Native American religions are very closely connected to the land in which Native Americans dwell and the supernatural. While there are many different Native American religious practices, most address the following areas of supernatural concern: an omnipresent, invisible universal force, pertaining to the "three 'life crises ' of birth, puberty, and death", spirits, visions, the medicine people and communal ceremony. Greek religion encompasses the collection of beliefs and rituals practiced in ancient Greece in the form of both popular public religion and cult practices. These different groups varied enough for it to be possible to speak of Greek religions or "cults" in the plural, though most of them shared similarities. Africa …show more content…
The first arrivals were young boys bought by American naval officers and philanthropists on the Turkish slave block. They were sent to the United States for education and freedom and many distinguished themselves as teachers or naval officers.
It was not until the turn of the century that the yearly Greek immigrants numbered a thousand or more. They were mostly young men and boys escaping poverty by sailing towards the bright light of America. Some came to avoid the compulsory three-year military service in the Greek army where a peasant youth could seldom rise above a menial. A great many came from those parts of Greece still under Ottoman domination which conscripted Greek youths into the dreaded Turkish infantry.
From Ellis Island they made their way about the streets of New York, searching for someone with the same ethnic characteristics as their own who could help them find work. Sometimes they wandered about, lost in the city 's maze, until a labor agent, through signs, offered them work in mills, factories, or road gangs elsewhere. The more fortunate ones, who knew countrymen already working in the textile cities, went directly to them. But some of these men could not adapt to the noise and confusions of the factories and their spirit of adventure led them to climb freights and travel over the plains and mountains to the west.
Greek Orthodox Funeral, December 23, 1908
Father Petrakis and
Most of the migrants to the Americas were soldiers, slaves, servants, artisans, and clergy. From London, children, orphans, Irish, Scots, and criminals were sent into the colonies as well. From the rest of Europe, young men and of the middling and gentry classes would go over to the colonies because they would be able to find good jobs in the colonies. It was mostly men that were transported into the colonies.
In Round-Trip to America: The Immigrants Return to Europe 1880-1930, Mark Wyman argues that many new immigrants that migrated to America from 1880-1930 never intended to make America a permanent residence and many of them returned home to their native countries. He claims that this phenomena is important to the history of American Immigration and is important to the histories of the home land in which the immigrants returned to. In his book, Wyman explores some key ideas such as the reason immigrants decided to voyage to a new land, across the ocean, to what was known as the “land of milk and honey” only to return to their small, and a lot of the time rural village. He also discusses American labor movement and what impact that had on
Life in England during the early 1600’s was harsh for a multitude of the poor. The country was just coming out of the Thirties Year’s War with a flood of citizens and laborers displaced. In fact, PBS (2015) indicated that “the timing of the Virginia colony was ideal.” The Thirty Year 's War had left Europe 's economy depressed, and many skilled and unskilled laborers were without work. A new life in the New World offered a glimmer of hope; this explains how one-half to two-thirds of the immigrants who came to the American colonies arrived as indentured servants” (para. 3). This opportunity for those willing to receive free passage to the New World and start a new life was enticing. Granted, the work was difficult it was not without reward.
Between 1870 and the 1990s, over 11 million immigrants came to America in search of a better a life, coming from Southern and Eastern Europe such as Germany, France, Ireland, and immigrants from China as well. People came to America seeking sanctuary from their home land that did not allow them to be free, such as the Jewish people of Russia, who came to America because the Russian government was anti-Semitic. Jewish people were not allowed to have much property or security in Russia, simply because of their religion. In addition, the draft in Russia would take people away and force them to fight for 25 years, in wars that were pointless due to outdated weapons as well as the brutal discipline they were treated with when drafted. America was a place that allowed freedom of religion, something that was not common and many other countries, making America the ideal place to move and settle down, allowing immigrants to express their religion freely, without the consequences they faced back home. Immigrants also came to America in search of jobs that were scarce in Europe. Many small farmers were put out of jobs in Europe due to large scale mechanized
There are three key patterns seen in most Native American religions they are the human relationship with nature, framing of time and space and respect for gods/ancestors. The human relationship with nature known as animism, everything is seen as part of the same reality and every object has a spirt, is a practice where there is little distinction between humans and animals. Time and space is sacred, cyclical,
From 1880-1924, in order to escape persecution from Alexander the II’s reign and anti-Semitism, Russian Jews emigrated to America to escape a wave of religious persecution, a chance at a new life spurred on by the economic turmoil caused by industrialization, and for economic reasons. They arrived during, "The New Immigration" the wave of immigration that lasted from 1880-1924. A vast majority of the Jews settled on the East coast in places such as Manhattan, Boston, and Philadelphia. They also settled in other larger more industrialized and urbanized cities such as Chicago, Seattle and Detroit. The jobs Russian Jews held were mostly low skilled trades such as tailors and butchers or even worked in the early sweatshops.
The Native Americans had settled in the land years before the arrival of the Euro-Americans. Hundreds of Native American groups occupied the land, each tribe with its separate culture, language, and spiritual way-of-life. Despite the many differences, “there was also considerable interaction and dialogue among tribes about spiritual concepts. Through the common language of sign-talk, ideas could be shared and compared among Indian tribes including the spiritual concepts that are an intricate part of the Indian’s everyday experience” (Treat). The Native American culture was primarily oral. Almost all tribes believed in a cosmology or creation myth regarding how this world and the things inhabiting it came to be. Most native peoples worshiped an all-powerful, all-knowing “Master Spirit.” They also revered and placated a host of lesser spirits in hopes of receiving assistance in their daily interactions with the world around them. Often times shamans, who were believed to have supernatural powers through visions, were called upon to communicate and implore the spirits to ensure a good harvest, or victory in warfare, or healing, or interpreting dreams, or other matters of great
Immigrants coming over from Europe had not a dime to spare but a heart filled with ambition. In The Jungle, the Chicago stockyards saw its share of discrimination. Immigrants in particular, always having the short end of the stick, faced countless difficulties. Many saw them as ignorant, unsophisticated beings that could only be used for mule labor. They endure agonizing work because they are immigrants and according to the Americans living there, they were below them. They earn wages so low it became difficult not to starve. Jurgis describes the difficulties that came with the intense work. He stated “If one of them be a minute late, he will be docked an hour's pay, and if he be many minutes late, he will be apt to find his brass check turned to the wall, which will send him out to join the hungry mob that waits every morning at the gates of the houses, from six o'clock until nearly half-past eight" (Sinclair 21). If they came late then they were fired. There were no second chances. The managers treat these immigrants not as humans but animals. Immigrants were allowed no sick days and if they were to get injured they would be fired as well, which was not the case for Americans who had been there longer. The injustice done was unbearable and they had to deal with it because they needed any money they could get. There dreams of a life of ease and welfare were crushed by prejudice views. Discrimination based on social class is also seen in The Great Gatsby. What connects Long Island to the bustling city of New York is what Fitzgerald calls the Valley of Ashes. Here is where the poor and penniless men work and live. Just like the immigrants, these lower class people have a much harder path at achieving their American Dream. The Valley of Ashes was where “.. ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills and grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys
Dabney is an African-American and European descent whose parents went to a segregated school in Virginia. His great-grandmother of three generations before him were free blacks before the Civil War, but during the war lived in fear that they would be kidnapped and forced to submit to slavery, thus living in constant fear. His grandfather of three generations before him was a white slave owner. This side of the family is where Dabney has a connection with past family members that were Confederate soldiers and members of the Virginia 1861 Secession Convention. His belief is that the Confederate flag represents the men who died at such battles like Manassas, Shiloh, and Gettysburg. He believes that the flag has been a representation of white supremacists groups in America but to deny the historical value of the Confederate flag would just be as wrong as the white supremacists. Dabney’s belief is that people cannot ignore prejudice or the symbol of prejudice by the flag, but that removing the flag from public display will not stop the white supremacists, or the prejudice that they adhere to. He believes that removing the flags would not stop the country from jailing more minorities than whites, and that this country needs to serve its people by resolving these problems with real congressional help and by cultural change and education and not by arguing over a piece of fabric.
Native Americans lost their culture once the Spanish made them a part of the mission system. Before European arrival, they were predominantly pagan and had multiple gods or spirits which they worshipped as part of their rituals for successful harvest or hunt. Through the mission system, they underwent baptism through Catholicism and learned to worship only one supreme being and
At the same time, as we learned in class, America’s population grew because of labor mobility. People began to migrate from rural to urban areas, and from Europe to North America, in search of better economic opportunities, and to improve their lives. The job market became more and more competitive Hubert Gutman’s “Work, Culture, and Society in Industrializing America 1815-1919” sheds light on the struggle of farmers and tradesmen who were forced into unskilled labor positions during the industrial revolution and the many new immigrants that were finding their way to America Gutman states, “A factory worker in New
Many came from eastern and southern Europe such as the Irish, Germans, Italians and Polish. Immigrants came to America with hopes and dreams of prosperity, freedom of religion, freedom from fascism and dictatorship with the possibility of wealth and security. Many if not all of the immigrants encountered the complete opposite. Hard labor, poor living condition, low wages and illnesses were the problems often faced by the
When most western people think about Native American or African religions there is a certain stigma that comes with the topic. This is in part because there is a lot of misinformation in the world about Native American and African religions. When most westerners think of African religions they think of voodoo and black magic. Likewise, the view of Native American religions is still looked at through the lens of the pilgrims who wrote about Native Americans as being savages and less than human. These stereotypes were all formed from a lack of accurate information. African and Native American religions are very similar. It is difficult to find a lot of accurate information on African and Native American indigenous religions because of the lack of written history but there is a lot of oral history that has been passed down from generation to generation. From this information, it is clear that Native American and African religions have many more similarities than they do differences. Three of these similarities will be discussed in this paper. The first topic of discussion is the similarity between African and Native American people when it comes to their perception of the spirit world. Following this topic are the similarities between Native American and African views on the afterlife and finally, the diversity of beliefs within African and Native American religions.
There are may religions in the world, but through out the different religions there are many crossovers and similarities. Mattie Stepanek said “It doesn't matter how you pray. Just pray. All religions are beautiful and they all have one common belief. There's something bigger and greater than us that can give us and take from us life. It is better than the here and now”. Religion itself means “a belief in and worship of a greater power” (dictionary.com). By people believing in any kind of religion, it means that similarities can start there. With so many religions having similarities, it might be hard to distinguish from certain religions from another. Religions like of African and Native Americans might not at first seem alike, but as you look deeper into their religions and see they have similarities. These similarities are attributed as beliefs, rituals, and history. Their growths and struggles might not have happened at the same time, but both religions are still celebrated today.
The Greeks or Hellenes (Greek: Έλληνες [ˈelines]) are an ethnic group native to Greece, Cyprus, southern Albania, Turkey, Sicily, Egypt and, to a lesser extent, other countries surrounding the Mediterranean Sea. They also form a significant diaspora, with Greek communities established around the