Was new immigration “good” for the US?
New immigration coincides with the period of intense industrial development and so-called progressive era. It is a mass movement of Eastern and South Europeans to America mostly for economic opportunities or seeking refuge from oppressive governments. The ‘rags to riches’ American dream attracted for the most part unskilled, adventurous, transient males, who soon considerably changed the face of the US. The debate on the impact of the immigration still remains a topical issue. The opinions differ since the immigration had a controversial influence on American society and played an important role in establishing modern American economy as well as setting cultural and political traditions.
Today one fifth of American population are immigrants or children of the immigrants. This number illustrates the huge scale of the immigration. At first there was no more than a cursory examination of arrivals, it seemed to be an instant uncontrolled flow, which lead to some undesirable consequences. The alarming number of illiterates, paupers, criminals and madmen endangered American character and citizenship indeed. First of all, most of the new immigrants were non-English-speaking. This very circumstance prevented easy assimilation. As a result, the immigrant groups clustered together and continued to speak, worship and practice the traditional ways of their homelands. It caused the appearance of Ghettos. Poor arrivals settled mostly in the cities of their destination, not having money to advance further inland, so the biggest cities such as New York, Chicago and Boston suffer overpopulation. At the same time the great amount of closed little societies destroy their national unity. Another thing that arouses local population’s discontent has economic basis. Ready to work for cheaper wages, the immigrants leave the locals unemployed, although, they are less skill and unfamiliar with American tradition. In addition, the...