Rose Batungwanayo

Mr. Masters

Old Vs New Immigrants

The United States didn’t really have as much ethnic diversity as it did as when the

Europeans first started making their way, immigrating into the United States. Because more

diverse immigrants with distinct features started pooling in, they were referred to as “old” and

“new” immigrants. Old immigrants were ones who originated in the Northern/Western part of

Italy during the 1800s whilst the New immigrants were the ones who came from the Southern

and Eastern parts of Europe started coming in around the 1880s. Some other distinct differences

to name would be their status before migrating. For example, oldies were already wealthy, and

educated but the newbies were the complete opposite. Both parties of the immigrants came to

find economic opportunities. Even though both sides had a few similarities to migrate like

seeking economic opportunities, the differences outweigh the similarities. The old immigrants

were willing to adapt to new lifestyles, but new immigrants had a whole urban ethnic

neighborhood where they were able to be with other people just like them and continue their way

of life before the migration.

Many old immigrants that were from England, Germany, France and Ireland were like

the same. They all were smart, had the same culture and were kind of rich. Of course, they were

discriminated against a little bit but stopped. A lot of them were Protestant, and believed in

democracy, which made it easy for them to blend in with the other Americans. But Americans

who low-income jobs were threatened by the immigrants who were willing work for almost

nothing if it meant having a little chance to survive. Foreign people were prevented from doing a

lot. Irish and Germans immigrant made the Americans scared. Religion was a big reason. The
Irish and Germans were Roman Catholic, but the Anti Catholics wanted to make the amount of

time that immigrants become U.S citizens and voters. The Know Nothing Party prohibited

immigrants from having positions in office. Even though the old immigrants were constantly

treated unfairly, they kept their head up and continued to try and blend into the American way of

life.

The new immigrants from Greece, Italy, Poland and Russia had a more difficult time

adjusting to the American way of life. Since they differed so much from the Americans, they

settled into ethnic neighborhoods with people that looked and share the same culture/background

so they could be comfortable with people who were the same as them. But the older immigrants

didn’t stay for long and were therefore named as “Birds Of Passages”. These were immigrants

who came to America to earn money for a time and then return to their native land. Immigrants

seeking economic opportunity for in the United States seems to be a reoccurring theme. Even

today, the United States has been recognized as a place for freedom whether itd be political or

religious or just as a place for economic security. But because the employers knew how

desperate the immigrants were wiling to work to support themselves and their family, they were

put under harsh conditions and were paid barely enough to survive. New immigrants stayed

together in their little neighborhoods and stayed true to their background. Old immigrants and

new immigrants both faced discrimination.

Though Old and New immigrants both faced hrd times, its important to also realize their

differences. Old Immigrants adpated to American culture quicker than Neew immigrants

therefore, these ethnic urban ethic neighboor hoods were created so they could still keep their

culture and communicate with the people that look like them. One major difference was the
reason of migration which would be religious freedom(new immigrant) and economic

opportunities(old immigrants)