Throughout, “All of the Nations Under Heaven” you are exposed to the idea that New York, from is early beginnings was a city that attracted people from all over the world. Some of reasons that people first came to the city, way back then are still reasons why many people still chose to migrate. From the text you are able to see, that with time the areas from which people first immigrated from has changed and the amount of people entering the city from different countries across the world has also change.  With these changes, a new group of people is added to city’s heterogenousity. When the Dutch East Indian Company first started transporting people to Manhattan Island, their reason for doing so was based purely on the economic gains. However, through the transportation that the Dutch East Indian Company provided, many people were able to benefit, and travel to a new area that they thought would be a better home. From the many examples throughout the first few chapters you can see how over the years the city becomes more diverse with people from many different ethnic backgrounds. You can see how different groups ended up living predominantly in one region within the city, and some of reasons that led up to them choosing to move to that area.

It is very interesting to see that even though a lot of the early immigrants,  were moving to New York City for similar reasons, because of cultural differences they could not get along.  One topic that the text draws attention to is the role that religion played in dividing up the groups. For example, the Irish Catholic and Irish Protestant did not mix well. Even though they were from the same country, trying to escape the same problems and shared the need to prosper economically, they chose to associate with people from different countries, like Germany that shared the same religious values. Religion is just one part of what governed each group’s decisions as they settled throughout the city, and it interesting to see how some of ideas presented in the first few chapters still impact the city today.

While reading Christine Stansell’s take on the turn of a new century aka the bohemian culture in Greenwich Village, I’ve extrapolated a couple of things. First, the massive change in culture and appreciation of the arts in New York City as a whole when all of these different people were put together. It’s fascinating to see that when immigrants were compacted in to that one area in the Lower West Side of Manhattan, it made way for a greater appreciation of the arts, literature and, in a broader sense, the truths of having so many different cultures compacted in a small area. Second, this modernization eventually led to mini revolutions. Whether it was changing the role of women in to the “New Women”, where they ventured in to different routes to quench their thirst for new ideas and interests, or the changing role of men to better fit the needs of these “New Women”. After reading the evolution of Greenwich Village, and eventually New York City as a whole, I found myself wondering if there’s a specific formula for a city to become like New York. Sure we all know that there’s no place like New York City but, what if we were to concentrate the same amount of different cultures in, let’s say, a suburban area in Ohio. Would the result be somewhat similar? Of course, we can’t go back and implicate these changes to find out, but I believe that because New York was the area where an influx of immigrants landed in the 1890’s, it made way for tolerance and eventually acceptance of different ideas and opinions. These same ideas made there way out of the shabby cafes that they were discussed in and eventually were put in to action for change and led to modernization to better accommodate the growing bohemian culture that began to dominate the city. It is because of this diversity that New York has become one of the greatest cities in the world.

Reading about the earliest immigrants to America showed me how true the idea of the American Dream is, and especially the truth of New York City as a melting pot for different ethnic and religious groups. Although today’s major immigrant groups to New York City are Hispanic and Asian instead of the Irish, Italians or Russian Jews of past generations, there are many commonalities between immigrants’ experiences. Firstly, the groups are usually discriminated against upon their arrival. Employers are often hesitant to hire from the newest immigrant group (“No Irish need apply”), and we see this today when people speculate over the immigration status of Hispanic laborers.

In the presentation at John Jay, we saw that many New York City neighborhoods are segregated by group: the Caribbean people settle in Flatbush, the Chinese in Flushing, and the Dominicans are replacing the Puerto Ricans in neighborhoods in the Bronx. This parallels to how the Irish concentrated in Five Points upon their arrival, and the Jews later settled the Lower East Side. Many immigrants find the comforts of home by settling in these neighborhoods, whether through shared food or language traditions.

It amazed me that despite the discrimination that groups face in New York City, they continue to immigrate here. For many, racism and low wages are a better reality than the one they escape, and America, particularly New York City, has always held a unique place in the hearts of refugees and dissidents. The Dutch established a precedent of economics over all else, which has remained pretty true in our capitalist society. This, in essence, is the American Dream. Despite discrimination, there is a chance for anyone to prosper here, no matter his or her roots.

I did notice, however, that, just as it is today, it was much easier for the more skilled immigrants to find work and then become accepted into society. The Germans, for example, were more skilled workers than the Irish and were therefore less discriminated against. I found it interesting that the most diseased wards of the city were the ones in which the Irish lived. When I went on the Irish Outsiders tour at the Lower East Side Tenement Museum, the tour guide mentioned that even though the building was in a German neighborhood at the time, the Irish family likely moved there because it was cleaner and more spacious than the Irish neighborhoods. It even had plumbing, not just a pit underneath the outhouse.

Reading reflections are your opportunity to share some of your thoughts about the week’s readings.  A paragraph or two should suffice.  Here is an example from a previous class: