Natives and Strangers
Hst. 2425: “Coming to America”, Final Written Essays, Due-Date, Saturday, April 22. (Firm Date)
Each student will address four of the following comparatives. First, briefly define what the content of each reading is. Secondly, what relationship do the two readings have with one another? (The week of the assigned reading is in [brackets]) Each response will be approximately a page in length, typed in font 12, double spaced. Cite your sources where appropriate.
Immigration Restriction League Outlinesand Admitting Jewish Refugee Children in 1939.
Sacco-Vanzetti caseand Samuel Morse and His Anti-Immigrant Bias.
T.R. and the Hyphenates and Yoshiko Uchida, a Japanese-American Living……….
the Marial Boat People and Immigration reform, 1986.
Status of Immigration Reform in 2007 and Immigration Restriction League Outlines.
Status of U.S. Immigration in 2007 and any of the articles in the past four weeks you would
like to use for this comparison.
Each student will address one of the following two questions.
First choice: Either define the experience of your family, or a particular family ancestor, and portray the immigration experience(s) coming from the native homeland, crossing to the U.S., the process of “assimilation”, and what to you was the eventual outcome of this experience(s). Or if this process is still ongoing, characterize the stage s/he has reached by this point in the experience.
Next, relate that experience to several of the website testimonies you select to use. You may also use the exhibits at the N.Y.CityTenementMuseum website if you wish. As well, use the Museum of Work and Culture exhibits from the field trip, if you went on the field trip.
If the family experience begins in slavery, then perhaps start with emancipation at the end of the Civil War. Move towards the earliest recollections of how family, or a particular individual, began his/her history on the road to full emancipation and citizenship, with all the attending difficulties in this process.
OR
Second Choice: In the absence of a family history which you may use, select several individuals from the website readings whose own words and descriptions best illustrate the experiences of American immigration through its many and sometimes dangerous stages. Construct the American immigration experience through those selections. Distinguish between the sometimes fantastic imagery and hope, versus the pain and suffering that getting to this country and securing a “new life” was for those who made it to these shores. And what about the opposition immigrants faced once they arrived?
Once again, use the museum options I mentioned above if they help you in your presentation. Whichever choice you make in this second part of the final, the object is for students to be able to illustrate the process of American immigration by actual testimony, either from family lore or from the real testimonies of those whose experiences have been preserved for us to read. To define the contradictions between the goal of reaching the new world and the reality of the achievement. Be creative in your approach to these questions.
Part B will be approximately three pages in length, no smaller than font 12, using informalsource citations when appropriate.
Submit final written results no later than Saturday, April 22nd.
…………………….Answer preview…………………..The Immigration Restriction League (IRL) was established in 1894 by a group of Harvard students. The reason behind this is the fact that the founders believed that immigration to America was the reason why there were many social problems in the nation. The founders believed that there was crowding…………………………………..
