Boland
Joanna Boland
Mr. Johnston
AP United States History
23 January 2012
The “Land of Refuge and Opportunity”
“Throughout its history, the United States has been a land of refuge and opportunity for
immigrants” although this statement was believed to be true, immigrants faced hardships in
America in areas of social, economic, and political struggles. The Chinese and Irish, as well as
other immigrant groups, were told that America was the land to go to get rich quick and live the
“American Dream.” In Europe, America was referred to as the land where the streets were
covered in gold. (Document 10) Thousands of people from Asian and Europe were pouring into
America at astronomical numbers not seen before. (Document 5) Immigrants were welcomed to
the United States at Ellis Island on the East Coast and Angel Island on the West Coast.
(Document 11) When they landed in the United States, sadly their ideas did not live up to
expectations. (Document 12)
The Chinese faced economic struggles because when they got to America they had no
money, and the only option of work they had was to help build the transcontinental railroad.
(Document 4) The problems they faced working on the railroad were that they were paid almost
nothing, the job was extremely dangerous and there was no support if they were injured and
couldn’t work anymore, and had to work for almost sixteen hours a day. The Irish immigrants
faced similar problems such as the Chinese, except they were working in factories that resembled
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modern day sweatshops. They were also working 16 hours a day and getting paid mere pennies.
The conditions they were in were just as worse (if not even more worse) than what the Chinese
were facing building the railroads. The factories were extremely hot, dirty, and dangerous. The
Irish would work on assembly lines with giant machines that could cut off their limbs. They had
no support if they injuries and had to deal with the consequences on their own. Many of the
immigrant children were forced into child labor, or the parents did not have enough money that
they needed their children to work. This put a strain on their daily life as well as the wellbeing of
their children. (Document 9). The Irish as well as other immigrants in the northeast lived in
tenements that were extremely unsanitary. They would be three to four story high buildings that
eight to ten families lived in with one bathroom. The reason why so many immigrants died when
they arrived to America or a few years afterwards was because of the poor housing and sanitation
they felt. They were called “Cough Allies” because of all the disease that was transmitted there.
(Document 7)
The social public was not what you would say as accepting of the immigrants especially
the Chinese and Irish. Most of the hostility that the Americans had towards immigrants was the
job issue. Many Americans felt that the new immigrants were taking their jobs away from them,
and the infrastructure of the country was dependent on immigrant labor and not American labor.
(Document 1) Many businesses that were small scale would put up signs or warnings that said
that immigrant employment wasn’t welcome there. (Document 8) The Chinese were the main
ethnic group that was especially unwelcome in America for the same reason why the Irish
weren’t welcome: jobs. The Chinese were also viewed as a cultural scourge. Many of the
immigrants that came to America in the Gilded Age were Americanized because the United
States residents didn’t want “strange culture” to be assimilated into their society. (Document 3)
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In 1882 the US Congress passed the Chinese Exclusion Act that prohibited the immigration of
any more Chinese into the United States that did not already have family living there. (Document
2) This was the coup de grace of the Chinese immigration in the United States. This Act really
showed the reluctance of the whole nation to immigrant and the nativism that was extremely
prevalent in the United States during the Gilded Age. Although not the whole nation held these
ideals. For Example the president Grover Cleveland stated that all of our ancestors were
immigrants and we don’t consider ourselves bad people. (Document 6)
To conclude, the idea that the United States opened their arms to the immigrants was
completely false. The immigrants faced intense judgment by people already living in the United
States as well as Americanization and nativism. The immigrants also faced huge economic
troubles as well as little economic opportunity and discrimination.
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Works Cited
"Immigration political cartoon." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO,
2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 1)
"Chinese Exclusion Act (1882)." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012.
(Document 2)
"Anti-Chinese political cartoon." Image. The Bancroft Library, University of California.
American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 3)
"Chinese laborers building the transcontinental railroad." Image. Library of Congress. American
History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 4)
"U.S. Immigrants by Region of Origin, 1820-1900." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web.
24 Jan. 2012. (Document 5)
"Grover Cleveland: quote on immigrants." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan.
2012. (Document 6)
"Tenement." Image. National Archives. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan.
2012. (Document 7)
""No Irish Need Apply"." Image. Library of Congress. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012.
Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 8)
"Child factory worker." Image. National Archives. American History. ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web.
24 Jan. 2012. (Document 9)
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"Immigrants land in New York." Image. North Wind Picture Archives. American History. ABCCLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 10)
"Immigrants on Ellis Island." Image. North Wind Picture Archives. American History. ABCCLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 11)
"Immigrants arriving in the United States." Image. Library of Congress. American History.
ABC-CLIO, 2012. Web. 24 Jan. 2012. (Document 12)
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