Summary: The First Immigrant

Squanto, also known as Tisquantum, a Native American of the Paxuet tribe. Squanto acted as an interpreter and guide to the pilgrim settlers during their first winter in the new world. Torn from his world and into another. Squanto became an English speaking native, Squanto became very fluent in English speaking when he returned from across the ocean “New England”. Other tribes surrounding the area helped the light skin people (Pilgrims) to grow their own food and survive the cold winters.

What I was taught as a kid about pilgrims and thanksgiving is very misleading. In elementary, I like most kids. Where taught that Christopher Columbus sailed from Europe to the Americas on three ships. Soon after arrival. The English/pilgrim’s made allies with the natives, made homes.

In the year 1620, over a hundred people were at the end of their tolerance for having a religion forced upon them. These people set off from England in search of a land where they could escape religious persecution. This trip was to be by boat, going across some of the most dangerous waters. Many people died before they reached what was then called Cape Cod. Once on the land, they faced more hardships.

Throughout history, America has been thought as the Land of Opportunities. People from around the world were influenced by that ideal, making them travel thousands of kilometers to start a new life. Many reasons were behind that migratory movement, such as political and religious persecution, runaway from debt and the opportunity to start from zero. Today, not much has changed.

The United States had many economic problems after becoming a country, and as many other countries looked overseas for solutions. When America gained independence it was flooded with immigrants, urbanizing the cities and creating many changes. One change is that manufacturing became more common and soon it was making more money than agriculture. But Britain, Germany, and several other powers put a tax on imported manufactured goods in an attempt to preserve their own factories. So the US just started looking to lesser developed countries such as China to sell them.

Immigration has been around for centuries. From the time period of slaves being transported over and Mexicans coming over to America. In 1790, the Congress passed the Naturalization Act that effectively limited immigration. In 1822 the Chinese Exclusion Act which made immigration for china illegal. The United States was concerned about the moral composition and the population.

As the closing of the frontier began, Americans celebrated the 400th anniversary of Columbus 's arrival to the new world. It was a chance for America to exhibit its power. The fair showcased the products of progress. According to Ben Wattenberg, “There was a 22,000-pound block of cheese from Canada, and the world 's largest cannon, from Germany” (pbs.org). Wattenberg also stated that by the turn of the century, social scientists created a system using numbers to define the standards of beauty and the status of the ideal man and woman.

When Connie’s mother entered their home, she noticed the misplacement of the telephone on the ground but did not think anything of it. “Connie, we are home!” she yelled from downstairs. There was no response. She went upstairs to check on Connie and noticed her absence.

Immigration is deeply rooted in the American culture, yet it is still an issue that has the country divided. Marcelo and Carola Suarez-Orozco, in their essay, “How Immigrants Became ‘Other’” explore the topic of immigration. They argue that Americans view many immigrants as criminals entering America with the hopes of stealing jobs and taking over, but that this viewpoint is not true. They claim that immigrants give up a lot to even have a chance to come into America and will take whatever they can get when they come. The Suarez-Orozco’s support their argument using authority figures to gain credibility as well as exemplification through immigrant stories.

In the nineteenth century, the United States was regarded for being the land of opportunity and shelter for immigrants. For many immigrants, the promise of not having to withstand the pressures of political, economic, and religious persecution in Europe helped boost thousands of people to come to the coast of Staten Island. Despite what the Americans conceived their roles towards immigrants to be, the perception of the immigrants to the real story of how they survived in America does not support the claim that America is a land of opportunity and shelter. The Russian Jews that emigrated had a different approach to the fulfillment of liberties promised by promotional books, such as Where to Emigrate and Why.

1. What challenges did immigrants face upon arrival in America? Immigrants traveled a hard and long voyage across the ocean to America in hopes of better jobs and futures with less discrimination. When they saw the Statue of Liberty they knew they had arrived at Ellis Island, in New York.

However there were some that moved to America and Stayed, but that does not mean they were uprooted and didn't want to go back to their homeland. They were just more settled down and had probably started families.

The note arrived early in the day, it said simply "You are invited to 1075 Primrose ln. for an evening of fine dining and musical entertainment. Arrive at 6 O'clock on Friday the 13th of November. " and that was it, no name and no contact information the address was also unfamiliar. But none of that mattered because living in the slums he seldom had the opportunity to partake in good food.

Great news has came to the Gomez families their youngest daughter is getting married however she has decided to leave to spain to get married there. mother tells daughter “well this will be a fun trip especially since she got us in the worst economic times” The daughter Gomez alien becomes mad at her mother she is now upset with everyone. “well i don't care how hard it is for you to get to spain you are coming no matter what this is my wedding and you will do as i say” The poor parents worked two jobs each both being older in age to be working so much. “hunny i am not feeling so good today i have a pain in my chest”

The U.S. population is now higher with immigrants from other nations such as Mexico, Germany, Canada, and other popular countries. “There are more than 17 million children with at least one immigrant parent in the U.S. They represent over a quarter of the 70 million people under 18 years old” (McDade). More people wanted to move to the United States because most people considered it “the land of opportunity”. Whether that being legal immigration, or not.