Surviving Immigration: The Role of Agencies
In establishing themselves in America, immigrants were subject to conditions to which they were forced to adjust without any control, such as places of habitation and adapting to American laws. However, immigrants also had some degree of agency that allowed them to take control of their lives. This paper describes three examples of individual or communal agency that were important for the immigrants in building their lives in America.
From 1892 to 1954, more than 12 million immigrants came to the United States (Brown Foundation, 2000). The early 1900s was the period that brought in the most immigrants. Hospital buildings, dormitories, disease wards and kitchens were all quickly built between 1900 and 1915 in a constant struggle to meet this enormous influx of people.
During the early 1900s, Americans, who were predominately white, selected only those whom they believed fit to live in this country (Prescott, 1903). In the early 1900s, acceptable immigrants were those who spoke English well and had customs similar to our own. American society sought those that they believed could contribute to the American economy.
Early immigrants mainly came to the United States seeking a better life for their families and the opportunity to earn a good and honest living (Prescott, 1903). For the most part, many of these people were too proud to accept handouts. Early immigrants built strong work ethics that created our roads, building and foundation.
Immigrants entered the United States with dreams of success, prosperity and better lives. Most of the immigrants believed that America would bring nothing but happiness (Franke 2004). Across Europe, advertisements promised bright future and economic stability to citizens. Immigrants came to America seeking jobs with excellent wages and working conditions, safety, and other benefits seemed like a chance in a lifetime, especially to these poor people who had never experienced prosperity.
For most, life in the United States was not as they had anticipated. There was a lack of jobs and many groups were discriminated against. Those who could find jobs often...
As a rule, there was food for whites and blacks, but inside the house, and on the diningroom table, there was wanting that delicacy and refinement of touch and finish which can make a home the most convenient, comfortable, and attractive place in the world. Withal there was a waste of food and other materials which was sad. Washington 18) Washington was also frequently asked by people he came into contact
Booker T. Washington The inspiring stories that Booker T. Washington shares with readers in his turn of the century book of articles, Up From Slavery should be required reading for American high school students. The book's more poignant stories should be as much a part of a high school student's studies as the reasons for the Civil War, as the important players in the Civil Rights Movement. Well before the Civil
He wanted the Black people to "cast their buckets where they are." (Parish) The Atlanta Compromise was significant because it made Washington extremely well-known and well-liked among Whites and it helped him in getting a lot of money for his establishment, Tuskegee Institute. It was also imperative because there were other African-Americans who were being aggressive in challenging White supremacy and teaching Black and White people diverse thoughts about
He was opposed to Segregation and refused to accommodate the views of bigoted White Southerners. (Souls, 248). Leadership in the African-American communities of the United States -- DuBois' took a more symbolic, elitist approach to leadership than Washington. His organizations, the Niagara Conference and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored Peoples, were started as small councils of influential leaders and citizens. The NAACP effects change primarily through legal
Booker T. Washington and W.E.B. Du Bois present opposing representations of the diametrically opposed philosophies that came to define African-American culture in the United States during the upheaval of Reconstruction. Washington, in his autobiography Up From Slavery, advocates a sweeping reconciliation between former slaves and their former owners, believing that the most accessible path to securing rights for his people is paved with acquiescence and cooperation, rather than by forcible
Indeed, Washington's efforts at the advancement of his people were cast as a direct counterpoint to the militant action of Marcus Garvey's followers and other hardline desegregationists. To Washington, the black man was simply in the process of earning his equality through hard-won collective advancement. In this altogether different approach to the problems experienced by the black man in America, Washington's was a more conciliatory mode aimed at the political
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