New York City has been a melting pot almost since its inception. First colonized by the Dutch under the name New Amsterdam, many different cultures called the trading post home thanks to the efforts of the Dutch to populate an area that their own citizens had no interest in leaving home for. New York City has since continued its role in acting as a first home for new Americans. In the 1840’s it's harbors saw up to 40 passenger ships per day. By some estimates these ships could carry 1000 people each. Early in the next century the United States government would open its first federal immigration center, Ellis Island, in New York Harbor. (Hillstrom)
After each wave of new immigrants, we see a reluctance of those who have settled and made a life to accept new countryman. Northern Europeans were seen as the true American immigrant, and all others took on the role of imposters. Many were worried that these new immigrants would tear at the fabric of the country ruining what they had already built. Southern European immigrants had trouble assimilating, due to many factors. From their accents to religion to the cultural norms they desperately held on to, these new Americans had trouble letting go of their old world customs and blending into their new society. For many of them, the trip to America may have ended when they set foot on the island of Manhattan, yet the journey to being an American was not over. Later, we see a similar scenario with the influx of Latin American and Asian immigrants who arguably had a much more difficult time assimilating due to their cultures being so different from the typical American identity that had been cultivated in the three generations between their arrival and the opening of Ellis island. (Fleegler)
Fleeglar, Robert L. "Ellis Island Nation." Philadelphia, PA. University of Pennsylvania Press. 2013. Print.
Hillstrom, Kevin. "Defining Moments, The Dream of America: Immigration 1870 - 1920." Detroit, MI. Omnigraphics Inc. 1963. Print
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