Question
In 1892, millions of Immigrants set foot on the soil of the americas from Ellis island. They had many reasons to go to this place including more freedom, more wealth, a better life for themselves, and many more. During the immigrants' voyage to America, they dreamed of many things about the place. They dreamt of being rich, being free, and where life would be better. Lee Chew, an Asian man from China, went there because when he was sixteen, he saw a man who left to the americas came back as a rich man. He stated that “The man had gone away from our village, a poor boy. Now he returned with unlimited wealth, which he had obtained in the country of the American wizards.... The wealth of this man filled my mind with the idea that I, too, would like to go to the country of the wizards and gain some of their wealth…” (Chew, 1903). Lee Chew pondered and dreamt of going to the Americas because the man became rich from it. This was an example of why the immigrants went to the americas; to make a better life for themselves.
Although they dreamt that the Americas would give them a better life, there were challenges too during this time period. One of them was adjusting to the american lifestyle and giving up some of their culture to be American, or to “Americanize.” An example of this was Gertrude Hildebrandt Moller who remembered her original name as Gudrun and changed it to Gertrude. Another reason is discrimination, which is when people are treated unfairly because of things like their race, gender, age, class, religion, or sexual orientation, such as the Immigration Restriction League. The Immigration Restriction League’s mission was to “advocate and work for the further judicious restriction or stricter regulation of immigration, to issue documents and circulars, solicit facts and information on that subject, hold public meetings, and to arouse public opinion to the necessity of a further exclusion of elements undesirable for citizenship or injurious to our national character,” (Immigration Restriction League, 1894). This was a huge challenge for them because they would try to limit immigration and made it unfair for them to live in the Americas.
These are only the highlights of what the immigrants have faced during this time period.
As they arrived in the americas, they needed to adjust to their new lives and learn to be american during this time period. They’ve learned to speak, read and write english and dressed up and be more american. They also got jobs and lived with there own to learn and adjust together. Sadie Frowne was a thirteen year old girl who lost both of her parents and moved to the U.S. She learned to acclimate to her surrounding by working in a factory and learning to be american and made a living of it. She said “I am getting so good at the work that within a year I will be making $7 a week, and then I can save at least $3.50 a week. I have over $200 saved now. The machines are all run by foot-power, and at the end of the day one feels so weak that there is a great temptation to lie right down and sleep. But you must go out and get air, and have some pleasure. So instead of lying down I go out, generally with Henry. Sometimes we go to Coney Island, where there are good dancing places, and sometimes we go to Ulmer Park to picnics…For the last two winters I have been going to night school. I have learned reading, writing and arithmetic. I can read quite well in English now and I look at the newspapers every day. I read English books, too, sometimes.” (Frowne, 1905)
When the Immigrants arrived from Ellis Island, many Americans were scared because they were different, they spoke different languages, have different beliefs in religion, and saw them as competition in job searching. So the Immigration Restriction League was created to limit Immigration. An example of Discrimination is a drawing of uncle sam kicking an asian man while holding a proclamation and can with the words on the bottom of the drawing saying “The Chinese Must Go” made by Shober & Carqueville. Another example is another quote from Lee Chew stating “There is no reason for the prejudice against the Chinese. The cheap labor cry was always a falsehood. Their labor was never cheap, and is not cheap now. It has always commanded the highest market price. But the trouble is that the Chinese are such excellent and faithful workers that bosses will have no others when they can get them. If you look at men working on the street you will find an overseer for every four or five of them. That watching is not necessary for Chinese. They work as well when left to themselves as they do when someone is looking at them,” (Chew, 1903)
can you shorten it, keep it at 5 sentences
Although they dreamt that the Americas would give them a better life, there were challenges too during this time period. One of them was adjusting to the american lifestyle and giving up some of their culture to be American, or to “Americanize.” An example of this was Gertrude Hildebrandt Moller who remembered her original name as Gudrun and changed it to Gertrude. Another reason is discrimination, which is when people are treated unfairly because of things like their race, gender, age, class, religion, or sexual orientation, such as the Immigration Restriction League. The Immigration Restriction League’s mission was to “advocate and work for the further judicious restriction or stricter regulation of immigration, to issue documents and circulars, solicit facts and information on that subject, hold public meetings, and to arouse public opinion to the necessity of a further exclusion of elements undesirable for citizenship or injurious to our national character,” (Immigration Restriction League, 1894). This was a huge challenge for them because they would try to limit immigration and made it unfair for them to live in the Americas.
These are only the highlights of what the immigrants have faced during this time period.
As they arrived in the americas, they needed to adjust to their new lives and learn to be american during this time period. They’ve learned to speak, read and write english and dressed up and be more american. They also got jobs and lived with there own to learn and adjust together. Sadie Frowne was a thirteen year old girl who lost both of her parents and moved to the U.S. She learned to acclimate to her surrounding by working in a factory and learning to be american and made a living of it. She said “I am getting so good at the work that within a year I will be making $7 a week, and then I can save at least $3.50 a week. I have over $200 saved now. The machines are all run by foot-power, and at the end of the day one feels so weak that there is a great temptation to lie right down and sleep. But you must go out and get air, and have some pleasure. So instead of lying down I go out, generally with Henry. Sometimes we go to Coney Island, where there are good dancing places, and sometimes we go to Ulmer Park to picnics…For the last two winters I have been going to night school. I have learned reading, writing and arithmetic. I can read quite well in English now and I look at the newspapers every day. I read English books, too, sometimes.” (Frowne, 1905)
When the Immigrants arrived from Ellis Island, many Americans were scared because they were different, they spoke different languages, have different beliefs in religion, and saw them as competition in job searching. So the Immigration Restriction League was created to limit Immigration. An example of Discrimination is a drawing of uncle sam kicking an asian man while holding a proclamation and can with the words on the bottom of the drawing saying “The Chinese Must Go” made by Shober & Carqueville. Another example is another quote from Lee Chew stating “There is no reason for the prejudice against the Chinese. The cheap labor cry was always a falsehood. Their labor was never cheap, and is not cheap now. It has always commanded the highest market price. But the trouble is that the Chinese are such excellent and faithful workers that bosses will have no others when they can get them. If you look at men working on the street you will find an overseer for every four or five of them. That watching is not necessary for Chinese. They work as well when left to themselves as they do when someone is looking at them,” (Chew, 1903)
can you shorten it, keep it at 5 sentences
Answers
GPT-4o mini
In 1892, millions of immigrants arrived in America through Ellis Island, driven by dreams of wealth, freedom, and a better life, like Lee Chew from China, who was inspired by a wealthy returning villager. However, they faced significant challenges, including the pressure to "Americanize," as seen in Gertrude Hildebrandt Moller’s name change, and discrimination from groups like the Immigration Restriction League, which aimed to limit immigration based on unfounded fears of competition. Immigrants also needed to adapt to their new lives, learning English and finding jobs, as demonstrated by Sadie Frowne, a young girl who worked in a factory while pursuing education at night school. Many Americans reacted with fear towards these newcomers, viewing them as different and threatening, which fueled discriminatory sentiments like those depicted in cartoons calling for the exclusion of Chinese immigrants. Despite these obstacles, immigrants like Lee Chew highlighted the misconceptions surrounding their contributions, emphasizing their value as hardworking and dependable laborers.