K-12 Project

http://sites.bergen.org/BCA/immigration/

My chosen project was created by a 10th grade American History class. "The American Immigration Home Page was started as a part of a school project for a 10th grade American History Class. The project was meant to give information as to how immigrants not only were treated, but also why they decided to come to America". It explores Immigration in the US from 1607 until the present day, so it is safe to assume that these students think that Immigration is still a current issue.

A common assumption in any country experiencing immigration will have the same worry of if the immigrants will get better 'treatment' then the 'native' people. It is the same for America, even now. People will worry that their jobs are being taken for example. "This situation is razing people who are willing to work for virtually anything. This in one way benefits the US because it makes the produce cheaper for the consumer but on the other hand it takes away the jobs from an average American who is not willing to work for such low fees."

Underneath the same paragraph it says "Everybody that came here wanted to assimilate as fast as they could and become Americans" this is a clear example of the melting pot theory. As soon as people were arriving they were already americanising themselves, 'boiling away' their old self to become an American. This was probably done to avoid any racial issues and to get a better life faster; "when they saw someone who was different racial tensions occurred.". The title of one page "Assimilation? If so, to what degree?" also again supports this theory.

However, on the page just mentioned it is said how some languages were kept and even had an impact on English.

"Language - If any group made much of an impact on English, it was Hebrew
Many Jews speak both Hebrew and English and try to keep Hebrew alive in America
Some of the Asian languages are still going strong also
Italians, Jews, and Asians have kept a lot of their customs alive in celebrating Holidays and parties"

This supports the tapestry-mosaic theory. In conclusion this suggests that some immigrants fully americanised themselves either to start fresh or to avoid any racial tension and some did americanise themselves but still kept some of their identity, making the idea of being an American mean a variety of things.