“Nation of Immigrants”
Chelsea Day
What if American never had immigrants where would we be today? Although all countries have experienced immigration, no country in the world has maintained such a high immigration rate over such a long period of time as the United States. Immigrants made up 25% of the population in the Union Army. Immigrants found an obligation to fight for the abolition of slavery. During the civil war immigrants came from all around the world with the belief that America was the only chance for freedom and democracy. Immigrants were a huge part of the Civil War era as well as the Age of Industry and many other events in American history. They played a huge part in the war and in the cheap labor boom for industries.
Urbanization from incoming immigrants helped with the building of a better public school system. U.S. schools have been the most important social institution for newcomers. Few public institutions have been as directly affected by the flooding of immigration as the nation’s school system. Not everyone was enthusiastic about immigrants in the school system some made comments that they would ruin America. Although some insisted upon the capacity of the public school to transform the children of immigrants into "real Americans," and it was this desire which steered to several decades of emphasis upon Americanization through schools and other agencies. Immigrants made a great impact upon the public school system influencing change and eventually led to many improvements among schools such as foreign languages, and a more diverse learning system. Combining cultures is beneficial to the students it teaches acceptance and that people are different and the same past race, gender, and religion.
Without immigrants there wouldn’t have been nearly as many soldiers to fight in the war. Immigrants seemed to flood into America even during the Civil War not the largest flood America would ever see but none the less a large number of people moved over during this time period. Many were so true to the belief that America was this amazing country that would give them their freedom they longed for. At the time a person had to be a US citizen for 5 years to be a naturalized citizen of the United States. Naturalized citizens and natural citizens were drafted to fight if a person was not natural they couldn’t be forced to enlist. If however someone wanted to enlist they would gain citizenship immediately and be enlisted in the army. The Union Army was one third immigrants and one in ten of union soldiers was African American. With each wave of immigration the United States experienced considerable culture changes. At the turn of the century a wave of new immigrants were believed to be too different. Some wondered if immigrants would ever conform into American life. With