How Successful Was The American Immigration Dbq

Immigration into the “land of opportunity” was everything but a smooth, trouble-free journey for those escaping the terror, poverty and political persecution in their crumbling countries. The wave of immigrants was at its peak during the breakouts of economic depressions (Document A). The new flow of immigration doubled the American population, especially in major cities. Chasing after the American Dream, many Europeans were attracted by the employment openings and new chances they could obtain in America. However, despite their life being better than before, these immigrants still faced many obstacles and cultural conflicts trying to fit in and thrive in American culture. Although European immigrants poured into America driven by more political

An example of success by an immigrant was Andrew Carnegie who went from “rags through riches” by practicing discipline and being “honest, truthful, fair-dealing” (Doc D). He advocates basic principles to lead other immigrants to success by telling them to work hard, aim high, be diligent and wise with their money. Instead of being pulled into the life of crime, immigrants are responsible for their own success and should put in work to integrate themselves into and thrive in society. Furthermore, there were many institutions made to help immigrants make proper adaptations to American life, such as the one founded by Jane Addams. Addams critiqued the teachers’ ways of forcing a type of acculturation unfit for immigrant families and instead used the education system to force foreign children to assimilate through American learning (Doc H). Another advantage to immigrant assimilation was the use of political machines as it linked immigrants to a better society and served as a pathway for greater social mobility and assimilation. According to William Riordan’s Plunkitt of Tammany Hall, political machines helped families in need and “fixed them up till they got things runnin’ again. It’s philanthropy, and it’s politics, too” (Doc I). These political machines greatly aided the immigrants to get back on their feet and got them closer to assimilation through gaining citizenship in exchange for their vote. Furthermore, as immigrants continued to pile into America, the younger kids not yet affected by labor and foreign differences were put into American schools and gained the “freedom of education” (Doc J) to greater advance their assimilation into American culture as the next generation. Overall, education, political machines and the motivation of success helped the new settlers advance in their conformity to