After reading “All the Nations Under Heaven”, I was surprised to learn about things in New York City that I had never known before. One being how difficult the Irish had it! I thought the Irish were considered white and didn’t really face any discrimination, but that was completely false in the 1800’s. They suffered from extreme poverty and racial discrimination because of how they lived and where they came from and had to fight to finally be able to live up to the American dream, something I feel every immigrant that comes to America goes through. I look up to the Germans because all though they did have a small advantage when migrating to New York they were able to succeed and keep their culture an important part of their lives. Whether it was through the several German newspapers they published or the contributions to New York culture they made through theater and other works of art. While reading I realized that when coming to America, more specifically New York, these different cultures were given freedom and opportunities that was unheard of from where they came from and as a result New York became a blank slate where new ideas were introduced and brought in to action and as a result led to it being the successful metropolis that it is.

While reading “All the Nations Under Heaven,” it becomes apparent just how unique New York City is as a world center of ethnic mixture and diversity. We seem to take for granted that all religions, ethnicities, races, and cultures coexist harmoniously (for the most part) in this enormous city, but clearly this has not always been the case. Although New York City may still have its shortcomings in terms of ethnic and racial harmony, for the most part, anyone and everyone can come to the Big Apple and not have to worry about unequal opportunities based solely on where they come from.

I found it interesting and a bit surprising that New Amsterdam, in its early days of largely Dutch-run trade, was a very tolerant settlement. I’ve always had a vague idea that the Dutch are a quite tolerant people, but I was surprised and happy to learn that the early settlement of New Amsterdam let people of different religions do what they wanted, for the most part. It’s fascinating to read about how as the city became gradually larger and more mixed, that it went through phases of high tolerance and tense relations between people of different races, religions, and ethnicities.

For someone who has spent her entire life in the bustling melting pot that is New York City, it’s pretty hard for me to imagine what it would be like to arrive in a completely new place and not speak the language of most people surrounding you. My mother immigrated to New York City from Colombia when she was around 10 years old. She recalls how difficult it was to assimilate in a school where she spoke not one word of the English. As if being a Spanish-speaking foreigner didn’t make her enough of an outcast, she was also put into a Polish Catholic school when she first arrived. She was the only non-Polish student, and although the majority of the school’s students were welcoming and friendly, she remembers that many kids would call her disgusting slurs and disrespect her because of her Latin American origins. Eventually she became settled and made many friends, and learned English rather quickly. All things considered, this was also the 1970s, a time when most people were more tolerant than in the past, and immigrants could assimilate fairly quickly without much trouble. I can hardly imagine how strange it would be to be a young immigrant in New York City in the 18th or 19th century, when people were much more divided and prejudiced.

When I started reading “All the Nations Under Heaven” I was fascinated by the fact that Jews were one of the first immigrant groups to arrive in New York City. I always assumed that Jews arrived much later in American history. While I know New York was considered religiously tolerant it didn’t appear so in the text.  Stuyvesant’s zealous enforcement of Orthodoxy is far from our idea of tolerant. New Amsterdam is only relatively tolerant when compared to the rest of the world, and that tolerance was only possible because it coincided with the West India Company’s economic interests rather than the majority’s open-minded beliefs. On pg.99 the book explains how the Irish found a place in Tammany Hall and NYC politics. Politics granted them access to city contracts and jobs. This trend that started before 1900 helps explain why till this day many people in my predominantly Irish community work in public service.  While I find it fascinating that New York has maintained its status as a place open to immigrants when so many other places haven’t, I think its important to note the difference between open and welcoming. The book makes it clear that NYC was a safe haven for the masses but life was still a struggle, economically and in terms of societal acceptance.

Diversity echoes through the streets of New York City, and this pattern came into manifestation centuries ago as immigrants from various areas of the world found refuge and opportunity in this safe haven. It’s quite interesting to note the progressive trend towards greater freedoms and economic stability as the years passed on. Beginning from the 1600s with the Dutch colonization of New Amsterdam and other cities, diversity was enhanced as commercial prosperity depended on toleration. Although there were certain individuals such as Peter Stuyvesant who tried delaying this, little by little, tolerance became more evident. New York City became a refuge for religious outcasts and those who sought economic betterment. Even though there were many differences in culture, outlooks, and practices, the various immigrants shared many commonalities: the crossing, the landing, the tenement and boardinghouse, and poverty. This ironically unified otherwise starkly contrasting worlds.

Today New York is viewed as a diverse city composed of many different cultural and ethnic groups. It is known as the city that never sleeps. People are constantly moving about in order to accomplish various tasks. New York is also well known for its economical background. In All Nations Under Heaven, the author depicts how multiple cultures migrate from their hometown to a different colony. The various groups of people moved for many reasons. For example, the Dutch were interested in the economical opportunity that the fur trade provided. The “profitable trading venture and competing English claims to the territory” made the Netherlands a desired land. Another reason why people moved to this new colony was because it was “tolerant of religious refugees, ethnic and linguistic minorities, or political exiles.” To the European population, this far away land was promising of a better future. Various groups of people continued to migrate to this new world and eventually set up a flourishing colony which in many ways reflects in the way we live and prosper today.

Even though many issues evolved with the settling and mixing of cultural backgrounds, each group learned to stand up for what they believed in and overcame each challenge. This allowed for the colony to function and prosper. As a result everyone was able to live together peacefully overcoming their differences and problems such as religion and segregation. This directly impacted and formulated the world in which we live in today that is viewed as a cultural mix especially in New York.

Reading Frederick Binder and David Reimers’ All the Nations Under Heaven is a dive into the many-faceted past of New York City. This book offers a spread of history to prove that NYC was and is still a city of immigrants of diverse hopes and origins. More striking than the variety of the immigrant groups is the way their past prior to their life in NYC affected their acceptance into American society and their economic success.

Aside from the obvious categories of “Irish,” “Dutch,” and “German,” immigrants could also be seen in groups that fled poverty and famine, or sought refuge from political oppression. The forces that drove immigrants from their homeland determined who was immigrating, and therefore what sort of welcome they would receive. Germans, driven to the US by political repression in the 1840s were generally middle class, skilled workers fled for political, rather than economic reasons. The (“shanty”) Irish, on the other hand were fleeing potato blight famine, a catastrophe that affected mainly the lower classes. Therefore, they generally arrived with little or no skills or capital. Established New Yorkers viewed the Germans as valuable citizens, the Irish as a threat to public well-being.

However, I found it a testament to the possibility for success in NYC that the Irish as a group quickly moved up from tenement-crowding unskilled laborers to politically active engaged citizens who dominated many cultural and religious institutions. They exercised political clout in Tammany Hall, and came to be represented in the state government. They also formed unions to improve labor conditions for themselves. Their organization contrasts with the Jews who were, according to Binder, willing to take bad working conditions so they could rise too the position of boss and overseer as well. Both groups achieved success and economic stability, but in very different manners. This suggested to me that New Yorkers, whatever their differing backgrounds, are united by the common goal of economic success, which can be motivated by a variety of factors. Though New York experienced some racial violence, when we view it in proportion to the size of the city, we can see that it has been relatively insignificant in comparison with the coexistence that is now possible.

I think that this makes an important statement about opportunity in NYC. Personally I can relate to the immigrant story, as my mother’s parents arrived from South Korea with $300 and no home, and faced racist treatment and poverty to rise to the middle class within two decades. My dad’s grandmother was also an immigrant, from Ireland. Like previous immigrants, they had to live in crowded (not quite tenement) housing, and scrimp and save. They eventually realized their dream of education and financial success.  New York, the amazing city that houses a patchwork of cultures and people, is sewn together by the ambition of its inhabitants. After reading All the Nations Under Heaven I would say this striving enables NYC to be a unique city and the home of much of the world’s excellence.

The historical non-fiction, All the Nations Under Heaven, was a great account of the life of the early immigrants arriving in New York City. Reading the book, I was able to relate to many of the accounts in the book: The close ties to other immigrants of the same background, the tight hold on their respective cultures, and the desire to pass on those cultural traditions to the younger generation. It truly gives a sense of how alone these immigrants were in a new country, each group being discriminated by the other, each group trying to survive, and prosper. Many modern immigrants still face these issues today, and yet they push on, with the help of other immigrants, who have been in their place. That’s the best part of this immigration story: No one truly forgets where they came from, and what it has been like for them, and everyone helps out one another. That has been true before, and it has yet to be proven wrong.

As I began reading “All the Nations Under Heaven”, I too was reminded of the humble beginnings of what is now one of the best cities in the world, New York City. I find it incredible that it started first, as a business expedition, but secondly, as a safe haven for persecuted peoples; moreover, its ability to maintain its status as a place of refuge over the course of its history (with a few exceptions in time). Many early settlers found comfort in knowing that they were free to “worship in private to nonconformists”. This was challenged many times throughout the history of New York City and still continues to be debated- now pushed beyond religious toleration, segregation, and gender equality to marital equality. Issues such as these will continue to arise, and as they do, we will conform and adjust adequately. The history of New York City continues to be written each day as we grow and evolve.

New York City would not be what it is today without its inhabitants. Binder, Reimers, and Salvo can attest to the many different cultures that are represented throughout New York City. The people that reside within this city (and their ancestors) are the people that have shaped it into the place that it has become. From the early Dutch and English settlers, Jews, African Americans, Irish, German, Poles, Italians, and so many others, I find it incredible to think that so many people with so many different backgrounds and cultures and beliefs are able to coexist in such harmony.

While reading All the Nations Under Heaven: a brief overview of the making of the ethnically diverse NYC, there were definitely one thing that stood out to me: the affect of the Irish immigrants from 1789 to 1880. Their ability to come together as a group, avoid assimilation, and use their combined power to affect the politics of NYC, truly stands out as an example of the power of a singular group in this amazing city’s politics. The way they used their power to gain favor with Tammany Hall, led to an improvement in their way of living, and protected the rights they wanted to keep( such as saloons staying open).  This struck me as the possible precedent for campaigning techniques that are prevalent in our world today. When politicians are campaigning to be mayor ( or any other elected post) they are always running from one minority group to another to sway the groups’ votes to their side. These politicians realize that the power of gaining a minority ethnic group’s support in certain districts can make or break a campaign. Furthermore, just like the Irish with Tammany Hall, these politicians are willing to promise almost anything to gain the support of any given minority group.

Personally, I felt that this was an important development in how our city runs day to day. For the first time a minority decided to stand up for what they believed in and actually were able to convince those in power. From John Hughes creating a strong Catholic Church to his advent of parochial schools, he led the Irish immigrants in their fight against “the man.” I believe this paved the way for all minorities to get their views heard, as they now had a precedent to rely on. In today’s NYC where there are constantly new waves of different ethnic groups coming in, as seen in the presentation by Joe Salvo last Tuesday night, this is extremely important. For us to work together in the world’s “melting pot” we all need to be able to have our voices heard.