Immigration In The Late 1800s: Difficulties, Adjustments, And The Melting Pot Vs. Salad Bowl

Difficulties Faced by Immigrants in the Late 1800s

In the late 1800, people in several different parts of the world had decided to leave their homes in order to immigrate to America. About 25 million immigrants were there who arrived in the United States in between the year 1870 and 1900. This arrival of millions and millions of migrants from the other countries with just a few decades laid a great impact on the cultural and economic development of United States. This paper is going to elaborate on the same. It is going to discuss about the immigration in the late 1800s and would shed light upon the difficulties that were faced by the immigrants. It would also assess the fact of the way in which the immigrants used to adjust their life in United States of America. Furthermore, it would compare and contrast the “melting pot” and “salad bowl”.

The immigrants entered into the United States by means of several different ports. The ones from the Europe came from East Coast facilities and the ones from Asia entered from the West Coast centres. About 70% of the total immigrants entered into America through the New York City that came to be regarded as the “Golden Door”. All through the late 1800s, most of the immigrants who arrived in New York have entered at the Castle Garden depot near the tip of Manhattan. Furthermore, in the year 189, the federal government opened a new immigration processing centre on the Ellis Island in the harbour of New York.

Once the immigrants were settled, they looked for work but there were never sufficient jobs in America and the employers used to took the advantage of these immigrants. They were paid less wages than the rest other workers and the women were always considered to be less than the men. With the same, the then social tensions were also a part of the experience of the immigrants. There were many immigrants who were often stereotypes and were discriminated against. Also, many of them used to undergo from physical and verbal abuse as they were “different”. However, it is also to note that while a large scale immigrants had created many social tensions, they also produced a new vitality or importance in the cities as well as in the states in which the immigrants were settled. The immigrants to the United States made several valuable contribution to the dramatic industrial growth of America in between the year 1865 to 1921. The Chinese workers played a major role in building the Transcontinental Railroad. Those immigrants worked in steel mills and textile industries present in the North east. With the same, there were several immigrants who worked in the clothing industry in New York. Immigrants from Italy, Poles, Slavs used to work in the coal mines in the Eastern part of United States. It is to note that these immigrants often worked for very low pay and at the same time, they endured very dangerous working condition in order to help in building the industrial strength of the nation. Furthermore, the immigrants were often meeting with several challenges upon their arrival which they never anticipated. All those difficulties range from navigating the legal complications to the understanding of the difficult and complex transportation system of America, while securing the employment and the living arrangements as well as battling with the culture shock, depression, despair and psychological distress. One of the other formidable difficulties that the refuges and the immigrants faced after arriving United States is the language barrier. More often than not, immigrants reached the United States with a less-than-fluent grasp of English, and refugees often arrive with even less English experience. Also, as per Alba and Foner, the English language training, the quality of the instruction was very poor and at the same time, there were not many classes available for all the refugees in the United States. This language barrier caused huge problems and made the simple interactions seem like daunting feats. Legal responsibilities, employment, transportation and receiving help in each of these areas were more difficult without having a good grasp of English in America.

Contributions Made by Immigrants

Among millions of immigrants, most of them were young and they were always in search of work and helped America for facilitating the industrial revolution of America. The mechanisation allowed the manufacturers in America in replacing the skilled craftspeople with cheaper unskilled immigrant labour, performing the simplified tasks. By the 1880, the Chicago was surpassed by the New York as one of the manufacturing centre and at the same time, an estimated two thirds of the total employees who were working in the factories of the Windy City were immigrants. There were several ethnic groups who became associated with the specific industries. Like for example, the Eastern European Jews who arrived in the East Coast cities were often going to work in the garment industry of the country or were working as peddlers. In this way, these new comers significantly helped in transforming the American culture and society while demonstrating that unity and diversity is the major source of national strength.

The immigrants started the process of assimilation into the “melting pot” of America. While settling in the ethnic neighbourhoods in the developing cities of Unites States, they and they children worked very hard so as to learn the English language as well as to adopt the customs of America. With the same, they also tried to become the citizens of America. The public schools present in the country did serve a very notable role in the process of assimilating the immigrants into the American society. However, it is to note that “melting pot” was the term that was used in order to describe the multi ethnicity of U.S.A. The basic idea of its present the entire nation as a big pot. Anyone who used to enter in the United States was automatically thrown into this “melting pot”. In this pot, the assimilation of the belief system of America used to take place. Every cultural aspects that one used to bring into were blended together or were melted in order to form a new culture and the result of this huge procedure was known to be the “melted” version of a culture that was described as “American”. It is also to note that in this assimilation, the identities of every original culture were extinguished for bringing out a whole new mixture. With the same, there is another expression or term that describes the diversity of the people living in America. This term tends to be interpreted in the same manner just like the “melting pot”, but is actually having a very slightly different meaning along with a different way of explaining and approaching the American society. The term is known to be “salad bowl”. It is a theory or an idea that demonstrates an entirely different perspective which the newcomers bring in different cultures and where each of these cultures were kept as an important part for making up the whole. It is also to mention in this context that every different belief or culture is regarded to be one of the ingredients or tastes which contributes in the formation of the whole. Hence, the original shape as well as the characteristics are maintained well.

Whether to apply the “salad bowl” theory or the “melting pot” to the American multi economic conditions brings in a huge controversy. They both serve as a successful and effective metaphor in their own way, despite of their very slight difference. Any individual who is well-accustomed to a highly homogeneous society would be astonished right after recognising many faces with diverse physical features in United States and might also praise the nation by employing these two terms in the topic. However, one could notice that the theory of “melting pot” is merely a myth and despite all its long fame, it is rather more appropriate to label America as a “salad bowl”.

Hence, from the above discussion it is clear that immigrants in the 1800 played a very significant role in the American history and is perhaps one of the greatest controversial issues. There are several different sides to the immigration and no matter where they are from, most of the view on them are saddening. However, immigrants played a significant role in the industrial and economic growth of America and these new comers transformed the American society and culture demonstrating that unity and diversity is the major source of national growth in any nation. But they faced several challenges migrating into this country. They were paid less by their employers and the women were always considered to be less than the men. With the same, language barrier was one of the greatest challenges that they had faced living in America.

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