Letters+of+America

[|The Huddled Masses], The Statue of Liberty was a gift from the French Republicans to America and designed by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi. They gave America this because they felt it would increase their political stature in order to replace Napoleon III’s government system with a republican one. The statue was made out of bronze and modeled to look like the Roman goddess Libertas, but some places thought the statue was “useless” or “neither an object of art or beauty.” This caused people to believe that it could possibly be placed in Boston or Philadelphia. The original meaning of the statue was to express oppression and slavery, but after the Spanish-American war it became a symbol of power. Not until the 20th century did it finally become “a lady of hope” for immigrants and refugees.

[|The New Immigrants] In 1886, immigrants began coming to America. Most immigrants who saw the Statue of Liberty came from eastern and southern Europe. In 1900, 14% of Americans were from foreign countries. A century later this decreased to 8%. Passports were not used at the time because people felt they were unnecessary and it costed only ten dollars to cross over to the United States. Immigrants coming from Europe increased to 5.2 million in the 1800s and then 8.2 million in the 20th century after the Civil War. 20 million immigrants came to the United States during 1882 and 1914. New York had as many Irish immigrants as Dublin, more Italians than any city except Rome and more Poles than any city except Warsaw. There were more Jews than any city in the world in New York along with Slavs, Lithuanians, Chinese and Scandinavians. The new immigrants mostly came from southern or eastern Europe such as Russia, Balkans, Italy and Poland.

[|The Chinese Exclusion Act] Most Chinese immigrants were barred from immigrations in 1882 to 1943. The Chinese Exclusion Act was the United States' first law to keep people of a certain race or nationality from coming into the United States. The act also kept Chinese that were already in the U.S. to become national citizens. Smugglers eventually started bringing Chinese over to Hong Kong to be traveled to Victoria, B.C. during the night. Otherwise, they crossed by land.

[|Contract Agreement] During the 19th century, the need for workers throughout the Pacific Islands grew. In this case, the demand for indentured or contract workers was met. Supposedly, this was free and the workers had to sign a contract stating that they were required to work for a certain period of time (5-7 years) in exchange for travel expenses and maintenance. Working nine hours a day for six days a week, indentured servants were able to recieve a small salary, clothing, shelter, food and medical care.

[|Immigration Restriction] During the 19th and 20th centuries, the United States decided to add more restrictions to the immigration system. These restrictions kept contract laborers, illiterates and all Asian immigrants (except Filipinos) out of America. Other acts kept criminals, people who were assumed to be immoral, people carrying diseases, and paupers from coming to the United States as well.

[|United States's Changing Face] Today, immigration is at it's quality level since the 20th century. The number of Hispanics in the United States tripled and the number of Asians increased by eight-fold after strict immigration quotas ended. The United States is becoming the most multi-racial advanced industrial society as a result of massive immigration. Some show anxiety over immigration, but others are hopeful that immigration will help America to appreciate and accept people from other countries and different cultures.

One thing is for sure; America is much different than Italy. As you know, I left our home country for the reason to find work and make something for myself in this life. When I decided to come to America, I was mostly curious of what it was like and I have been nothing but surprised and excited from what I’ve seen and experienced. America has plenty of opportunity for success and I’m beginning to find it. I traveled on a ship from Europe for $10 in steerage. It was a terrible ride over; I didn’t see daylight for weeks. My hygiene was not its best and some people even died, but it was worth it once we reached New York. When I saw the Statue of Liberty, I knew my life was about to change and change for the better. Right now, I am living in Manhattan and, so far, the city is filled with Italian immigrants. This has been really beneficial to me because of my restaurant. Since coming to America, I’ve started my own Italian restaurant which offers Italian cuisine to many people. The rest of my family helps me in the restaurant by cooking, cleaning and taking orders from people. The biggest food item we sell is our pizzas. Many of our customers have loved them. Business is well in America and I have made much more pay-wise than if I had stayed in Italy. America overall is a much better place than Italy. The violence we experienced in Italy isn’t evident in the United States and the terrible luck we’ve had in Italy as far as money-making goes seems to have changed since coming to America. There’s hope for a future here instead of despair and grief back home. However, other Italians I’ve talked to have said their work conditions lean toward the unhealthy, dangerous side. These mostly have been people who work as farmers and laborers. Though I enjoy and, of course, am biased to our Italian customs – especially the food – American culture is not all bad. The food here is quite satisfying actually. I feel healthier and happier since my arrival in America. America is much healthier and livelier. People enjoy themselves and there seems to be more freedom here than in Italy. Getting to America hasn’t been easy, though. The immigration process is a rough and bewildering one. We were numbered, sorted and sent through a number of inspections. If we weren’t mentally or physically fit or had a low ability to work we would have to go back to Italy. I saw a number of families separated because a mother or son couldn’t see well, had a disability physically or were too frail to work. New York, especially Manhattan, is very crowded as well. Don’t expect to buy a car as soon as you get here – things are a lot more expensive in America and there’s no room to drive it anyway. People flood the streets constantly during all hours of the day. Every now and then an American will walk into my restaurant and give me and my family funny looks. Normally, in these cases, they don’t buy anything. They just walk out or sit there to get away from the heat or crowded masses of people. If I had to come to America and do it all over again, I would. America is an original and enjoyable country which has many different things that Italy doesn’t that are highly beneficial to how a person lives. You won’t find any other place like it and I highly encourage you to come to America and see for yourself. Job opportunity is high and there is plenty of ways to make a living. Though getting here is difficult and the living conditions on board are not the best, it is worth the long, hard trip. America’s conditions are far better than Italy’s and much more enjoyable to live in. Once you get here, you will not want to leave. This really is the land of opportunity and, since arriving, has given me a hope for the future for me, my family and the many generations to come after us.