Summery Notes for Immigrants in American Society
The statue of Liberty was unveiled on October 28, 1886, a time where immigration to the United States was on the increase. During this ceremony, it did not occur to those in attendance that the statue of liberty would indeed act as a symbol of hope for those immigrants coming to America. The immigrants and foreigners coming to America were nostalgic about the hopes and dreams that awaited them in the new land and were anxious to start experiencing the new life.
Of those in attendance during the ceremony, to unveil the statue of Liberty. It was only a single individual who had projected that the statue would act as an encouragement for those arriving from foreign lands that America was an ideal place. Her name was Emma Lazarus, and she pictured the monument acting as a tempting offer to the world’s nations to come to America. She summarized this through a verse that was meant to help in raising funds that were intended for use in constructing the statue’s pedestal. Thus, the statue would act as an invitation to immigrants and would be quite influential in encouraging their arrival.
Therefore, it was only years later that the American public came to understand of the symbolic importance that the statue had. Even though, foreigners had been arriving to the American shores before the Statue of Liberty was unveiled, their numbers increased tremendously after its unveiling. This only reduced for a short while because of the civil war.
Initially, the immigrants came from northern and Western Europe but later on the bulk of immigrants arrived from eastern and southern Europe. Furthermore, immigrants within the American hemisphere arrived from Canada and Mexico in large numbers. This would be attributed to the fact that the immigration policy at that time was not strict thus it was east to migrate to America. These immigrants were referred to as the “new immigrants.”
Immigration to America, as envisioned by Emma Lazarus has influenced a lot of literature on the subject. Both Authors and journalists have tried to explain and also inform the general public and readers about this phenomenon and the reasons for immigration. Immigrants were seen as heroes and heroines as they try all means necessary to reach America as they had hope that it was a better home or the best place for exile due to problems where they had originally called home. They were also influenced to emigrate by land agents who were looking for profits as well as entrepreneur.
One the immigrants reached America, those who were hardworking were able to attain the riches they had their sights on while other languished in poverty and also their labor was exploited by the industries. Furthermore, those who did away with their cultural legacies from their homelands were able to flourish within America and were successful.
Besides that, it was not always a matter of escaping their problems at home or an issue of race or ethnicity. Most of the time the immigrants came to the Americas because of force. For many people, the price for emigration was higher as compared if they stayed at home or to a neighboring country. Thus, emigration to America was not always the main option.
Thus, emigration to America can be attributed to different complex factors and cannot always explain based on a single reason. Therefore, the arrival of immigrants into the American society can be attributed to various factors, and the unveiling of the statue of Liberty plays a crucial role in their arrival.
References
Bender, T. (2002). Rethinking American history in a global age. Carlifornia: Berkeley University
of California Press.
Johnson, P. (2001). A history of the American people. London: Phoenix Press.
Levine, R. M. (2004). Insights into American history : photographs as documents. New Jearsey:
Pearson Prentice Hall.
