ch 1 and 2 coming to america

Chapter 1

In the earlier times, Europeans thought they were superior to other races. This is evident in a lot of cultures. Especially at this time because Europeans were a very powerful country and their spreading throughout the world only feeds to this notion. I never connected the dots and thought of it as early racism. This definitely makes sense though because it is a group that is treating a minority with disrespect. I think everybody relates racism to only the African American group but it happens to every race, even today. For years racism has been active and will forever be apparent in some way.

When people immigrated to the United States and the colonies they said it was to “Start a new life” in the “Land of the free”. The truth is, when immigrants came here they had to get jobs that were absolutely terrible and live in worse homes or apartments with multiple families. It is a wonder why people continued to come here. It just shows how terrible life in their home country must have been. In this book, it states that one of the main reasons was because of labor policies. If the labor policies of this time was attractive to people, they could probably drool over the policies of today because back in their day, they had very few and very vague policies that allowed the employer to treat them like crap.

I think calling the identity of the United States a “melting pot” is not completely appropriate. As we talked about in class it is more like a stew because each ethnicity that comes to the States still keeps their culture and traditions when they come here. There is a wide variety of cultures that are seen every day across the states. When people come to live here they do not just blend into the pot, they stand out by continuing their culture and tradition. A melting pot suggests the people lose their connection to their ancestral lives and completely commit to the way of life we lead here. I would say the identity should be the United States stew because the people who come here modify their cultures and traditions so they combine with the American way of life.

The end of the first chapter talks about the numbers and percentages of immigrants who came to the United States. The problems with these numbers is that not all immigrants were telling the truth when they came over. For example, some people claimed they had been to the states before; the officials would not completely document them because they would have gone through the process already. How many people did this? How many people have come to the United States this way or another way? I think if the repercussions were not so severe, like being denied access or being treated poorly, there would have been more people who would have been more compliant. 

Chapter 2

I feel bad for the people who were “tricked” into the promises that the propaganda showed in Europe. To promise the people a land of “milk and honey” is just wrong. These people didn’t know any better, they would believe anything that was posted. Instead they were lead to a land that was covered in harsh weather and disease.

I did know that many people had to serve either the boat or other families as a way to pay for getting to the new land. I did not know that there was such a high rate of slaves running away. I figure it would have happened but I did not realize it happened so often. I also would not have guessed that the owners would have gone to such an extent to relocate them. Putting up ads and fliers to have someone turn them in. it also surprises me that the ads were so detailed, to include what they were wearing and even the way the spoke! I don’t even think ads today have that!

I also find it ironic that Maryland was built on growing tobacco and much of the earlier colonies were built on this, yet today it is not taxed. Shouldn’t we be taxing the one thing that has been in demand since the beginning of our country?

The pictures at the end of this chapter are absolutely fascinating. The real life photos are very interesting because they show the rawness and reality of the times but the paintings and drawings show the true feeling of the time. The second picture that shows the first landing of the Mayflower looks charming and romantic at first but by examining it closer it also shows the hardships. That the couple in the left corner looks more worried and relieved than romantic and the woman on the far right is not holding a child but instead another woman who looks to have died or is very sick. It just makes me realize that these immigrants had to go through much more than what we originally think. They went through hell in order to make this great country.