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The North American economic development has seen several stages of
development. The first stage of economic development was a
plantation-slave economy mixed with mercantilism, the second stage of
development was a competitive industrial economy, and the stage third
stage of economic development is multinational capitalism. Economic
institution and related governmental actions have formed the tides of
migration and the resulting patterns of immigrant adjustment.
The
original groups of inhabitants in North America were Native Americans.
These Native people lost much of their land and many of their lives to
the vicious European invasions. Many groups of immigrants came to
America, yet each group had left their native country for various
reasons and under various circumstances. Some immigrant groups entered
America as slaves, others came to work at low paying labor jobs, and
some came as entrepreneurs. These various groups were discriminated
against at varying level, depending on the resources the group brought
with them. Those immigrants who made the journey to America on their
own freewill with economic resources found that it was much easier to
find good jobs than those immigrants with less than such freewill and
resources. Small business opportunities unfortunately were not
available for most immigrants.
The waves of immigrant migration to the
North America are highlighted in phases. With phase one came English
colonists from the 1600's to the 1800's. The English created colonies
and forced land from the native people. The English also established a
form of capitalism. During this same time Africans were seized from
their native lands and were shipped to America involuntarily in the
form of property, to be used as slave labor. Also, phase one brought an
era in which Irish Catholics immigrated to America, driven from their
native land from the 1830's to the 1860's, due to famine, oppression,
and poor living conditions. These Irish immigrants were able to obtain
low wage jobs.
Phase two began with the immigration of Chinese people
from the 1850's to the 1870's; these people came due to recruitment
efforts by the United States and in hope of obtaining better living
conditions. The Chinese became employed mostly in construction, and
menial service jobs. The Italians arrived between the 1880's and the
1910's. The Italian people were recruited for construction and other
related low wage labor jobs. The Japanese immigrants came to live in
Western America after migrating from their land to Hawaii from the
1880's to the 1900's. The Japanese people had also been recruited as
laborers.
The third phase of immigration to the United States began
with the Mexican people from the 1910's to the 1990's, due to labor
shortages from Europe and Asia. The Puerto Rican people started
arriving in the 1940's and continue to arrive into the 1990's. These
people accessed labor jobs in farms and jobs in blue-collar
occupations. Recent Asian and Caribbean groups started arriving in the
1960's to the 1990's, mostly as political refuges, and also for
political reasons.
Commercial capitalism and the slave society were the
effect of the East Coast colonial expansion of English land. The early
economy was derived of a combination of enterprises under English rule
and independent entrepreneurs. Included in this system was Slave
plantations. The goal of English colonial settlement was to secure raw
goods and markets for English products. In England merchants invested
in the colonial industries. Other people from Europe began to immigrate
into the colonies with the hope of becoming small farmers. In the
colonies there were two types of major production, small farms, and
plantations and merchants. From the 1600's to the mid 1800's African
people were used for slave labor in colonial plantations.
Around the
time of 1860 there were as many as 3.9 million slaves in the united
States due to a strong demand for their labor. The Southerners in the
United States had held nearly all political and economic power in the
government until the end of the civil war, which granted the Northern
Industrialists the majority of governmental power in the United States.
In the Northern Industrial society and in small farms immigrants from
Ireland, Germany and Scandinavia were among those in the labor force.
These Europeans had been recruited from their countries, and they had
also left for other reasons such as famine, political and economic
problems and the hope of a better life.
The immigration of Europeans
laid the foundation of patterns of racial conflict. The African people
that were now free from slavery began working as low wage laborers for
entrepreneurs. In some cases African Americans were used as
strikebreakers, which raised racial pressure even more. Eventually
African workers began losing their jobs to arriving immigrants from
Europe. The English had oppressed the Irish people in their native land
but after a few generations in America were considered part of the
white dominant race. Western expansion brought the loss of many Native
and Mexican peoples land, not to mention the horrendous loss of lives.
The white people felt that that these races should be subordinates to
them. The Mexican people did not altogether migrate to the United
States their land was brought into the United States as a result of the
victory over Mexico in the Mexican-American war.
After the civil war
the Industrial capitalistic economy bloomed, large enterprises began to
take over the major economy. As industrialism grew Asian workers were
recruited for labor from China and Japan. The United States victory in
The Spanish-American war had granted the United States annexation
Puerto Rico, the Philippines, and Cuba. Many people from these
countries immigrated into the United States mainland. The actions that
were taken by the government had an influence on racial and ethnic
relations. One action that effected racial and ethnic relations was the
Homestead Act, which granted land to many people but made it difficult
for African Americans to get such land.
For the most part, African
families were not given the opportunity built up their wealth. The
newly rebuilt South had a need for low wage workers and mostly the now
free slaves performed these jobs. This, in effect, kept the African
Americans in the South where it was difficult if not impossible for
them to gain wealth. The moving of African Americans to the cities is
similar to that of the transition of European immigrants. Eventually
the African people should be able to move up on an economic level, as
did the European settlers. This argument is challenged because
Europeans had, had greater group mobility. Among the most mobile groups
are the Jewish people.
The African Americans that had moved to the
North were losing their jobs to the recent arriving European
immigrants. African American migrants were subject to much more racial
discrimination than their white European counterparts. Also, during
this time racial tensions were increasing due to economic competition
between European and African groups, which led to hostility and
discrimination toward the African Americans from the European
Americans. Modern Mexican immigrants came after WWI and immense
industrialization had brought a decrease in the number of laborers
available. Mexican workers migrated to the United States to fulfill
these new labor needs. International corporations have been the major
influence on U.S. politics and the economy since the 1920's. When the
depression hit African and Latino Americans struggled because white
people took over many of the low wage jobs.
After WWII the United
States began to dominate the world economy, for many decades. During
this time many white Americans moved to the suburbs of major cities and
traveled to the city for employment, while most of the subordinates
lived in the inner city. This separated the two groups and brought them
further apart from each other. Until the 1960's discriminatory quotas
against Asians had limited the number Asian immigrants. When the quotas
were lifted the United States received many new Asian immigrants from
China, Korea, the Philippines, and Vietnam. These Asians generally
migrated to the United States in hope for better opportunities. Many
immigrants from Cuba arrived after Fidel Castro came to power. Most of
the Cubans were considered political refuges and were accepted by the
U.S. government. During this time many Haitian refugees came to the
United States, but were treated differently than the Cuban refugees
because the Cubans had been fleeing a communist government, because of
the U.S. opposition to communism.
Many groups of immigrants still enter
the United States for the same reasons that Europeans and other groups
entered the United States. Among the new immigrants Mexicans make up a
large portion of undocumented immigrants. The decline of European
immigrants to the U.S. has brought an increase in Asian and Latino
immigration. Native-born Americans have considered these new immigrants
a problem and therefore immigration restrictions have been placed on
these groups. The Latino and Asian population is steady growing
throughout the United States and in some areas the majority of the
population is or soon will be made up of people of color. As these
people grow in population they will press for equal treatment and
political, social, and economic opportunities.
This introduction has
examined the economic and political ways in which people have
immigrated to the United States and how that immigration has been
adjusted. It has been suggested that several factors effect a group's
economic and political success including time of arrival and the amount
of resources brought with them upon migration. A greater understanding
to the rivers of migrations into the United States requires analysis of
political and economic aspects as well as group mobility. The
government and it's subsequent actions have shaped the way in which
migration has occurred and also has shaped the ethnic and racial
relations between groups, and has also effected the distinct
development of cultures.
Analysis, problems, and Remedies.
After
analysis it is my belief that the modern problems concerning racial and
ethnic groups do stem from the authors' reasons, such as political and
economic conditions, time of arrival and reason for migration. I feel
that there is a stigma that has resulted from these past experiences
that people of color are inferior to the white race. I feel that the
relations between different ethnic groups have been very poor in the
past and do still remain poor in many areas. I also feel though, that
it is important to see how far ethnic relations have positively
improved in modern America. I for see that an egalitarian society is in
the near future for the United States, but it will not happen "over
night" and it will take a lot of work on the part of modern American
society. I feel that the way, in which an egalitarian society will
become a reality in America, is through education of all Americans
about all other Americans, interaction between all ethnicitiys in a
positive atmosphere, and finally the removal of all stereotypes,
stigmas, oppression, discrimination, and labels. With this the people
of America can share this great land in peace and with a degree of
harmony.
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