America's Biggest Fear

This cartoon depicts the biggest fear that Americans had not only had back when this was published in the 1860s, but it shows the fear that many Americans still have today. As a country we are afraid that immigrants will come in and take away the jobs that we feel should be reserved for Americans. Many people also believe that immigrants will dirty up the culture of our country. This cartoon depicts an Irish man on the left and a Chinese man on the left. Both of these men are swallowing Uncle Sam. This cartoon represents how the American people were afraid that all of the immigrants would swallow up all of the American culture. Cartoons like this were, and still are, used as a way to scare the American people into keeping immigrants out.

ID: 290653

Teach Me About Immigration

This first article that I read about immigration shows the same pattern occurring over and over again. Foreigners move in, Americans get mad, Foreigners are kicked around and treated awfully, Americans accept them, and new foreigners come in and the cycle starts all over again. This country prides itself on being a nation born of immigrants but it never said how the immigrants were treated. It never mentioned what they went through to become true Americans, which according to this article doesn't happen until you become second, third, or fourth generation American. Americans were so scared of the huge intake of immigrants that they were convinced the country would never be the same. "In fact, the Pledge of Allegiance was first introduced as a means of reinforcing traditional American values in the face of overwhelming immigration." Now the Pledge doesn't mean much too that many people. It's just another thing that is forced upon us in the mornings as a way to keep our children American. If you were to ask just about any student today why we say it most of them will not be able to tell you it was because of paranoia of new people coming in to help our country grow culturally and economically.

Immigration was so feared in this country that our government put quotas on the number of people allowed in from each country. Some people weren't even allowed in at all. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was a law passed that, for ten years, banned the immigration of the Chinese people. The American people believed that if they were able to reduce the number of immigrants that came into this country they would not have to fight for jobs and space to live. Today people are very upset about the amounts of immigrants in this country, mostly the ones that are here illegally. The main argument against them is that they are taking away jobs for well deserving American citizens. If this were the case then I guess we should start seeing more and more people working at fast food restaurants and day labor jobs. Everyone is so afraid that they will lose their jobs to these immigrants but the only way that would happen is if they work the jobs that nobody else wants since those are the only jobs we give these immigrants. "Illegal immigrants provide significant economic benefits to society. It is estimated, for example, that between 30% and 50% of the seasonal farm workers in California are illegal aliens. Without them, many crops in California and similar states would go unharvested or be forced up so dramatically in price."

People can complain all they want about the immigrants in our country, illegal or not. What they don't realize is that these people come to this country to work hard and make a life for themselves. Many Americans feel like since they are born in this country and are already given citizenship and all the rights reserved for them in the Constitution that they don't need to work as hard to survive. If this attitude keeps up then we might as well get rid of all immigration quotas since the immigrants would be the only people in this country willing to work and keep our economy moving.


"immigration." American History. ABC-CLIO, 2010. Web. 29 Jan. 2010. .

Let the Foreigners Flood In!

Immigration is a funny thing. It causes many heated discussions amongst many people and yet others couldn't care less. I feel like immigration is a great thing. How else could our country grow and develop without the intake of new cultures and customs. My family is made up of immigrants. All of them came in after World War II and brought in their own unique characteristics and ways of life. In my family we like to refer to it as the "defective gene". It is something that is embedded genetically within all of us that causes brief moments of instability. The only lucky ones are the people who marry into our family. However, they have to be a small bit defective as well to be able to put up with all of us. One minute I can be sitting at a nice quiet family dinner with my mother, father, brother, grandmother, aunts, uncles, and about fifteen of my thirty six cousins and the next thing I know the room explodes with conversation and argument. Anyone outside of our clan would just consider this noise. My uncle has a strong belief that every immigrant that comes into this country should have to learn the English language and that the bilingual schools are taking away from assimilation. He's just a little bitter because he learned English by watching the Three Stooges. For better or for worse, this country was founded on immigrants and it doesn't matter how you feel about them because they will be everywhere and will only help push this country along.

The State of Change

After hearing what President Obama had to say tonight in his State of the Union Address a few things have instantly come to mind. First I wonder if the President is the leader of our country or a high school gym teacher trying to whip his students into shape. At times it felt like he would just say things so that the people in the room would stand up and applaude and then sit back down. I'm not sure if you've ever tried it but standing and sitting and standing and sitting is a great work out. I know my Jewish friends know what I'm talking about. We've all been there at services on the High Holidays. Obama seemed to have the Democrats fooled. They were constantly up and down in their seats. The Republicans in the room were clever. They caught on quick. They knew that if they were to fall victim to Obama's secret plan for fitness then eventually they would have to agree with his Healthcare plans. Obama did have the whole room standing though, on a few occasions. Everyone seemed to agree that America should be second to no country. If we are to be the America that the rest of the world knows and loves we must be number 1, not only in their hearts but in their global markets. Obama has a new plan he is working on for America. Jobs for everyone! This sounds as easy to obtain as the Health Care Reform or the Change we can believe in. Too bad that one year later we are still in the same place. However, it would be nice to see more jobs available for Americans. It would be nice to know that in a couple years when I'm leaving college behind and starting off life as a real human being I will have a decent chance of finding work. The president also mentioned the fact that this country needs to focus its attention on better education and that colleges should cut back on costs of tution. This is one bill I hope will pass since I don't plan on spending every penny I make as an old man on an education I got years ago. As I finish up this post and bring my ramblings to a close I sit here waiting. I am waiting to see if Obama can show he deserves the Nobel Prize and can actually follow through with these promises he has made. But more importantly I wait for to hear what John Stewart and Stephen Colbert have to say about the state of our union.

What is there to post about?

How am I supposed to post my thoughts into a blog that I just created? It's like dealing with a firstborn child. I'm not quite sure what to do with it just yet but I know I'm supposed to love it. Maybe this blog thing won't be so bad. It could be interesting opening my thoughts to the world, or it could turn ugly. One day I'm posting for American Studies about what I think was the real reason for the the war in Nam and the next thing I know I have some weird cultish following similar to Bob Saget. Is that what my life will come to? I'll go from being the host of America's Funniest Home Videos to an old man who feels the need to over swear in order to grab laughs that aren't there. Sooner or later I'll start guest starring on episodes of Entourage with amazingly good looking women that no one in their right mind would believe I could score. Whatever ends up happening with this blog I guess I'll have to keep posting and find out...my grade kinda depends on it.