Immigrants represent a worthy proportion of the population in the United States. The immigrants took part in the First World War when the United States entered it in 1917. It was quite subtle that one out of the five soldiers belongs to the immigrants who sacrifice themselves to serve the nation. In the book, The Long Way Home, David Laskin represents the heroic character of dozen immigrant men. These men were born in Europe who got emigrated to the United States in search of faith and liberty, and ended up fighting with American armed forces in The Great War. These twelve men, along with tens of thousands of foreign-born Doughboys like them, joined the army as immigrants – but they came home from the war Americans. Many returned as American heroes.
In the book, the author portrays the stories of these twelve men in a very interesting way, taking us through the history itself. Various prominent personalities are described by the author in this book including Andrew Christofferson, Joseph Chmielewski, Peter Thompson, Tommaso Ottaviano etcetera. Every character is quite interesting to observe, and their eagerness to achieve admirable American citizenship.
Andrew Christofferson is one of the immigrant characters described by Laskin in this book. April 14, 1890, Andrew was born at Haugesund in Norway. He got emigrated in 1911 along with his sister-in-law and her children. As he entered into the United States, Andrew started to work as a farm labourer in Larimore, North Dakota, and homesteaded Chinook, Montana. In the coming years, Andrew joined army likely on June 25, 1918. He survived as a brave soldier and worked as a private first class Company M, 321st Infantry, 81st Wildcat Division. Similarly, Peter Thompson is also an interesting character whose life as an immigrant is quite remarkable. He also did a fascinating job in order to be known as an American. On September 4, 1895, Thompson was born in Antrim, Ireland. He was emigrated in 1914. During his inception in the American country, he worked in copper mines in Butte, Montana. In 1917, Thompson joined army and served as a loyal soldier (private first class). His work was quite admirable and was later promoted to sergeant. He has worked with Company E, 362nd Infantry, 91st “Wild West” Division. Both of the immigrants worked hard to get to be known as prominent American citizens.
America experienced huge immigration in the early twentieth century. However, interestingly, America would be known as home by the bulk immigrants (like Andrew Christofferson, and Peter Thompson) which the modern witnesses would occasionally refer as unrestrained plots. This pejorative remark witnessed to record the datum that late nineteenth and early twentieth century refugees rarely emanate from the regions that speak English (except ‘the Irish’). It also observed that the immigrants were somehow inferior who belong to South and East of Europe, Southeast Asia and China etcetera. Widespread domestic confrontation and social incompetence, missing prospect, and religious liberty pushed these publics to coastal areas of the United States. Their dissimilar culture and customs, idioms, and other (unlike) habits of living can play a substantial part to make them Americanized, and also, such levies plainly redesigned the life of American culture, tallying to the mixture of civilizations that resulted in early twentieth century culture of the United States.
Most of the immigrants, along with Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson, face substantial acumen and ostracism in America and thus many of them turned to work in the defence forces during the World War to get a full American citizenship. These immigrants served in the armed forces so that they can get to be known as Americans. Also, the other immigrants assisted merely as they were specified to act like this only and of course, they took their job as their duty. Furthermore, Laskin advocates that some of the people fought within a range of some concept or maybe they were following their officer’s orders but at the end of the day, all of them were fighting for their American citizenship. In this book: The Long Way Home, David Laskin, describes and construes an interesting expedition from immigrant-position to American (full-fledged) nationality for twelve refugees (and limitless other beings stated in the content of the book). In the book, Laskin interprets the lives of these twelve immigrants in a commendable way. For instance, we are well aware about the journey of Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson. He gave a robust treatment to the characters by going through their personal experience, which belonged to different places including Finland, Germany, Russian Pale, Southern Italy, etcetera, during the making of this history. Many other people came from other regions where there are fewer opportunities to survive or the regions were totally disordered. Laskin describes the whole process of assimilation of immigrants into the American society in a very systematic way. Laskin even describes many embarrassing situations in which most of the immigrants initiate their inception in America. Also, he points out how the immigrants used to be differentiated and discriminated even though they fight for the United States.
It seems quite obvious that the author persistent supposition is to put forward that because of this War, most of the immigrant people (like Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson) worked to recognize themselves as the people of the United States and by lastly (also it is important to mention that many people also got killed)) sacrificing for their (home-grown) land. The immigrants not only got true American citizenships (and became true citizens of the United States); they also received the deference and appreciation from those who condemned them. By working on such important aspects, Laskin illustrates two major ideas for a student or scholar of the history of the United States, i.e., colonization and Confrontation. The author mixes the conceptions together and illustrates how the people of the United States cultured to stretch which Charles Minder, a native soldier of America, called the travail of race bigotry. Laskin’s work, from in-depth, is a chronicle of how the people of two different set-ups i.e., refugees and Native Americans cultured construct concrete a community within the pros and cons of the effects and impact of the annihilation of the First World War. Undoubtedly, that plays a vital part for contemporary America because the country brawls with swelling immigration.
In the beginning, the book helps to connect the reader with the happenings during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The author is has used the government records well including survey facts, economic statistics and family archives. For instance, the author has quite illustrated a perfect picture of the immigrants like that of Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson.
Laskin endures his work by prudently exemplifying the encounters that were faced by the immigrants. However, the work of Laskin represents his interpretations more or less as a case study, studying the experiences of the twelve immigrants and their relation with the immigration and history of America. In history generalities can be deceptive, the author is concerned and well aware (due to research) with the experiences of the immigrants (for example, Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson) and how they played an important role in shaping the future of their (new) homeland. Such know-hows are sensibly set in contradiction of the milieu of American societal philosophy and prevalent (including also fabricated) scientific trends including eugenics. For any other collection was the more factual than for the German-Americans.
Most of the content of the book is radiates a vigilant investigation of the refugee experience in the First World War. The author dictates the tale of such men since they travelled from simple preparation to Europe. He cautiously records their gallant performances including the debates related to the history of military, foreign-policy consultations, and debates regarding the survival of the immigrants as American troops. This is quite observable from the life history of Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson. According to the book, about three million people assisted in AEF, and the process of their assimilation resulted in their national identification as Americans.
Since the troops (Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson) belonged to different regions (and thus different cultures), the author pronounces the AEF was “army of forty-three languages.” The troops depend on each other for their survival throughout the war. This situation made AEF as one of the best forces were the immigrants (from different cultures) fought together for a common goal: America. The author dedicates much of the content of the manuscript to this argument, and he reiterating an important statement endlessly.
During his debate on the Warfare, Laskin discusses the diversity (of practices) midst the immigrant fighters. The author notes many battles (including Mont Blanc, Argonne Forest, second, Belleau Wood, and breaking the Hindenburg Line) showed that the people of America can went along with the France and Britain as allies; however, in the opening all the nations were doubtful regarding one another. Laskin describes that American entered into the range of the Warfare was later. However, both the British and the French were predictable of its early intervention.
The book demonstrates the author’s effort to signify the representation of the immigrants as American citizens along with its pros and cons that created history. The examples of Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson are quite helpful to know the pros and cons of the survival of the immigrants in America during the First World War. The conclusion of the author’s work takes the reader through the ups and downs and to the accomplishment of the War, also its superior connotation at that particular period and also in chronological reminiscence. Laskin articulates what ensues to such twelve refugees at the end of the War. The author’s interpretation on the influence of the World War-I on the United States is quite well explored and carefully expressed. The author advocates sturdily that any effort to furnish nous of the Combat that shaped no enduring truces, devastated the lives of the millions of people and even almost fifty percent of the continent, which would attest pointless - and if whatsoever, the battle and its outcome disbursed and shattered the meaning in art, in legislation, in public life and pomposity. These symbolize robust arguments, but possibly they do not seem excessively melodramatic for those personages who observed and vigorously took part in the bloodshed of the Battle. The heroic efforts of the twelve (including Andrew Christofferson and Peter Thompson) immigrants land them in the admirable history of the United States.
References
Laskin, David. The Long Way Home: An American Journey from Ellis Island to the Great War. New York: Harper Perennial, 2011. Print.
