History

The next group to be discriminated and distrusted was the Chinese. They came over to join the western gold rush. They worked on the railroad, in agriculture and in factories. They were stereotyped as heathen and unassimilable.  Chinese Immigration  Two opium wars with the British lasting from (1839 to 1860) left many Chinese people in immense debt; this and drought and floods sent many unemployed farmers to start new lives in the Americas. The first significant Chinese immigration to America began with the California Gold Rush and it continued with subsequent large labor projects, such as the building of the first transcontinental railroad. During the early stages of the gold rush, when surface gold was plentiful, the Chinese were tolerated by white people, if not well received as cheap labor. However, as gold became harder to find and competition increased, animosity toward the Chinese and other foreigners increased. The Chinese were seen as an alien people, too different,

Prejudice Passed On As Irish and Italian immigrants became more accepted in America, they feared the next groups of immigrants; the Jewish and the Chinese.  Jewish Life in Russia - A Different Mirror- page 263 Many people in America were prejudiced against Jewish people. Their religion was different to the Christianity of the Catholics and Protestants. They dressed differently and spoke differently. Some believed Jewish people were secretly trying to take over the USA and spread harmful ideas such as communism.  Henry Ford Henry Ford's father was born in Ireland. However, he wrote of "The International Jew: the Foremost Problem" and believed that the Jews wanted to take over the world.  https://youtu.be/FXBGK3OQIi8?si=NfZ4eiU9O96PNooK Father Couglin  Father Couglin was a Catholic priest who became hugely popular on American radio when radio was first invented. Both of Father Couglin's parents had Immigrated from Ireland and faced discrimination. However, n

People fear people who are different from themselves. Established populations of countries often fear the new people moving to their country.  Within American history, the first wave of immigrants were white Protestant Europeans. Early Americans were from England, Scotland, France and Germany and predominantly Protestant. The second wave of immigrants came in the 1800s. With famines and political upheaval in places such as Ireland and Italy, many Catholics now traveled to the new world. Catholics had long been a minority but had decent numbers in Maryland (named after Mary Queen of Scots who was Catholic) but in the 1800's Catholics started Immigrating to the United States in large numbers. Irish Potato Famine   Since the Colombus Exchange between Europe and the Americans, the Irish people found Potatos to be easy to grow and filling. They grew reliant on the crop and their population grew. In 1845, farmers found their potatoes blackened and shriveled. It wa