German Immigration To America In 1901 example essay topic

Journey to the Midwest: The German Immigration Many German immigrants in 1901 risked everything for a dream of better things in America and the promise of freedom and wealth. Although, when they arrived many realized that the streets were not paved with gold as they had believed, but rather filth. This is the detailed description of why one family left Germany, what happened after they arrived in America, and how they adapted to life in the Midwest. Momma- I have arrived in America finally. The journey was long and crowded on the boat, but hopeful.

I was glad that Wilhelm was here to travel with me. We knew when we had reached America, there was a beautiful statue of a woman and it gave us all hope to see it. She was a great welcome into the country. When we got off the ship, we were ushered to a smaller boat and taken to this beautiful island. The building was large and beautiful. Immediately, men in uniform gave us a stamp on our clothes and we had to stand inline with the other people from our ship.

It took all day and we spoke to many people, they asked us questions and looked at our eyes. There was nowhere to sit, so we were very tired at the end of the day. Finally though, we made it through and we are in America! Wilhelm and I are traveling to see papa now. We are so excited to see papa, although the journey to see him maybe long. Momma, please be strong and kiss Heinrich for me.

I miss you and pray that I will see you and the family very soon. -Love, Edda Today, many Germans live throughout the U.S. ; especially in the Midwest. More likely then not, they came here in the late 1800's- 1900's. During the 1860's many revolutions took place in Germany and many families experienced the poverty that almost always follows war.

In one 20 year span, in the late 1800's, Germany went to war at least 7 times taking on neighboring countries such as: Austria, France, Belgium and Russia. Much money was spent on the war effort in Germany. People were taxed heavily just to buy bullets for the army. Through all this, word was spread like wild fire through Germany that a new country in the west across the water was offering freedom and a promise of happiness for anyone who would make the long journey to the new country: America. Many families thought that America was the only hope for their family to survive. So, they would send one or two members of the family at a time and when enough money was raised, they would send for the rest of the family.

For many, the road to America was a hard one. Most of the immigrants were very poor and had to hitchhike or walk the long miles to the coast just to be able to get on the boat to America. Sometimes it would take months just to save up enough money to pay for rides out of Germany, expensive passports, and to pay for the boat fare and it would take weeks just to go to France where they usually only began the long hard trip to their destination. By this time there were steam-ships (a better way to America then just regular ships which took 1-3 months to cross the Atlantic) which took only a merciful two weeks to travel the Atlantic.

The bad news for the immigrants was that they were expensive and they had to crowd on to each ship; over 500 people over the limit. 'Not cleanliness, decency, or comfort, is possible... sometimes two or three thousand persons are crowded into a space hardly sufficient to accommodate 1,200. Steerage passengers can not, with any degree of truth or justice, be said to be humanly or properly treated at any stage of their long journey,' said one Report of Conditions. After about two weeks of pain and misfortune, the many people on these boats glanced across the water and looked at the best thing they had seen in weeks, the Statue of Liberty.

A few hours after reaching the Statue they were rushed off of the boat into a place they called Ellis Island. Ellis Island was the main immigration depot to America located just off the coast of New York City. It was a place where thousands of people coming from dozens of countries came through every day. Immigrants were tagged for names and birthdays, etc. and were then marked with chalk if they were thought to have any disabilities of illnesses. If they were passed then they would be interrogated to learn more about their background and to see if they had to be sent back. "They found my grandmother had a black nail.

She raised us, all the years, with that hand and with that nail. There was nothing wrong with it. And they held her back. They sent her back.

They were stupid, to let an old women with her whole family here to send her back. So we never saw her again, it was heart-breaking,' said an immigrant in 1914. Momma- We have arrived in Illinois! The ride was very long, but the country is so beautiful. There are huge fields of all types. Wilhelm had to protect me from strange men.

We had to lie and say that we were married. But it was all worth it, because we are finally here. Papa found us at the train station. Wilhelm went to work with papa in the mines and I have found work taking care of the children of a wealthy family. The youngest reminds me so much of Heinrich. I sing to him all the songs you taught me.

I miss you so much. Please tell my friends that I am fine and miss them so much. America has such promise and I love it here. It is so different here. People come from all over, although most of the people in the town are German like us. I have practiced my English, but usually we I talk to fellow workers I speak in German.

My mistress tells me that I must learn English and speak well, so the children will do the same. Every night, papa, Wilhelm and I sit around and talk about the old country and you. We miss you so much. Papa and Wilhelm send their love as do I. -Love, Edda If they were processed and were proclaimed citizens they would usually buy a train ticket to their destination load up their stuff and head west. Most of the people who didn't stay in New York went to the Midwest to become minors or farmers. In fact, most of the major cities in the Midwest were at least 70% immigrants by 1930.

The immigrants were made to work a lot of hard and unusual jobs for minimum wage. Many of the jobs were dangerous and many people died in the mines. 'The coal mines are the worst place to work. You say a prayer while your husband or son goes to work.

You say another one when he comes home at night,' said one wife. Germans were ridiculed and shot at by the American people anywhere from comic strips to laws that only affected Germans. It became so bad that children who were the sons and daughters of immigrants would be embarrassed of their heritage. "It was kind of bad for a while till we got to know people and speak the language. People say, you ought to preserve your heritage, but all we could think of was, we didn't want to be different, we wanted to be like the rest of the Americans,' said a German boy in 1913. But even through all of this they persevered, they hung on and finally after many years they were accepted into society.

Momma- We finally did it! We have raised enough money for you and Heinrich to come to America! Papa, Wilhelm and I cannot wait for you to arrive. Please come as soon as you can. Be careful and travel safely. Be wary of unknown people, some people do not like Germans and how we live.

Do not talk to people unless you absolutely must. I wish that people were friendlier, but that is just not the case. My mistress yelled at me for singing in German, she really wants me to speak perfect English. I try so hard to fit in and do as she orders. Please come quick.

We pray for you and Heinrich and your safety in travel. -Love, Edda By telling you about what caused the movement, what happened to them when they arrived, and about how they adapted you now know what caused the German immigration to America in 1901. Many Germans can trace their heritage back to Ellis Island and their birth country. It is amazing to see where the people of America came from and how they arrived.

Annotated Bibliography Borden, Timothy G. "Labor History

Bibliography

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Coppa, Frank J. & Curran, Thomas J. The Immigrant Experience in America. T wayne Publishers, 1976.
Fink, Leon. Workingmen's Democracy: The Knights of Labor and Americans Politics. Urbana: University of Illinois, 1983".
Immigration Issue" Organization of American Historians Magazine of History. Vol. IV., No. 4, Spring 1990 web.