Immigration During The Gilded Age

Americans were unsettled by the overwhelming amount of new immigrants. The new immigrants came in such massive quantities that in 1900 immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe made up as much as 70 percent of all immigrants. This is a dramatic increase considering that in midcentury these immigrants only made up 1 percent of the immigrant population. This overhaul of new immigrants led to severe hostility, bias, and nativism. Nativism is the belief that native-born white Americans were superior to newcomers. Competition for jobs and housing had never been higher in the late 19th century. America was in an economic recession and most immigrants were willing to work for much lower wages than natural born citizens which as a result put them out of work and ultimately housing. This however was only one problem, religion was another. American Protestants were suspicious of Catholicism which was the religion of many new immigrants including the Irish, German, Italian, and Polish. The majority of white Protestants would not hire, vote for, or even work with Catholics or Jewish people. In severe cases Americans would even sign contracts agreeing not to

Many people from all over the world saw America as a place to create a better life for them and their family. America was a place full of many job opportunities, ones that were not available anywhere else in the world. It was in America that people from different nations saw the chance to escape the place they originally lived because of unfair government or as a chance to have money to send back to their family in their homeland. The period after the civil war was an era of tremendous migration from southern and eastern Europe as well as from China, because of all the opportunities that were available here that were not available anywhere else. Migration was also prominent within America when African Americans

Not mainly from their government paycheck but from the whispers of top CEOs and entrepreneurs of the main monopolies. Also, the government was very keen to stab the farmers in the back by not allowing silver as another main rare metal into the Federal Reserve for the backing of their money. The people demanded a “16 to 1” for the federal funding. This meant that 16 ounces of silver could be the same worth as 1 ounce of gold. James B Weaver was a strong supporter of this and wanted to eradicate the weapons of the big trusts that were violent threats of fraud, bribery, and pillage (Doc. F). J. Laurence Laughlin was very adamant about this by denouncing the cries of the farmers by saying that all people were feeling the pressure of the crisis but the introduction of silver into the US funding would not be a magic cure (Doc. E). Also in President McKinley’s acceptance speech, he also deems these cries empty and saying that time will heal all wounds (Doc. B). It would take more than just time to heal this gaping gouge into the body of the United States thanks to the knife of unilateral laws of congress and the interpretation of the Supreme Court.

In the years following the Civil War, The United States changed dramatically. During the late 19 century also known as the Gilded Age, the population in America was greatly increased and the industry changed in the country. The reason why the industry in the United States was improved is because of the immigrants which made to benefit as workers. Therefore, there had a lot of factory jobs that made interesting for the immigrants to move to the United States. According to the pie graph in document 1, only 11.9 percentage of people came for jobs and the rest of percentage came for their families or relatives. It’s clear that most immigrants came for the jobs, however the graph shows that some immigrants came for their families, even though they needed the jobs for their living, but they still tell that they came to the United States for their families. Immigrants came to the United States in many reasons between 1870- 1920 because they wanted the freedom of religious, racial and political persecution and lack of economic opportunities.

During the late 1800s and early 1900s, the United States gained many new citizens – immigrants from other countries in search of the American Dream. However, the immigrants, who came from countries like faced a large obstacle in the form of prejudice. The belief that foreigners were less than native-born Americans was prevalent, and this nativism was present in both society and the laws. Sometimes foreigners were the subject of a museum display in which Americans viewed them as spectacles, not people, and laws such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 limited or even banned immigration from certain countries. Social Darwinism was a popular theory used to support these nativist views; the fact that many immigrants lived in poverty was used as evidence that they were inferior and failed because natural selection, so to improve American society immigrants should be removed or banned. However, some citizens viewed these policies and beliefs with distaste, including Willa Cather.

Economically, they filled a significant need for cheap labor in booming American industries. The large numbers of immigrants helped keep labor cost down for Big Business and different groups were often put against each other in competition for the cheapest workers. Politically, different immigrant groups became active members of various labor organizations and unions, pushing to change pro-business laws and establish regulations governing working conditions and wages. And socially, American culture as it is known now was formed by this influx of immigrants. People from all over the planet brought with them not only their labor but also their cultures, helping to contribute to the mosaic that is the American way of life. These immigrants, as shown by the prejudice and discrimination directed towards them, were not always welcome. In economic hard times, immigrants were blamed for job shortages and family hardships, used as scapegoats for larger problems. Nativist movements were directed against the Chinese, Japanese, Italians, and others, especially during the 1880s and 90s. As evidenced by the Chinese Exclusion Act and later legislation that limited immigration from Japan and other regions, this anti-immigrant sentiment went as high up as the nation's capital. This history was simply a repeat of the nativism and hatred directed against the Irish and Germans of the 1840s and 1850s and is similar to that experienced in America today by immigrants from Mexico and Latin America. In the area of immigration, history repeats

In the United States, there were many problems and solutions that the city dwellers and immigrants faced during the Gilded Age. During this time, most immigrants that came from Asia, Mexico, Europe, Ireland and others country were uneducated and unskilled. This led them to many problems that need to be solved for them to survive in America. One of the problems that immigrants faced was finding a job because most immigrants had a language barrier of not speaking English. The solution to their problem was ethnic neighborhood because a person who understands both languages can translate the information to find them a job. However, the job was difficult to find because there were too many immigrants looking for a job; therefore, there was less job available for them. In this oppose solution, there is some immigrant that will have to face poverty until they can keep seeking for the job available for them.

Immigration through out the late 1800’s and early 1900’s created nativism throughout the United States. Millions of immigrants flocked to the United States trying to find a better way of life to be able to support their families. Industrialization in the United States provided a labor source for the immigrants. Native born Americans believed immigrants were a “threat to the American way of life” (ATF chapter 11) Social and economic fault lines developed between natives and immigrants, through out the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, going unnoticed until the late 1920’s when the Sacco and Vanzetti case brought awareness of issue to much of the United States.

One of the first significant pieces of federal legislation aimed at restricting immigration was the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which banned Chinese laborers from coming to America. Californians had agitated for the new law, blaming the Chinese, who were willing to work for less, for a decline in wages.The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was the first significant law restricting immigration into the United States. Those on the West Coast were especially prone to attribute declining wages and economic ills on the despised Chinese workers. Although the Chinese composed only .002 percent of the nation’s population, Congress passed the exclusion act to placate worker demands and assuage prevalent concerns about maintaining white “racial purity.”

The political debate over the currency—tight money versus easy money—had equally bewildered early historians. Many Gilded Age farmers favored inflation to counteract the growing value of their debts after wheat and cotton prices nose-dived; some businessmen also liked easy money because low interest rates enabled them to expand operations. This issue tended to pit Westerners and Southerners, who needed cash for economic development, against the East, but it also had a powerful moral component. Those who favored a currency based on some intrinsic value such as gold stood divided from those who saw money as a flexible device for regulating the nation’s economic health. In the broadest sense, the currency debate highlighted the complexity of the national economy and the growing difference of opinion over the role of government in it. In 1964 Irwin Unger elucidated the subject in a Pulitzer Prize-winning analysis, The Greenback

One can see the argument from the farmer’s side. The banks gave out loans with exorbitant interest rates simply because they could. From 1865 to 1895, the population had risen by close to eighty percent whereas the amount of currency in circulation had only gone up by about sixty percent. With this deflation, the farmers were paying back double and triple the amount of money that they had originally borrowed. With free coinage of silver, these loans would be balanced and the farmers could suddenly afford their mortgages. This argument for silver was made famous by William Jennings Bryan’s “Cross of Gold’’ speech at the democratic nomination convention. Bryan would not rest until the Crime of 1873 was rectified. McKinley however shows the counter argument towards this radical inflation. Coining silver would be a temporary stay of execution for the farmers. It would not make farming any more profitable, but would only cheat the banks out of money that the farmers had agreed to pay them. The farmers were

In 1873, the government passed the Coinage Act and put the U.S. on a gold standard, angering the proponents of monetary silver. Those who backed silver argued that using silver would inflate the money supply and mean more cash for everyone, which they equated with prosperity. The gold advocates countered that silver would permanently depress the economy, but that sound money produced by a gold standard would restore prosperity. "Free Silver" was demanded by William Jennings Bryan who took over leadership of the Democratic Party in 1896, as well as the Populist Party. The Republican Party nominated William McKinley on a platform supporting the gold standard which was favored by financial interests on the East Coast. A faction of Republicans from silver mining regions in the West known as the Silver Republicans endorsed Bryan. The McKinley campaign, however, was effective at persuading voters that poor economic progress and unemployment would be exacerbated by adoption of the Bryan

The Gilded Age was one of the most vibrant and unpredictable eras in the history of America. It brought about a new wave of industrial and economic opportunities that allowed some to build massive businesses and fortunes, while other lower and middle class citizens struggled to survive. Some would go as far to say it created a war between the classes across American societies. Giants of industry, such as Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller, revolutionized how big business led to the rise of corporate America, but also how it leveled competition in the free-market. The Gilded Age offered America rapid economic growth and new technological products that created an economical boom. Yet, these advancements were created at the costs of exploiting industrial workers and farmers working long hours in dangerous conditions for low pay and the American people sought political and social reforms in an effort to rebalance the scale of power in the United States. During the Gilded Age, the American economy had shifted from a nation of small farmers and craftsmen to an economy transformed by railroads and telephone lines that stretched from coast to coast. Confronted by new models of economics and politics, unforeseen struggles caused farmers and laborers to fight for survival while emerging industrialists celebrated new wealth.

Immigration was a huge part of the industrial revolution, some migrated legal, some illegal. Either way, many immigrants came to the United States searching for a dream, the American dream to be precise. This leads to the question; Why did people immigrate to America? There can be many answers to this question, but some of the most important answers are: political, others economic, while yet others religious, whatever the case was, the United States became a mix of different cultures. However, the main reason for immigration was because of the “Industrial Revolution” Industrial Revolution is basically the changes in industry from the 18th century to the 19th century that started in Britain

Immigration has always and will always play an important role in America’s history, along with the United States having the most open immigration policy in the world to this date. American history began with flocks of immigrants competing for lands to start a life, bringing over their vast traditions and values. Some brought nothing but determination. It’s disgusting to see our congress and lawmakers make these higher-end laws to keep foreigners out, yet our country is built off immigrants. Since the 19th century, America has been the leading destination unlike no other for immigrants to reside. No other country has such a wide range of races and population like America. Diversity is indeed, what makes this country so unique. America has always