Newcomers Settling the West in the Nineteenth Century essays

Newcomers Settling the West in the Nineteenth Century essays In the eyes of the early American colonists and the founders of the Constitution, the United States was to represent the ideals of acceptance and tolerance to those of all walks of life. When the immigration rush began in the mid-1800s, America proved to be everything but that. The millions of settlers would soon realize the meaning of hardship and rejection as newcomers, as they attempted to assimilate into American culture. For countless settlers, the struggle to arrive in America was rivaled only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the existing American population. First of all, between 1880 and 1920 almost twenty-four million settlers came to the United States. Between better salaries, religious freedom, and a chance to get ahead in life, were more than enough reasons for leaving their homelands for America. Because of poverty, no future and various discrimination in their homelands, the incentive to leave was increasing. During the mid-1800s and early 1900s, the labor and f arm hands in Eastern Europe were only earning very little money. Those lower wage earners in their homeland were stuck in lowest paid jobs and had no chances to upgrade themselves. Many left their homelands in search of a better life and soon, word got out on how great things were in America. The job recruiters form America hung posters and told stories about free land, a lot of opportunities to work for good money, and above all, the freedom to do as they wish. Many were aspired to come to the land of honey where all the streets were paved with gold." Fueled by the news of the California Gold Rush, they arrived in America looking to strike it rich with hopes of being able to send money back to their poor rural homes, or of returning to their country in a few years with newly acquired wealth. One of the largest groups ever to immigrate to the United States was the Chinese. In 1842 the British Empire defeated China in the first O...