Immigration
The book “The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People” incorporates the socio-political perspective of the American history into a well-organized piece of art that provides a vivid description of the measure and complexity of the American past. At some point in the book, the issue of the immigrants takes the center stage (Brinkley, 2010, p.25). The Americans at the time, were caught in between two critical decisions that they were to make. This was the idea of how they could get immigrants who had skills, those whom they could easily assimilate so that they could contribute to their economy without the risk of them harming the American workers. The selective immigration legislation was put in place during the 80s, and this was with regard to the fear of effect of foreign-born workers on the native work force. Because of the high industrialization levels that ensued the demand for immigrants as a source of unskilled labor escalated.
Notably, at some point, the miners, ranchers and settlers began encroaching plains and mountains, something that brought about many disagreements. The government forced the Indians in particular where they had been assigned to reside (Davis, 1998, p.67). In this case, their food, basic needs, education and healthcare were provided as opposed to when they would have otherwise lived in their own society and earned meager wages. This was an ingenious way of assimilating the immigrants into the American society by reformers. Settlement houses were established in order to enhance assimilation and facilitate their conversion into the labor force by being taught middle class American values. Training programs and schools were also put in place, which churned a number of prominent leaders among the immigrants (Brinkley, 2010, p.29).
References
Brinkley, A. (2010). The Unfinished Nation: A Concise History of the American People. New York, NY: McGraw-Hill
Davis, A. (1998). Settlement Houses. New York: The Reader's Companion to American History, pp 63-74.
