1.Read the following Claim:
Push Pull factors is one area that affected immigrants and other Americans in the late 19th and early 20th century.
Read the following Document:
Document B: Excerpt from The Promised Land by Mary Antin, 1912
Introduction
Mary Antin was born in Russia and came to America when she was thirteen years old. She came to meet her father who had gone to America in advance to prepare a place for his family. Her family settled in Boston, Massachusetts. She became a highly educated writer and campaigned against legislation restricting immigration.
Primary Source
“…A trifling sum of money, the steamer ticket, and the foreign passport were the magic agents by means of which we hoped to span the five thousand miles of earth and water between us and my father...We had hardly money enough to last us through the voyage for which we had hoped and waited for three long years…. Our initiation into American ways began with the first step on the new soil. My father found occasion to instruct or correct us even on the way from the pier to Wall Street, which journey we made crowded together in a rickety cab. He told us not to lean out of the windows, not to point, and explained the word greenhorn. [rookie] We did not want to be "greenhorns," and gave the strictest attention to my father's instructions. ...In our flat we did not think of such a thing as storing the coal in the bathtub. There was no bathtub. So in the evening of the first day my father conducted us to the public baths. As we moved along in a little procession, I was delighted with the illumination of the streets. So many lamps, and they burned until morning, my father said, and so people did not need to carry lanterns. In America, then, everything was free, as we had heard in Russia. Light was free; the streets were as bright as a synagogue on a holy day. Music was free; we had been serenaded, to our gaping delight, by a brass band of many pieces, soon after our installation on Union Place. Education was free. That subject my father had written about repeatedly, as comprising his chief hope for us children, the essence of American opportunity, the treasure that no thief could touch, not even misfortune or poverty. It was the one thing that he was able to promise us when he sent for us; surer, safer than bread or shelter. On our second day I was thrilled with the realization of what this freedom of education meant. A little girl from across the alley came and offered to conduct us to school. My father was out, but we five between us had a few words of English by this time. We knew the word school. We understood. This child, who had never seen us till yesterday, who could not pronounce our names, who was not much better dressed than we, was able to offer us the freedom of the schools of Boston! No application made, no questions asked, no examinations, rulings, exclusions; no machinations, no fees. The doors stood open for every one of us. The smallest child could show us the way.”
2. Reply with by citing evidence and placing in quotations exact from the above document that shows What were the PUSH AND PULL FACTORS that brought immigrants to America?
One push factor that brought immigrants to America was the difficult economic situation in their home country. This is evident in the following quote from the document: "We had hardly money enough to last us through the voyage for which we had hoped and waited for three long years."
One pull factor that attracted immigrants to America was the promise of freedom and opportunity, particularly when it came to education. This is shown in the following quote: "It was the one thing that he was able to promise us when he sent for us; surer, safer than bread or shelter." Additionally, the availability of free education in America was highlighted in the quote: "This child, who had never seen us till yesterday, who could not pronounce our names, who was not much better dressed than we, was able to offer us the freedom of the schools of Boston!"