Second Generation Americans

The immigrants that settled the colonies of Chesapeake Bay and New England came to the New World for two different reasons. These differences were noticeable in social structure, economic outlook, and religious background. As the colonies were organized the differences were becoming more and more obvious and affected the way the communities prospered. These differences are evident from both written documents from the colonists and the historical knowledge of this particular period in time.

After receiving his PhD from Harvard in 1953, American historian, author, and academic specialist, Bernard Bailyn, continues to transform ideas of early American history with his award winning books. As we know, the foundation of today’s American Society leads back to the transfer of people from the Britain to the New World, in the early 1600s. In his book, Bernard Bailyn, author of The Peopling of British North America, An Introduction, gathers demographic, social, and economic history research to form four propositions relating to the migration. While identifying central themes of our history, he attempts to present an overview for American knowledge relating to the causes of migration to the new world and consequences of society created

Since the dawn of American colonization in the early 1600s, the notion of immigrating to America has long been instilled upon various people as a stimulating opportunity to begin a fresh chapter in their lives. Even now, this possibility has brought many variations of people to America, culminating a society that brims with dreams and aspirations to form the diversified nation of today. When speaking of the current state of immigration, it is easy to conclude that immigration is heavily discussed from political standpoints. Though this current condition is composed of highly controversial perspectives, many of the early-century viewpoints found in literature genuinely embrace reality, for these writers were indeed immigrants themselves, thus adding an authoritative standpoint over immigration. The Americanization of Edward Bok (1921) by Edward Bok and The America I Believe In by Colin Powell, display the perspectives of two authors, who have lived as immigrants, through their own personal anecdotes. Both Edward Bok and Colin Powell convey a sincerely grateful tone and develop the idea of Americanization and the quest for opportunity through the use of connotative diction in contrast to the Immigration Chart and Political Cartoon which have a downright concrete and pessimistic tone and supports the idea that immigration exposes various challenges to incoming immigrants.

Immigrants’ refusal to appreciate a fused culture promotes division. Mukherjee questions the idea of immigrants losing their culture for American ideals: “Parents express rage or despair at their U.S.-born children's forgetting of, or indifference to, some aspects of Indian culture,” to that Mukherjee asks, “Is it so terrible that our children are discovering or are inventing homelands for themselves?” (Mukherjee, 1997, para. 28). Many immigrants experience anger when their children no longer hold the ideals of their home country. This tension produced within the household hinders the unity within a resident country’s culture and encourages division within families. Using herself as an example, Mukherjee provides another instance of anger directed at her from her own subculture: “They direct their rage at me because, by becoming a U.S.

      English colonizers brought old world traditions into the new world and strengthened their respective communities in order to protect their cultural identity in the colonies. For the English, immigration into the colonies meant facing one’s inessentiality; the colonies had high rates of mortality and weakly structured economies.11  Faced with their dispensability, settlers discovered new means to retain their cultural identities. For example, Quakers “rejected institutions of high culture and made virtues of simplicity and hard work in a hostile environment.” 12 They transplanted their theological cultural inheritances into colonial society and were able to perpetuate that facet of their identity in the colonies. The solidification of their communities was vital to the survival of their identities. For Scots, maintaining close relationships with prominent Scots in other colonies emphasized a Scottish identity, even across colonial borders.13 Maintaining relationships equated sustenance of old world culture through social interactions. Additionally, English colonizers solidified their community by placing a strong importance on trust. “Among persons for whom doubt replaced basic trust in the way of one’s social group, such doubt may undermine the

Over the past few weeks of class, we have covered the first five chapters of our textbook, written by George Brown Tindell and David Emory Shi called, “America, A Narrative History.” Each chapter told the reader a narration of the history of America, as opposed to an expository version of America’s history. Each chapter had its own main idea over a portion of history, along with many details that cover the importance of the main idea. As a reader, one may obtain a deeper appreciation for the country 's history, prior to entering the class on the first day. The most important aspect of history, besides the battles that are fought, is the different cultures that make up today’s modern America.

1. The American city was changed drastically in the first half of the 20th century with the beginnings of the industrial revolution and the ongoing flow of foreigners into an already crowded United States.

denied the company of her own parents after moving to America, her children independence, their need to stay away from her, is something she will never comprehend" (Lahiri,166). The act of cultral contrast amongst parents and offspring of the Diaspora people group can't be ceased by both of them since they both are born and raised in various cultures and in social orders.

A situation where I was a minority and that have made an impact in my influence interactions with minority and majority populations is being a Second Generation American woman. As a woman born to Filipino Frist generation immigrants, I lack privilege to relative to men. I would always be corrected by my mother on how to be a woman. Even though I was allowed to go to school, I always felt I was being brought up by my mother to be a “happy homemaker.” When I was finally able to date, I was 18 in college. I never keep secrets from my parents, so when it was time for the “sex talk” it was interesting. My health insurance is under my father’s name so I felt obligated to tell them that I was planning on going on birth control. I didn’t want them finding out that I was sexually active through the Kaiser bill. My mother was not happy. She had never used birth control in her life. Frankly, I believe she was confused about the purpose of it. Because of her religious culture she didn’t believe in birth control. She even told me to keep the baby if I were to ever accidently get pregnant. When I told her about the birth control, she thought I was on it because I was pregnant. She didn’t want me slowing anything that could prevent Gods will for a pregnancy.

Mexican American, Chinese American and Vietnamese American make up the 1.5 and second generation today in US. The majority of these immigrants come from the humblest sectors of their society on average they have only a few years of schooling or no schooling, limited urban job skills and little or no knowledge of English. Immigrants to the United States are usually called first-generation Americans, regardless of their citizenship status, and their children second-generation Americans.

America is certainly the most unique nation in the world. Its history is dotted with changes and transformations never seen in other countries. Its abilities of acceptance of any creed, race or view are unparalleled in modesty as well as practicality. It is for this reason that America has become the powerful nation it is today, for it is made up of individuals who came to this land in the hope of finding a better way of life and these individuals did everything in their power to achieve their goals. For this reason, this paper will examine just how the story of America began, and how competition and struggle shaped the developed of the lad throughout the centuries. The paper will argue that it was diversity and eventual acceptance that promoted political, social and economic views that have lasted and will last long into the future.

This book depicts the national and cultural status of the immigrant mother, who is able to preserve the traditions of her Indian heritage that connect her to her homeland. Ensuring a successful future for her American-born children is coordinated with the privilege of being an American citizen. Ashima yearns for her homeland and her family that she left behind when

With Adams, it is represented in the large tracts of public land and the village controlled communal land system, which began in the forests of ancient Germany and is institutionalized in the property laws of the United States; “Communal sovereignty over lands exists even where individual landed rights appear most absolute.” For Hartz, the liberal ideology and democratic institutions emerging from the American Revolution, in essence American’s republican virtue, “was insured by a cultural heritage out of the past, ultimately out of the first of the seventeenth-century migrations.” The first several chapters of Eggleston’s The Transit of Civilization is dedicated to American adaptations of English culture, and this is certainly an area of continuality. The English language, religion, and education carried by early settlers to the British colonies and adapted within their environment continue to be dominant components of both nations’ societies. Early English colonists clearly carried with them the traditions and ideologies of their parent county when they crossed the Atlantic. The degree to which the new residents modified those beliefs to fit their own environment will continue to garner attention within historical

This essay will examine the rise of “modern America”, there were economic, religious, and aspect of life changes took place and it was greatly changed the Americans society’s perceptions, specifically, the north and the south. The rise of “modern America” was greatly motivated immigrants to come to the United States for economic opportunity, industrialization in the North after the civil war created new businesses and job regulations, and the demand for social changes; all of these factors shaped America socially, politically, and economically.

These two stories give a clear perspective on the challenges immigrants might face that is conflicting with their culture and traditional values. While the characters in both these stories have different viewpoints, they have similar conflicts with them being generational, religious, and cultural conflicts. In the first story “A Father” has immigrated from India to the US. Mr. Bhowmick is a traditional and a religious person who believes in God and follows his religion sternly. For example, “he recited prayers in Sanskrit to Kali, the patron goddess of his family, the goddess of wrath and vengeance” (Mukherjee 837).