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IMIGRATIOPN TO AMERICA




America has often been called the “melting pot.” The name is derived from America’s rich tradition of opening its doors to immigrants from all over the world. These immigrants came to the United States looking for something better. Most of them did not posses wealth or power in their home countries. Most were not highly educated. Other than these few commonalities of what they didn’t possess, their backgrounds were vastly different. The thread, however, that bound these immigrants together was their vision of improving their current situation.

Emma lazuras, in a poem entitled “The New Colossus.” Which is inscribed on the pedestal of the Statue of Liberty, tells the invitation extended to those wanting to make America their home. “…Give me your tired, you poor, your huddled masses yearning to breather free,…..”(Encyclopedia Americana, 1998, Vol.25 637)

Immigration Before 1780

Many have accepted the invitation to make America their home. Most of the immigrants before 1780 were from Europe.

The “melting pot” concept can be better understood by the following quote. “I could point out to you a family whose grandfather was and Englishmen, whose wife was Dutch, whose son marries a French woman, and whose four sons have wives of different nations, (Leutze, 1991, 3)

Recent Imigration

Recent immigration patterns have changed; the reason has not. Individuals and families still come to the United States with a vision of improving their lives. The backgrounds of today’s immigrants expand beyond the European borders. Today they come from all over the world. At a 1984 oath-taking ceremony in Los Angelus, there were nearly a thousand individuals from the Philippines, 890 from Mexico, 704 from Vietnam, 110m from Lebanon, 126 from the United Kingdom, and 62 from Israel. Although not as large a number, there were also individuals from Lithuania, Zimbabwe, and Tanzania. (Luedtke, 1992, 3)