1. James Rabjohns<br />IGSS<br />6-3-11<br />Level 9<br />Immigration to the United States is not only a great thing, but it is the foundation of our country. The immigrants that came over were relatively unskilled and uneducated yet built one of the greatest countries in the world. <br />Immigrant workers have always come to America looking for the “American dream”, of a better life. It is a dream that they are truly willing to work for. With that dream they created one of the greatest governments and societies in the modern world. The immigrant population has set the foundation for the country not only by being our founding fathers, but also by being the driving force of everything we know as American today. They set the foundation for our country by creating an attitude and work ethic unmatched by any other place in the world. Their determination and belief that they could truly make it to the top if they kept working hard created a drive that still drives America today. <br />These immigrants were also the driving force behind the industrial revolution. They were willing to take the dirty, hard labor jobs in factories or slaughterhouses for very little pay because they wanted to build a better life. For example, Irish immigrants in the mid to late 19th century were swarming to the United States due to the potato famine. In the period between 1846-1854, two million people emigrated from Ireland to the United States. These immigrants came here with nothing, willing to start from scratch and do whatever needed to be done to earn a living, even if that meant working in the slaughterhouses on the south-side of Chicago, or in a blistering hot factory. As these immigrants began pouring into the United States and working, they also started consuming. This created more demand for products, which fueled our economy. This then created more jobs for immigrants to come in and fill. By creating more jobs and in turn buying things with the money they made, it started the way that Americans still operate today. This is a key foundation they set for the American people. The dedication to their work, striving for the dream of being rich and a better life, drove America to prosper.<br />Immigrants also constructed, what some would argue were the backbone of the United States, the railroads. Immigrants, mostly Irish and Chinese, had a huge part in building the railroads. There was a large boom in Chinese peasants immigration in the mid-1800’s but it was short lived. The railroads were crucial as an easy and fast means of transportation of goods and communications. Though they had a huge influence on such an important aspect of American life, the American government tried very hard to keep these tough, hardworking immigrants out with laws such as the 1882 Chinese exclusion act and the 1921 national origins act. The national origins act was implemented to keep the ratio of ethnicities in the US the same as before, which meant excluding many people that weren’t from Europe. The Chinese exclusion acts essentially banned Chinese labor immigrants for ten years, while the national origins act primarily affected people from southern and eastern Europeans. The American people were afraid of change, and implemented these laws blindly from fear and not seeing all the good these immigrants, their grandparents, had done for this country. As a result they were cutting out the behind the scenes drive that made America function to the capacity it did.<br />Immigrants are the foundation of this country as the driving force behind our production, labor, and the economy. Except the Native Americans, all Americans or their ancestors are immigrants. My father is an immigrant from England; my grandpa was an immigrant from Turkey, my great grandmother and great grandfather were immigrants from Turkey. My family members that immigrated here had laid down a foundation for me that has allowed me to be where I am today and be educated at New Trier. Everyone in America can look back and say that their ancestors came from somewhere else and they will tell you just what their family member had accomplished. Americans may be afraid of what could change but if there family members didn’t immigrate here and contribute what they did, America would not be here today. All of the work that our ancestors put in to make America what it is today was for their children and grandchildren. Our founding fathers were immigrants or sons of immigrants. We are a nation built by immigrants and all their hard work, which created prosperity and the powerful nation we are today.<br />