worthwhile. The distress immigrants had to experience during the journey and also the type of life they would have in America was definitely not what they were expecting at all.

2. Hugh Boutler Recounts the Discontent in Ireland that Resulted in Emigration
In this document, Boutler describes the situations in which people in Ireland were currently living under and relates the emigration especially to poverty (the “pull”). He also says that many people had been migrating to America attracted by a better life and more job opportunities (the “push”). However, he is aware of the fact that 1 in 10 men do well abroad and the rest lives