Historical Essay

When European settlers came to the Americas they were met by many tribes of native
people. At first the groups were able to get along, each party teaching the other about
how to hunt, farm, or raise different crops. However, as time went on these
relationships became broken and the two groups of people essentially became
enemies, especially those natives who lived in Northern America and the British settlers.
Native Americans were faced with several obstacles that came along with the European
settlers. One such obstacle was the diseases carried over by the Europeans. Native
Americans had no immunity to diseases such as smallpox, influenza, and scarlet fever.
These diseases killed thousands of Native Americans and devastated their
communities. Another obstacle that Native Americans faced when white settlers wanted
to take more and more land was
that they were greatly
outnumbered. Although many
fought to try to keep their lands
and cultural practices, they were
eventually beaten and lost many
people, the majority of their
land, and many cultural
practices. According to The
Ethnic Dimension, Life was
different on the reservations.
Traditional attitudes about
power, authority, and
responsibility changed. Reservation Indians surrendered the hunter-warrior ideal and
accepted passive roles as wards of the state. Native Americans therefore lost their
sense of identity. They continued to lose their cultural selves when Frustrated
missionaries and government agents outlawed the expression of Native American
culture. In New Mexico, Pueblos could not continue initiation rites for the young, and
Arapahos in Wyoming had to give up their funeral ceremonies. Government agents
punished Native American children for speaking native dialects.
With their losses came many things that marginalized the natives. As the United States
became a country, the government passed many acts that hurt Native American
communities, economies, and lives. One of those was the Indian Removal Act of 1830,
which resulted in the Trail of Tears. Thousands died on their way westward. Hunger,
disease, and attacks from white Americans plagued the Native Americans. Many were

placed on reservations to make room for the development of the transcontinental

railway. Native American tribes struggled to survive, and many became only shadows
of their previous selves. With their independence lost, their cosmic rationale gone, and
their culture under siege, thousands of Native Americans turned to alcohol, which local
agents often supplied as a pacifier, and which many Indian people imbibed as an
escape from reality. This new plague further destroyed native culture and the Native
Americans sense of identity.
White settlers attempted to enslave Native Americans, but this did not work because of
their lack of immunity to European diseases [and] they knew the land and could
escape with ease. Instead, these European colonists turned to Africa for their slave
labor.
The main obstacle that African Americans faced, historically, was slavery. Slavery
destroyed the lives of thousands of Africans who were kidnapped and taken to America.
At first, Africans were treated
similarly to white indentured
servants and were free after several
years of work, but eventually this
system fell out of practice and
Africans were treated as life-long
slaves. This new system didnt
affect only those who were forced to
come to America, but also their
children and other descendents who
were born in America. After the Civil War the Emancipation Proclamation came into
play and all slaves were free from bondage, but that did not mean that their trials were
over.
In the South, African Americans were still treated poorly. In the North, they were treated
better than those in the South but they still were not equals. Although former slaves
had gained the right to vote, they remained economically dependent on propertied
whites. Many government personnel set laws that would generate reasons for African
Americans to not vote, such as the poll taxes. As this reconstruction of the countrys
social system commenced soldiers were sent to the South to help former slaves adjust
to their newly-found freedom. But Reconstruction collapsed as soon as Union troops
left the South. When the troops left, whites exploited that dependence. Along with the
reconstruction collapsing an organization was created to threaten African Americans.
Organized in 1865, the Ku Klux Klan relied on shooting, lynching, torture, and
intimidation to terrorize Southern blacks into political submission.

As African Americans became more used to freedom and their rights many whites felt
socially vulnerable after emancipation. To restore the control they had once exercised
over blacks, whites began enacting Jim Crow laws late in the 1880s, segregating
blacks in theatres, buses, trains, street cars, waiting rooms, schools, housing, hospitals,
prisons, parks, amusement parks, toilets, restaurants, and drinking fountains. The Jim
Crow laws were found to be constitutional, saying that separate but equal was fine, but
African Americans were not treated equally. The Jim Crow laws were in practice until
the 1960s. After the assassination of President Kennedy in 1963 The Ku Klux Klan
stepped up its practice of black intimidation with venomous racial slurs, cross burnings,
firebombingseven acts of murder (everyculture.com).
Unlike Africans who were brought to America against their will, there were others who
wanted to come to the United States, but found there were difficulties to overcome in
the United States as well. Major immigrant groups fitting this characterization include
people of Italian and Japanese descent.
Italians began to immigrate to America in significant numbers during the mid-1800s.
Many came from the Mezzogiorno, which includes six Italian provinces: Abruzzi,
Campania, Apulia, Basilicata, Calabria, and Sicily. Emigrants from these areas started
slowly but increased in the 1880s. Within these groups, immigrants from northern Italy
looked down on those from southern Italy. Many came to America to flee difficult
conditions at home; some escaped conditions so bad they faced starvation. Because
these people planned to stay in America temporarily, they did not try to assimilate into
the American way of life. Rather, they maintained a separate ethnic identity and lived in
their own communities called Little Italies. They also tended to be suspicious of
strangers and upper classes, further causing them to retain an separate identity.
Because of hostility from some Irish Catholic bishops, the church in the United States
strengthened the Italian sense of distance from the larger [American] culture.
Japanese immigration began in 1868, when workers crossed the Pacific Ocean and
settled in Hawaii and in the western United States. Most Americans welcomed them at
first[but] toleration would be short-lived. The Japanese brought with them eastern
religions (Buddhism, Confucianism, and Shintoism) that were different than the
Christianity that most Americans were brought up with. They also brought with them a
different culture that was foreign to westerners. In the early 20 th century, many
Americans began to view Japanese immigrants as agents of the Japanese military,
especially since Japan was a rising military power.
California politicians formed the Japanese Exclusion League, which called for an end to
Japanese immigration. This resulted in the Issei, the first generation of Japanese

immigrants, not being able to vote. In

1924, the National Origins Act ended
immigration from Japan. These antiJapanese feelings grew especially after
the start of World War II, and ended
with the federal government forcing
thousands of Japanese immigrants and
their American-born children (many of
whom were citizens of the United
States) into internment camps.
Today there are still many immigrants, but for the most part they are treated as equals
with a full measure of citizenship.

Bibliography
Olson, J. S. (2010). The Ethnic Dimension in American History . West Sussex: WileyBlackwell.

Reflection
This course has increased my awareness of the difficulties that immigrants faced in
America in their quest to be accepted and considered Americans in many ways.
Before this semester I didnt know much about the history of immigrants that came to
America. I knew that there were a lot of different people from all over the world that
came to the United States and that there were difficulties that they faced. I just didnt
know the magnitude of all that they had to go through to become Americans.
Being able to read the textbook, The Ethnic Dimension in American History by James S.
Olson and Heather Olson Beal, and having all of the other resources available to me
was really helpful. Without those resources I dont think I would have been able to
understand the learning outcomes as well as I did. The textbook gave a lot of insight
into the hardships that immigrants went through to come to America and start new lives.
I am now knowledgeable about immigrants and the challenges they faced when coming
to America. I am happy that I now have a better understanding of American history and
of the people who came here and built our modern society.
During this past semester, Spring 2016, I have taken two history classes. First was this
class History 2200, the other was History 1700. The two classes really went hand-inhand. In History 1700, or American Civilization, I was able to learn a lot about how
America became how it is today, starting with the tribes that lived here before Columbus
discovered the Americas.
In both classes we discussed European explorers and settlers and their effects on the
native people and on the land. Having the two classes both focus on this topic at the
beginning gave more insight into the problems that came with European settlers and
others than having just one class. History 1700 was interesting because it had similar
information, but gave it in a different perspective. This class was more about
immigrants, Native Americans, and African Americans and their lives and hardships,
while the other was more about the political struggles that the United States went
through and the wars that affected the nation.
I have learned a lot, have a much better understanding of our collective heritage, and
am better informed about factors that impact the political landscape and our economic
and social challenges.