Gabriella Mudd

Mr. Widenhofer
AP US History
16 January 2018
Long Essay
The prompt is only partially valid because though the experiences of the old an new

immigrants share some similarities, they were overall very different. Both groups had the same

reasons for immigration and provoked similar reactions of the American people, yet they differed

in religion, language, economics, and the overall ease of assimilation.

The old immigrants came over during a time of great change in American society, fitting

in much easier than usual. However, this meant they only compounded issues like overcrowding

in cities. Nonetheless, many immigrants were able to find jobs in the blooming industries such as

textile mills in cities. The transportation (railroads) and communication (telegrams) industries

were flourishing as well. This, along with the freedoms America offered, made America a very

desirable location.

The experiences of the new immigrants in the late 19th century were similar to that of the

old immigrants in the sense of their motives to immigrate ad well as the persecution faced by the

American people. Both groups came to America seeking better lives; specifically they wished to

escape poverty and oppression. The old immigrants, Protestants from England in particular, came

to escape political oppression, while new immigrants such as the Jews were escaping religious

persecution. Both groups were seeking social mobility. Both groups inspired nativism within the

American people. The old immigrants caused the Nativist Party to form, which was directed

against Catholics and foreigners. The new immigrants inspired the APA, a political organization
designed to keep Catholics out of office. To this day, many immigrants come to America for a

better life, only to be greeted by the hostile American people.

The experiences of the old and new immigrants were vastly different. This could all be

rooted in the type of people immigrating as the old immigrants were from Northern and Western

Europe and the new immigrants were from Southern and Eastern Europe. This affected their

religion as old immigrants were mostly Protestant and Catholic and new immigrants were

Roman, Greek, and Orthodox Catholic, as well as Jewish. Their location also affected their

language; old immigrants from England and Ireland spoke English while German immigrants

were bilingual and literate, however new immigrants were often extremely illiterate and could

not understand English let alone speak it. This, compounded with the fact that old immigrants

often had more money than new immigrants led to the old immigrants being able to assimilate

much more easily. Lastly, the new immigrants came on a much larger scale than the new

immigrants.

The more immigrants that came, the more fearful Americans became, specifically of the

“-isms.” Communism has been a fear of the American people for a long time, and this fear

drastically altered immigration in America forever. This fear of communism following WWI is

often known as the Red Scare. Became of the Red Scare the American government issued the

Emergency Quota Act of 1921 which would allow only a very small percent of immigrants into

the country. To this day, America continues to have strict rules on immigration. By releasing the

Emergency Quota Act, America lost a facet of its attractiveness, as well as missed out on major

innovation in the years to come. This was a big change from having over 5,000 new immigrants

come everyday.
 Overall, the prompt is only partially valid because though these waves of immigrants

share some similarities, it is obvious they are incredibly different.