I chose PBSkids.org because it is aimed at children and is easy to navigate around, and although not specified, I think it is mainly for children around the ages of 10-12. The website focuses on New York (The Big Apple) and under the section ‘Coming to America’ there is a timeline and links to click on that tells of a specific time and what was happening in terms of immigration at that time. For example, 1881 is titled ‘The Second Wave of Immigrants’ and describes how different groups of people from Europe came to America.
PBSkids.org presents this aspect of American history as positive because it mentions how the German immigrants brought “their skills, education, and political beliefs” as well as stating how they “often led the struggle for trade unions”. This shows that immigration helped to improve and strengthen the country through educational and political means. The word “led” also implies that immigration was good and keeps in theme with Winthorpe’s idea of the “city upon the hill”, showing that they were an example to others. As well as this, the website also states that German immigrants brought “self-help schools”, an attribute to the American Dream and shows they were interested in working hard to help themselves, something that De Crevecoeur touched upon in his book Letters from an American Farmer; and “orchestras” which shows that immigration brought different cultures and helped to make America multi-cultural. Also, in the ‘The First Wave of Immigrants’ section, it ends with: “Like immigrants before and since, the newcomers and especially their American-born children began the slow process of assimilation, finding ways to fit into a new society and to unify as Americans”; showing that people tried hard to become a part of the American culture. These in turn support the theory of the Melting Pot because they are part of the American ideal.
‘The Second Wave of Immigrants’ states that most of the immigrants came from Italy and the Russian empire; during which Mussolini and Lenin headed the Italian and Russian states. Their radical ideologies such as fascism and Marxism, did not agree with the democracy of America, and so emphasis on Italian and Russian immigrants suggests that they were escaping this oppression and encourages American children to believe that America is a safe haven for many, and that fascism and Marxism is wrong. In addition, other groups fled to America such as the Eastern European Jews fleeing “poverty, oppression and violence”. This again links back to “city upon the hill” because it shows how people saw America as an example and wanted to live there, where it appeared that all were free.
The immigrants are described as “ambitious people pursuing a dream of a better life”, linking back to the idea of the American Dream and shows that Americans are ambitious. However this idea of a better life contradicts some of the realities, such as shown in Anzia Yezierska’s short stories The Lost “Beautifulness” and Soap And Water which depict a grimmer experience. For example The Lost “Beautifulness” shows how immigrants could be charged more than they could afford for housing and Soap And Water shows how immigrants found it hard to rise from their predominantly lower-class status.
On the whole, immigration is presented to young children as a positive thing that helped many people to get better lives, but does not show the difficulties that most immigrants faced.
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