1/23/18TTT American Dream

1/23/18TTT American Dream

The American Dream was what every immigrant hoped for. In the late 1800s and early 1900s, about 2.5 million people immigrated from countries all around the world. People from all over hoped that relocating in the U.S would make their lives better. They came to the U.S with little money because they had spent most of their money on the boat ticket to come to America. They came through Angel Island and Ellis Island hoping they would be healthy enough to stay in America and not be sent back home all alone in the same boat without their families. They believed that they would earn money, feed their families, and take care of loved ones with the money they earned in America. They came to escape war, starvation, poverty, and persecution. When settled in America, the immigrants found that life in America was not much better than life in their home counties. The American Dream was a myth because of poor working conditions, poor living conditions, and discrimination.

Immigrants experienced poor working conditions in America. The author of the article, Rose Cohen: First day in a Sweatshop disclosed, “She reached her apartment well after dark. She went back out the next day before the light of dawn” (page 3). This proves that working conditions in America at the time required long hours of hard work, getting up early, and going to sleep late. In the same article, the author wrote, “The boss bawled her for being late.” (page three) This proves that even though bosses expect a lot from workers, they will refuse to except any excuse for disobeying their rules such as being late. Later in in the article, the author explained, “Late at night when the people would stand up and begin to fold their work away...he would come over with still another coat. ‘I need it first thing in the morning,’ he would give as an excuse” (page 3). This proves that in order to prevent being potentially fired, immigrants working in America would have to be willing to work hard even after hours if their boss said so. Even though immigrants came to the U.S. to experience the ‘American Dream’ they suffered from lots of poor working conditions.

Immigrants in the U.S. experienced poor living conditions. In the article, Immigrant Experiences in America During the Gilded Age, the author explained how there was “...dirt, fighting, and chaos! The noise was always in my ears. Even in sleep I could hear it; I can hear it now” (page 1). This proves that immigrants that came to America had to deal with tons of excruciating noises that no one likes to hear when they are relaxing at home. In the same article, the author wrote, “One steaming hot night I couldn’t sleep for the bedbugs. They crawl slowly, bloated with blood, and the touch and smell of these parasites wakens every nerve to disgust” (page 1). This proves that immigrants in America had to live knowing that there was a chance that they could be bitten by bed bugs instead of being comforted knowing that they could be safe in their own home. Later in the article the author informed, “Most Chinese settled in Chinatowns,” then later stated, “when women and children began to arrive, many Chinatowns became overcrowded” (page 3). This proves that people came from other countries to escape for many different reasons, but over time, many people had the same idea which made it extremely chaotic and overcrowded like home countries. Even though immigrants came to the U.S. to experience the ‘American Dream’ they suffered from lots of poor living conditions.

Immigrants in the U.S. experienced discrimination. In the article, Immigrant Experiences in America During the Gilded Age, the author wrote, “White Americans often discriminated against Chinese, and tended to regard Chinatowns as mysterious, foreign places to visit” (page 3). This proves that Americans were not happy that the Chinese came into ‘their’ country, so in return they discriminated against them because of their differences. In the same article the author explained, “Some Americans resented Mexicans whom they believed were taking their jobs” (page 4). This proves that since Mexicans offered to work in the same places as Americans for less money, the Mexicans took over the Americans jobs. This was how the Americans formed a hatred for Mexicans and began to discriminate against them. On a previous page in the same article the author wrote, “Other Americans often mistakenly looked on Italians as or as people who would always remain poor and illiterate” (page 2). This proves that Americans often judged immigrants who came to the U.S. and either looked or acted different. Even though immigrants came to the U.S. to experience the ‘American Dream’ they suffered from lots of discrimination.

In conclusion, the American dream was the belief that through hard work a better life was possible. The American Dream was a myth because of the poor working conditions, poor living conditions, and the discrimination that people from all over the world experienced when they immigrated to the United States of America. All in all, the American Dream was a period of time where people believed that they could find a better life in different places, but in the end, it did not turn out the way that anyone thought that it would.