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Immigration In The 19th Century Essay

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The rise of immigration in the late 19th century has caused lots of pressure in the American government. The nativist thought that immigrants were taking their jobs, they were cutting down their wages, and their beliefs. Nativist were mad, but immigrants were proud to start new lives in this new country. Governments passed Acts during this time period to slow down immigration rates. The nativist saw immigration as a threat, but the business leaders saw them as untrained and uneducated people who would work for lower wages. Big business leaders loved “laissez-faire meaning that the government should not intervene in the economy especially through regulations” (Goldfield p.583). These bosses cut wages and made them work six days a week and twelve hours every day. The influx of immigrants to the United States caused the Gilded Age where bosses became richer and the gap between the poor and rich widen. This outraged the nativists because the ‘new’ immigrants took their jobs. The ‘new’ immigrants from Europe brought new religions like Catholicism and Judaism which were completely different from there own. This hatred to the new immigrants made racism more prominent. Presidents like Blaine made Chinese immigrants look like pests and would remove the Chinese if he was elected for president. He used this to try to get votes from the western …show more content…

These new immigrants lived on a couple dollars a day a week not enough for living. These wage cuts enraged the immigrants causing lots of peaceful and violent strike, most strikes were unsuccessful. Owners had lots of money that closing the factory down for a couple of days would affect them. Owners would fight back by “hiring strikebreakers or scabs to take the place of the regular work force” (Labor vs. Management). These protester were usually beaten by the strikebreakers until they went back to work or

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