Our Country In Many Ways example essay topic

"Here is not merely a nation, but a teeming nation of nations". These famous words, which were spoken, by the famed author and poet Walt Whitman is a perfect way to describe our ever changing melting pot society, which we call America. Immigration has effected and changed our country in many ways, many of which being economic reasons from 1820-1860. There have been many reasons for people migrating to America. Among the top of these reasons are those of Political Freedom, and Economic opportunities, which include people wanting more money and better jobs. A large amount of immigrants from this time period came by way of Slavery.

From the 1820's until 1860 Immigration to America has affected the national economy in many positive and negative ways. Around 1830 in America there was an abundance of land at a cheap cost, jobs were found with little difficulty because of the decreased birth rate and high urbanization and industry that was greatly increasing. The attraction that America had towards the Immigrants was mainly the large amounts of land for farms, which the people greatly desired. Many of the early arrivals to America were followed with reports to the people's homeland countries that the streets of America were "paved with gold". This saying was to refer to the prosperity that the American economy had during the early 19th century. Many countries outside of America during this time were in great despair.

When there is no land left for farming of a crop, which is heavily relied on throughout your country, people tend to leave. One main source of immigration to America was the Irish. During the mid 1800's Ireland's population grew rapidly and many of the people lived on small farms that produced very little, because of their poverty the people depended mainly on the potato crop. However around 1845 a plant disease killed the majority of the crop. Around three quarters of a million people died and thousands more left the country in search of a better life. Many of the emigrants to America from Irish were under the age of thirty-five and men.

Families sent their strong sons to the New World in order to make money to afford the trip of the other family members. Even though there was a low birth rate and plentiful jobs in America many of the Irish found that the fast paced economy they heard about was not as fast as they believed. Many of the Irish worked as domestic servants particularly the women that came over, and the men mostly worked as day laborers. This job however produced many problems including an alarmingly high death rate.

The Irish were faced with many problems when they came to the United States. The worst however would have to have been the resentment that the native-born Americans showed toward them. The population of the native-born Americans was predominately white Protestants, this being so they showed much hatred to the Roman Catholic Irish immigrants. With this being so many Irish families feared for their children's lives in public school. Even though many Irish families were without two pennies to rub together, they did however manage to construct Parish schools, which centralized around the Catholic Church. The schools having at first been for the Irish Catholics has spread to many cultures from their arrival into the United States.

Given that most of the Irish who came to America in the mid 1800's were threatened and mistreated, the native-born Americans still tried to take advantage of them. In many Northeastern cities in America the political system known as the Boss system was in effect. This system would greet new Irish immigrants coming into the country. In exchange for voting in favor of the political Boss system they were given food, coal and help with the law. Many of the Irish took advantage of this offering and in even some cases Irish immigrants became prominent political figures in the Boss system in the Northeast. Politics quickly attracted the Irish people.

Since most of their ethnic group lived in the northeastern cities, electing an Irish man to office was not at all difficult. Without wasting much time the Irish soon took over public works departments such as the police department. Most of the Irish stayed in jobs that did not require a great deal of skill or schooling, however they acquired small amounts of land little by little. The Irish although not having any real significant amount of money, provided a strong backbone to the country in their ability to put up with the horrible conditions of the factories they worked in, which in turn produced many goods that were exported to other countries for the sake of building our national economy.

Severe depression and political unrest led to the Germans immigrating to the United States. The Germans have contributed a great deal to the economic success of the country. Many famous Germans such as John Jacob Astor who became a wealthy fur trader in the northwest. From the 1840's till the 1860's almost four million German immigrants came to America.

This was by far the most number of immigrants than any other group at this time. Unlike the immigrants of Ireland, the Germans were more prosperous and aroused fewer fears from native-born Americans. The Germans also came to the country with larger amounts of money than the Irish immigrants. Since this was so, they did not have to settle for filthy factory jobs in the northeast cities. The Germans could move farther west because of their money. Having doing so, they unconsciously helped settle the frontier west.

Many of them set up towns, religious and agricultural communities while migrating west. It was as almost whatever the German's touched turned to gold. When German settlers reached places like Milwaukee it was nothing more than a basic town. After the Germans inhabited this place, there were schools set up, public works ran throughout, and theaters and bars. In places like Cincinnati, German districts were set up often called 'Little Germany' these places offered many German's a place similar to that of Germany where there were different vendors and restaurants, all German. This flourishing cultural helped the economy of the New Nation a great deal.

The agricultural farms set up and towns newly built helped to further expand the country to the west. The Germans have influenced our country both economically and culturally in many ways. The Germans gave such things to our society as The Christmas tree, Kentucky rifle, and the Conestoga wagon. They were also great supporters of public schools. The Germans also introduced Kindergarten, which translated to children's garden. German ways of living caused some arouse ment throughout the northeast.

Unlike the Puritan belief that the Sabbath was to be kept sacred and spent most of the time in church, the Germans referred to this day as 'Continental Sunday'. They consumed large amounts of bier, which is known to today's people as beer. Even though both the Irish and the Germans helped to make our country Prosper, they caused for many discomforts with the native born people of America. Many of the 'native' people of America were angered that the immigrants were taking many of their jobs away and believed that they would soon overpopulate their young country. More over, the native's were angered with the Roman Catholic religion of the Irish and some Germans. At this time the Roman Catholic Church was still referred to as a foreign church.

In time this 'foreign' church and religion would grow to become one of the most dominant religions in America. The British even though a large amount of them were already in this country from the colonial days, the numbers of their immigrants increased sharply during the mid 1800's. Mostly because of better opportunities that this great country offered is why the British came in many more numbers. Many of them were like the Germans, they had a decent amount of money and better educated. There were also many professionals, independent farmers and skilled workers who came from Britain as well. These people quickly found work because of their English speaking background and of their knowledge in many fields.

Their background led to many innovations such that improved economic productions. The British knowledge of factory systems improved our production methods such a great deal that led to the north being able to manufacture it's own goods and not having to depend on other countries for manuf acting which also cost much more money. Many of these immigrants settled in places like Virginia, which led to many more farmers. The British farmers were in high population throughout the tobacco crops that were very popular throughout Europe.

All of the immigrants that came to America form Europe and all that they brought to this society with them does not nearly compare to the immigration that the African-Americans went through and how it forever changed our society. Slavery as we know it is a wretched evil. However in the 1800's it was the largest form of immigration to this country, which was meant for economic help. Unlike the Irish and Germans who came to this country on their own free will, the African Americans were captured and forced to come to this country. In the country they were deprived of the rights that 'white' Americans had. The slaves mostly lived in the south on huge plantations where the harvested crops, especially cotton and tobacco.

Slavery was not just a flash in the pan idea to help the Southern economy but a growing disease. The total amount of slaves in areas like South Carolina during the 1820's accounted for about 10-50% of the total population of that state. However in 1860, slavery reached almost 60-70% of the total population of South Carolina. Even though they were the majority in places like this, they were treated with less respect than a household dog. They were not allowed to have any form on schooling, since many slave owners thought that an education would bring discontent among the slaves and cause for an uprising against their bondage.

For free blacks and slaves the idea of having a better life as described in the 'American Dream' was a cruel joke because even as free blacks in the north they were treated as outcasts. The idea of slavery was thought up mainly for inexpensive help towards plantation owners. Owners of enormous plantations would be slaves at an auction, which almost always tore families apart so they would have help harvesting their land. Cotton was in high demand throughout the rest of the world, and the South in the United States was it's main supplier. The exporting of this agricultural gold mine accounted for most of the South's capital.

This crop also allowed the north to take control on its exports to other countries and even raise the tariff of this crop to make more money. Nonetheless the slaves were the ones doing all of the work and the southern greedy inconsiderate plantation owners were getting rich off of them. The African Americans did however manage to stand tall. Many slaves became self-taught in reading and writing.

There are also many African American slaves who became famous writers and other prominent figures in our country. Frederick Douglass was born into slavery in Virginia. Even though this stopped him from achieving many things possible he was gifted with the talents as a well-spoken orator and writer. Even towards the end of his life he served as a U.S. minister to Haiti.

Without having any change in a country that country cannot prosper. America has gone through numerous changes throughout its birth. As shown throughout numerous documentations and events the economic prosperity of this country is greatly attributed to the growing number of immigrants from 1820-1860. Ethnic groups such as the Irish, Germans, British and African-Americans even though were not initially accepted by the 'native's' of this country, they however have been the economic back bone of America. Many of the Irish since being cramped into overpopulated cities because of the lack of money that they had became prominent politicians since they received all the support they needed from the votes of the factory workers. The Germans had possessed a greater amount of money than that of their fellow Irish immigrants were able to push further west and settle many areas out west.

Many cities such as Cincinnati and Milwaukee owe their prosperity to the German settlers that brought great economic help to places like these and helped to settle the frontier west. The British having a slighter advantage because of their 'American' looking appearance and that they spoke English helped this country transform its factory system to one of the largest and most productive in the world. Having the main source of cotton production the United States was now able to manu factor this crop into fabric that was sold and distributed throughout the world. The African-Americans were the most influential immigrant group to come to America during this time. They were used as slave labor mainly to harvest the enormous cotton crops in the south.

This group even though were not allowed to take part in any form of public education did however harvest many notable writers, poets and politicians. As shown, the immigration of different ethnic groups greatly attributed to America's flourishing economy. Without them this country would have fallen and collapsed soon after it's creation.

Bibliography

1. web American Immigration. 2001 2.
The American Pageant. David M. Kennedy, Liza beth Cohen, Thomas A. Bailey. Copyright 2002.
Houghton Mifflin Company 3. World Book Encyclopedia. Volumes A&I. William H. N ault, Frank D. Drake. Copyright 1989.
World Book Inc. Chicago, Illinois. 4. Immigration: Opposing Viewpoints. David L. Bender, Bruno Leone. Copyright 1992.