European Emigration

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For the European immigrants who risked everything to begin a new life in a new country the results were both good and bad. Their integration was often difficult because of the numerous obstacles they faced. Firstly, the language barrier was a difficult matter for migrants. For example, Italian emigrants had problems finding a job since they couldn’t converse in English. Therefore, the newly arrived immigrants found a padrone, a boss and middleman between the immigrants and American employers. He was useful for immigrants because he provided lodging and found work for the immigrants. Secondly, when the European emigrants arrived in these countries, they had trouble nourishing themselves and finding a home because of their extreme poverty. Moreover, European immigrants had brought with them their own lifestyle as well as religion and America hadn’t established many rules. Therefore, a cultural gap existed between each nationality; every race and religion had to fight to stay alive. This problem lead to the foundation of communities according to the people’s origins like the “Little Italy” neighborhood in New York. By 1890, migrants arriving in New York, through Ellis Island, had to go through a health and language checking. Doctors reported labored breathings, or other weakness while inspectors questioned each individual. Only one to two percent were denied entry and sent back to their native country. Nevertheless, new settlers adapted themselves successfully since they were offered new opportunities and could start a new life. As the early colonies of Puritans became prosperous and were given religious freedom, some settlers living in extreme poverty in the past became wealthy after emigration. For example, Andrew Carnegie, known as a penniless Scottish immigrant, became the world’s richest man with his steel company as well as the perfect embodiment of the American Dream. He gave away 90% of his wealth in order to build schools, libraries or museums in order to contribute to the people’s education. While people in America enriched themselves, many of the convicts sent to Australia, on becoming free, established successful lives and careers.

In a similar vein the results of European emigration were both good and bad for the country where the immigrants settled. The host country could benefit of the new settlers providing a strong economic growth. Politically, the country was compelled to establish laws for the well-being of the people. This also enabled the nation to have a great cultural diversity in terms of language, religion as well as lifestyle. This long period of immigration was also seen as a way of populating the host countries. The immigrants brought with them their know-how, weapons and other tools to teach the natives as well as helping the country develop. European migration to America had numerous effects on the native populations. The Indians' contact with settlers led to their displacement and death from disease and warfare. These negative consequences were lead by the Europeans' good intentions, which included efforts to Christianize and educate America's native inhabitants. Europeans exploring and settling in North America in the 16th and 17th centuries brought measles and influenza, diseases usually associated with domesticated cattle. Native Americans, who generally were in better health than Europeans, did not raise livestock and had no immunity to these diseases. Therefore, the American native population declined by 50% due to disease alone. European settlers in North America also failed to understand the Indians' concept of maintaining hunting and fishing lands. To the Europeans, land that wasn't cultivated was wasted and useless. However, the livestock damaged the environment and changed the ecosystem. This endangered the wildlife and diminished the Indians' traditional food supply. Warfare between the Indians and European settlers began shortly after the arrival of the first colonists in the early 1600s and lasted for nearly 300 years. Many were also sold as slaves. Accordingly, the native population went from 12 million to 250 000 by the late 1800s. European immigrants felt they had an obligation to convert Indians to Christianity. The Puritans built "praying towns", thus Indians were educated in the Christian faith.

In conclusion, during four centuries, European people have fled their native countries for religious persecutions, political strife, economical difficulties as well as personal reasons like the lure of adventure. However, the high population growth in Europe during the 18th century was the starting point of the explosion of European emigration. One quarter of them was interim migration. Yet, the rest of the new settlers contributed to the development of host countries as well as the extinction of native populations.