American Immigration Essay

Immigration in the United States has been a major contribution to population growth and cultural change throughout much of the nation’s history. Throughout the years 1880 through 1925 the United States witnessed a rise in immigration. Many of these foreigners came to America in hopes of striking it rich, get away from monarchies, and just simply be free as America was known for (Doc A). In the early 1880’s, immigration was gladly welcomed, but as time progressed, government saw it as a growing problem. The many aspects of immigration caused controversy in economic benefits, jobs for the non-immigrants, settlement patterns, crime, and even voting behavior. Congress has passed laws that have to do with immigrants especially in the 19th century such as the Chinese Exclusion Act in 1882, and the Immigration Act of 1903 all to insure specific laws and boundaries to be set on immigrants. The life of immigrants has been drastically changed throughout the years of 1880-1925 through American suspicion of European communism, and the immigrant resistance to Americanization. Much of the controversy that was brought up during this time period was based on the fact that immigrants were coming over and taking over many jobs of the non-immigrants. Many Americans saw it unfair that the immigrants were gaining the wages that the Americans thought they deserved. They didn’t find it fair that the immigrants just marched into America and demanded job opportunities, but that was what America was known for. Many groups of people were against the job openings for immigrants especially the National People’s Party (Document C), who spoke out against the unfair laws, and demanded an end to any form of emigration. There were also many other groups of people that opposed the way the immigrants decided to live their lives, because most of the workers would just go over to the United States take jobs, earn money, and then return to their birth place (Doc. B). These people also feared they would lose their jobs to these new immigrants that business would hire for cheaper pay. As a way to place boundaries and limit the amount of immigrants pouring in, Congress passed laws to insure specific laws to be set on solely immigrants. Laws such as Exclusion Act in 1882, the Gentlemen’s Agreement, and the Immigration Act of 1924 were instituted in order to control the composition of the U. S. population and effectively control immigration from European and Asian decent.