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Immigrant Labor

Decent Essays

Late nineteenth century and early twentieth century marks the time period for massive immigration from around the world to come to the United States. The United States was the land of opportunity and development for all the people. The industrial development after the Civil War increased due to expansion of railroads which, led to increase in demand for labor. Many immigrants came to the United States with the aim of working on American farms and railroads and in American factories. Many people moved to the United States from various countries to find better opportunities and develop their living standards. The majority of jobs were at the industries. The industrial labor composed of skilled laborers and unskilled laborers. Immigrants, due …show more content…

And with the massive immigration, the laborers who denied working for the employer under unsuitable conditions were replaced by the immigrant laborer who was willing to work under those conditions. The immigrants came to the United States with high expectations for better opportunities but, they faced many challenges which made their experience different from expectations. The immigrants from across the globe came to the United States with the purpose of finding better opportunities than their native land. The industrial development after Civil War increased significantly due to the railroad expansion which, not only made the transportation of goods to industries faster and easier but also, created the shortage of laborers. The immigration, that was low before the Civil War, increased to a significant amount …show more content…

The drastic increase in immigration was seen as a problem for the Americans because they thought that the immigrants are stealing their jobs. This resulted into racial discrimination ranging from work to the personal lives of the immigrants. The labor at the industries consisted of skilled and unskilled laborers. Immigrants took the jobs that required unskilled labor as they were in financial need and do not have any experience working in the industries. No regulations were placed by the government for the treatment of laborers by the employers. So, the immigrant laborers worked in bad working condition and for low wages. Due to the low wages, the entire family, including children, had to work so that the basic necessities are fulfilled. Some jobs actually required for the children to work as they could perform small labor. For example, when Chairman asks Thomas O’Donnell about the mandatory child labor for employment of parents, he states that “There are so men in the city to work, and whoever has a boy can have work, and whoever has no boy stands no chance.” (Chairman, p.69). This shows how it was challenging for the immigrant parents to work without making their children work. The bad working conditions for laborers were great problem as well. The safety of laborers was put in jeopardy due to bad working

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