Chap 6. Thoughts

            In all honest I found chap 6 to be somewhat boring in its description of why certain groups choose to immigrate to the United States during the “nineteenth century”, otherwise known as the period between the War of 1812 and the passage of National Origins Act of 1924. The chapter gives fairly dry accounts of the immigration patterns for the Irish, German and Scandinavian immigrants of this time. The most interesting part of the chapter for me was the detailing of the reasons for Irish immigration and their overall immigration experience. The reason that many Irish immigrated during this time was due to the Great Potato Famine which forced many Irish people to flee the country. This is clearly a push factor leading to the mass exodus of numerous Irish citizens looking to improve their lot in life by seeking opportunities in America. What I found most interesting was the sheer impact Irish immigrants had on American emigration, accounting for a large portion of the total immigrants during this time period. It makes me wonder if having so many Irishmen in the country helped speed along their assimilation in to American society. While at the time I am sure that there was considerable prejudice against the Iris at the time it would not be long until John F. Kennedy was elected as the first Irish-Catholic President. It is ridiculous to think now that at any time in American history being Irish was considered a negative and they were not well received as an ethnic group. Does this mean that America always has to have an ethnic group it needs to exclude or marginalize? Why were the Irish so disliked then and why are Hispanics and in particular Mexicans so disliked now? Is there a connection that can be made between the two different groups that would explain the phenomenon. Personally, I think that the similarity lies with the mentality of the many who feel the need to persecute the few. I also believe that people have an ingrained fear of what is new which leads to a sense of anger and hatred. I wonder if there is a cultural blueprint Hispanic’s can follow in order to mimic the success the Irish have had in becoming accepted into American culture. In the end all I most likely takes is time for a new group to develop roots in the United States. If this is indeed the case then Hispanic’s are well on their way to developing a major voice in the sphere of American influence and will have increasingly more opportunites to effect change in society. I think the ultimately lesson to learn is that just like the Irish, Hispanic’s have something unique to offer the United States and it would be to our benefit to take advantage to make use of what the entire citizenry has to offer.