Immigration

Dear Mom and Dad, It has been a few months since I’ve left home. It was a long and hard journey just to get out of Germany. It took very long time to get to the coast and the passports were extremely expensive, I barely had any money left when I arrived. I took the boat across the Atlantic Ocean which took about 2 weeks. It was very crowded and uncomfortable. After I was let off the boat and got through Ellis Island I walked around to see what this new country was like. I was very curious about many things but I was too timid and afraid to ask anyone. Eventually I met a German immigrant name Elise and she knew what and where everything was because she has been her in America for awhile. After being in New York City for awhile I met another German immigrant named Otto. He was telling me that his cousin moved out to Milwaukee and was working at a brewery. He invited me to go along with him and he said that his cousin could get me a job too. He said it didn’t pay a whole lot but it would be enough for me to get by and that eventually I may be able to make more money if I work hard. When I got out there I was told that I was supposed to shovel hops all day long. It’s not the most exciting thing and I have to work 10 hours a day, but at least I’m making money. Right now I am living with Otto and his cousin and family on their farm. Every now and then I have to work on the farm because they do let me live with them so I only think it’s fair. It’s pretty nice here; the weather is a lot like back home. It’s pretty cold most of the year here so I’m used to it already. Since Otto’s family is also German we talk in mostly German, but we are all working on learning English because that is what a lot of the people speak here. We eat most of the same foods as we did back home also because I’m living with a German family. Overall everything is pretty good here and I like it. The only thing is that I wish that more of the family was here with me. Being an immigrant can be tough at times, but I kind of expected that. One good thing is that I don’t have to pay rent like my friend Elise has to. She told me that her rent is extremely high, but instead of rent I just have to work on the farm for a little bit every week, which I think is a fair trade because she told me that rent was really expensive. I share a room with Otto and I sleep in a little cot. It’s not that bad, but it’d not my favorite. Every week I get paid about 4 dollars a week. Eventually I want to save enough money to be able to buy land and build a house. That’s pretty far off but it’s just a dream. Overall I like living here in America it’s pretty nice and I think that all of you should come over. For some reason I just think that something bad will happen in Germany soon so I think that you should come over here with me. If all of you come over we will be able to buy land and build a house for everyone to live in. I am sure that you guys would like it here it is hard at times but overall it is pretty good and I like it here and I bet you all would like it too.

Love, Dirk



. [|The Huddled Masses], the Statue of Liberty at the time it was given to the U.S. it was the largest structure in the world. It was given to us from the French. The statue could have been placed in either Boston or Philadelphia. [|The New Immigrants], Many immigrants immigrated to America from all over. In 1900 14% of the population was foreign born. European immigrants immigrated to America more quickly after the Civil War. [|The Chinese Exclusion Act], Chinese immigrants were not allowed to become citizens. Many Chinese still tried to cross the border even though they knew that they could be deported. In 1892 the Geary Act made it so that Chinese aliens had to carry around identification at all times because they could be spot checked at any given moment. [|Contract Agreement], During the 19th century hard laborers were needed heavily, mostly in tropical regions. Most of the workers were contracted and worked for 6 to 7 years in exchange for travel expenses, maintenance, and some pay. [|Immigration Restriction], the Unites States started making requirements tighter for immigrants to come to America. Under the Gentleman’s Agreement China said that it would not give out as many passports. Many major countries restricted the immigrants coming into the country because they were afraid of it hurting the economy. [|United States's Changing Face], During the 1980’s immigration was at its highest at about 10 million. In the 1950’s most of the immigrants were from Europe and Canada but now nearly 80% are Latin of Asian.