Stephen Zuluaga
Prof. Prettyman
SOSC 110
07/05/18
America has always been referred to a melting pot because of the different cultures that are a part of this nation. The author's thesis is explicitly stated when he expresses that America, “has acquired diverse people by invasion and conquest, by enslavement, and by immigration”(79). The country had a mass amount of immigration coming,however, the minorities did not have a lot of power in the country and the actions taken by the British was to make sure the English settlers had power over the minorities. Even though the English were also immigrants they did not see themselves as so, would treat everybody else as immigrants. The Indians were the original founders but, the English still referred to themselves as the founders and forced the Indians to move out of their own land.
Immigration was relevant across the world. America could develop the country because of all the immigrants that came in from the different countries. Each immigrant possessed a different skill that benefited the country to grow together since the country had the illegal immigrants to help with all the skills that are needed in order for the country to continue to develop. Without the wave of the new people coming from these countries, America would have never modernized and would never have surpassed other countries. Due to the United States being a multicultural nation, it progressed with the arrival of the immigrants.
The reading gives many statistics about immigration in America and in other countries in the world. The author states in the text that,” In 1970 slaves accounted for Nineteen percent of the population”(78). In the text, the author states” Forty percent of the white population was not English”(78). A lot of the white people were not even from England and just immigrated from another country. Another statistic is that in,” 1920, Fifteen percent of the population was from German immigration…. ten percent of the population was from Ireland” (78). A lot of immigrants were coming from Germany and Ireland. A percentage stated in the article was that” Canada in 1911 was 22 percent foreign-born…. One-third of Argentina in 1914 was foreign-born”(81). Immigration was large in the United States but it was worse in other countries such as Argentina and Canada. Another percentage that supports the claim that immigration was worse in other countries is that in America”, First and Second immigrants combined never exceeded 35 percent of the population”(81). The percentage of immigrants in Argentina and Canada would exceed Fifty percent at times. Immigration was relevant in America, however, it was worse in other countries.
The author states how important immigrants are in order for America to develop as a country. White people will most likely disagree with that since they will never agree to the fact that immigrants helped this country. Also, it is shown that immigration was larger in other countries. Americans will state that everyone wants to come to America since it is supposedly the greatest country. Immigration was a lot more relevant in other countries and it was not a lot compared to Argentina or Canada. Americans at that time will continue to complain about immigration when it was not even that bad compared to what the other countries had to go through.
The author's argument is exactly what I already thought about immigration. I have always supported immigration and still do not know why it is so frowned upon. Immigrants helped build this country and if it was not for them this country would have never developed into one of the top countries in the world. The author just supported what I already believed in. The article gave me more reason to support immigration. I will continue to stand up for what I believe in and I will not change my view on immigration.
The English will have a different view on this article. The English will see themselves as the original founders of America and disregard everything the Indians did for this country. The English do not even see the Indians as people and they will continue to believe this even if they read the article. The English refer to themselves as settlers, even though they are actually the immigrants since they came into a country that was already founded. The Indians were the only ones that were not immigrants.
The author's point of view will inform the reader more about immigration. Whenever someone is having a discussion about immigration he/she can now refer to this text in order to inform the person he/she is having a discussion with. The text can now help people that are against immigration and can change their perspective on the topic. The author can show people that immigrants are not terrible people and can show them immigrants actually benefited this country. If some people that are anti-immigration are exposed to this text they can change their view and will view immigrants differently.
Data Analysis
Table 1 shows the differences between immigration in 1920 and immigration in 1972. In Table 1 from 1920 to 1972, all of the populations increased except for the British The number of British people decreased because of the lost sense of who they are. British are now not claiming that they are British and now identify themselves as another race. Throughout the years the British people are now being exposed to other things and they do not want to be seen as British anymore. Another factor can also be that many of the Englishmen are going into war and a lot of them are dying. The British are still the majority of the nation but, the table shows that in the future the British will turn into the minority of the nation.
Immigration is now a lot stricter than it was in the 1980’s. In the census that is coming the head of the Bureau does not want to count illegal immigrants. This is illegal since immigrants still pay taxes even though they are not legally here. If immigrants are not counted that will not actually show the population of the country. If immigrants are not counted that will misrepresent the minorities in the nation and the census will show that there are fewer minorities in the country when that is actually false. Immigration is being less accepted and coming into this country will continue to become more difficult. Comparing the two tables shows that there are so many more options to choose from now than there was prior to the 1980’s. People are now more comfortable with choosing a race and it is now easier to identify yourself since there are so many options to choose from. There are now a lot of new groups coming in since America is becoming more diverse than it used to be. Even though immigration is becoming very difficult, the country still has so many races. The minorities are now getting closer to becoming a majority. If immigration continues to occur consistently then the white people in this country will eventually become the minority in America.
Works Cited
Higham, John. The Immigrant In American History. U.S The Intercultural Nation 2nd edition/ McGraw-Hill, 1999. Print.
US Census Bureau. “Decennial Census by Decades.” U.S. Trade with Haiti,
<www.census.gov/programs-surveys/decennial-census/decade.2010.html>.