Like ToniAnn, I was horrified after reading about the circumstances of the Irish before they immigrated to America. I felt like each page was a scene from a horror movie brought to life. It is really scary to imagine that famine actually killed so many people. But it was even more heartbreaking to read that a lot of the immigrants don’t survive the journey to America, or else they die soon after arriving to America. I never really considered some of the specific reasons as to why so many of the Old Immigrants would come over here, and I find it interesting and innovative that some of the marquis would pay for people to emigrate. The situation was actually bad enough that sending people away would save more money than sustaining them. But what’s worse is that many of the people chosen were people who were deemed unfit to make the journey, and emigration was used as a tool to weed people out of the land. I’ve also never really considered emigration and immigration to America to be a trend (and in both the old and new immigrations). It seems like such a big decision to be made, yet so many people do it everyday in such vast amounts. I guess the decision is made easier through chain migration, since many people won’t be absolutely “alone” in the new world. I think this is especially true with the padrones and the Chinese grocery stores.
I felt like the Five Points chapters that we read were really interesting, because I have grown up around the area, but I haven’t really given much thought to the history to many of the things I have see everyday. One of them is the Transfiguration Church. I used to go there to learn Chinese, and I remember vaguely thinking that it was odd for a Catholic church to be in Chinatown. But I never really thought much further than that. And now, after reading all these chapters, I find out that many different groups had used it before, and that it had a history of group conflicts. I had recently read an article where they said that the Church has mass given in English and Chinese (Cantonese and Mandarin), and that confessions are taken in many different languages. In the future, I think this will probably change again as different ethnic groups move in and out of the area. Another building I haven’t given much thought to was the Church of the Most Precious Blood. It seemed a little out of place then, but now, it makes a lot of sense, especially in historical context. And now, after reading about the celebration of San Rocco, I realized that the San Gennaro fair was also a celebration of a patron Saint (of Naples). But at the same time, it’s fascinating to know that even back then, some things were generally the same, like how a lot of the Chinese residents back then came from the Guangdong region, and how Chinatown was known for it’s food and was able to draw non-Asian people to eat there regularly. But now, I think more people from the Fujian region are immigrating to Chinatown.
Anbinder was specific about the reasons that drove the Irish to immigrate to America, but he was less focused on specific reasons for the Italians. Foner was able to supply some of these reasons, and it was very enlightening. At first, I felt like the new wave of immigrants driven less by specific events that happen in their country than by general circumstances. But I realized that these specific events can be traced back to certain political decisions and other factors that causes theses circumstances in the first place. This leads to the conclusion that, like Foner says, reasons for immigration for both the old and new waves are more similar than we think. I thought it was interesting when Foner mentions that one of the reasons why people immigrate to America today is because of lifestyle. In today’s capitalist society, we are very much focused on consumerism, and getting the latest things. A lot of people in other countries can’t afford to do that. For some, even a refrigerator is not convenient because it uses too much electricity. This gives me more insight on my dad’s fascination of getting the latest phone, while also making me more appreciative of the things I am able to have, just by living in America.
