Blog 3

The Struggles of the Migrants

While crossing the Mediterranean at least 31 migrants were killed off the coast of Libya. Among those who die are children. Due to the mild weather conditions and calm water, many migrants have been leaving Libya and sailing to Europe. From the shipwreck, about 180 people were rescued from the water. Throughout the week the Libyan coastguard rescued about 250 people and the Italy coastguard rescued 1,100 people. The boat sunk off the shores of Garabulli, 37 miles east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. The people were taken to Tripoli’s naval base. The “International Organization for Migration (IOM) said on Friday that at least 33,000 people are reported to have died or gone missing between 2000 and 2017 - making crossing the Mediterranean the world's "deadliest journey" for migrants”. During this year, about 3000 migrants are believed to have drowned by trying to cross the Mediterranean to Europe.   Most people have been fleeing due to war and famine. Since 2015 more than 1,008,616 refugees have fled from Syria, Afghanistan, and Iraq. Most of those refugees are children. 

http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-42125070

Part 2

In the 19^th Century, America had over 5 million German immigrants. During the mid-1800s a huge number of Asian immigrants settled in the United States. Many came to the US because of the gold rush. Around 25,00 Chinese had migrated there by the early 1850s. The influx of immigrants created an anti-immigrant sentiment among the predominantly Anglo-Saxon Protestant population. Immigrants created competition within the job market that was not favored. The Catholics discriminated against the Irish because of their religious beliefs. “In the 1850s, the anti-immigrant, anti-Catholic American Party (also called the Know-Nothings) tried to severely curb immigration, and even ran a candidate, former U.S. president Millard Fillmore (1800-1874), in the presidential election of 1956”. After the Civil War, the great depression shocked the United States. The depression slowdown immigration.

 President: Millard Fillmore. 

http://www.history.com/topics/u-s-immigration-before-1965

Immigration Before 1965 Part 1

Immigration began in the 1500s. The Spanish and French begun to establish settlements. In 1607, the English found a permanent settlement in Jamestown in the Virginia Colony. The first settlers in America came in “search of freedom to practice their faith”. The Pilgrims fled to Plymouth Massachusetts in 1620. Then the Puritans established the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Immigrants came seeking economic opportunities. The next major immigrant who arrived were black slaves from West Africa. Unfortunately, this group of immigrants was kidnapped and forced into slavery. English convicts were also shipped across the Atlantic ocean to work as indentured servants. There were 7,000 African Slaves in America by 1680. By 1790 700,000 black slaves were in America. Even though Congress outlawed the importation of Slaves to the US in 1808 the practice continued. 4 million slaves were in America by the end of the Civil War (1861-1865). In the Mid 19^th Century there was a huge wave of immigration. Most immigrants came from Northern and Western Europe. “In the 1840s, almost half of America’s immigrants were from Ireland alone. Typically impoverished, these Irish immigrants settled near their point of arrival in cities along the East Coast. Between 1820 and 1930, some 4.5 million Irish migrated to the United States”.

http://www.history.com/topics/u-s-immigration-before-1965