European Immigrants In The 19th And Early 20th Century

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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. According to Wattenberg, these scientists were European immigrants whom were primarily English, Scottish, German and Scandinavian before 1880, the flow of immigrant changed. Eastern and Southern Europeans made the move to America in record numbers, 15 percent of the United States population were foreign born (pbs.org). Wattenberg acknowledge that in the course of this period of migration of the Eastern and Southern immigrants, the early Europeans were worried that America would be like Europe if the newcomers had as much freedom as they did. Most early Europeans believed that the new immigrants were unfit for self-government, not real Americans and biologically inferior (Pbs.org) This idea led social scientists like Charles Davenport and others, to believe they …show more content…

Jane Addams the founder of the Hull houses is quoted "the streets are inexpressibly dirty, the number of schools inadequate. Sanitary legislation unenforced (PBS.org). These situation are similar to the current state of blacks in America today. The richer White people live in neighborhoods with proper schools and cleaner streets. Mark McQuillan state that “twenty-eight percent of White whom live in major metro areas, live in mostly white suburbs and exurbs (More Live in U.S.