• Why
  • The chapter not only tells us the history of racial violence experienced by the different immigrant groups, it also provides insights on the strategies employed by those groups in order to adapt to a different environment. The chapter also mentions that immigration into the United States has been caused both by pull and push factors. Foremost of the pull factors is economic opportunities. Chinese immigrants came to the country in search of the so-called “Gold Mountain” while the Jews view United States as the “Promise Land”. Some groups, however, were compelled by the economic and political circumstances in their home country to migrate to the United States such as the case of Afghan and Vietnamese refugees and the immigration of Mexicans (in the past was largely illegal) because of poverty. In the process of adapting to a new environment, different immigrant groups also exhibited shared experiences (especially when it comes to work), aspiration and belief in racial equality. By giving an overview of why and how the various groups migrated to the United States and maintain their presence up to the present, the chapter provides compelling reasons to search for an alternative mirror to look at United States.

Reading Notes:

Master Narrative of American History- US is settled by Europeans and Americans are white

• Frederick Jackson Turner
• Frontier thesis
• Oscar Handlin: immigrants are American history but only studies immigrants from Europe

The previous majority is already becoming the minority

The educational system fails to integrate racial diversity in teaching history

1990 Task Force on Minorities for New York- start of initiative for change

• Need for ethnic studies- students move to racially diverse cities after graduation
• The more inclusive the curriculum is, the more accurate it becomes

Multicultural scholarship has usually focused on only one cultural minority

Centrality of African Americans

• Shift from labor homogenization to dependence on slaves for labor

Asian-Americans arrived later

• Pursuit of Gold Mountain
• Chinese were not welcomed as settlers; 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act

Irish came to America as slaves

• Escaped Ireland due to Potato Famine and rise of ranch economy
• As Catholics, they found it hard to be integrated into a Protestant country
• Came at the same time as the Chine but they had one distinct advantage: Naturalization Law of 1790 which limited to process to “whites” only
• Upon gaining citizenship, Irish implemented an “ethnic strategy” by electing their countrymen to office
• Benefits are mutual, Irish workers are hired more successfully
• They were already becoming the middle class by 1900
• Reflection: There is inequality among immigrants

Jews

• Escape from political persecution
• Settled in Lower East Side, garment industry; exploited Jewish women
• America represented the “Promise Land”
• Importance of education
  • Reflection: Gender inequality (female Jews supporting the education of their brothers)
  • Collectivism of the Jewish
  • Reflection : The integration of each immigrant into the American society varies; however, the color of their skin appears to be the main mediating variable
  • Rise confronted by the rise of Hitler
  • Pressing question: What is our responsibility as Jews to the victims of Hitler; what can they do to break America’s deafening silence on Holocaust; (23)
    • In pursuing these questions, they faced anti-semitism and charge of indifference
    • Reflection : Clash between collectivist culture and individualism

Mexican-Americans

• entered the country during the war against Mexico (1846-48)
• didn’t enter America; instead, the border was moved when US annexed the Southwest
• some have immigrant roots, immigration started during the trek to El Norte in the early twentieth century
• experience is different from the other immigrants because of their homeland border with the Us which allowed for cultural exchanges
• amnesty for Mexican illegal immigrants out of economic consideration

Muslim Americans

• mostly refugees; from Afghanistan
• 9/11 attack changed their lives in the US
• Reflection: They are placed in a difficult situation between enduring the challenges in the US or going home

Native Americans

• Unique because they are not immigrants; they’re the original immigrants
• Stereotyped by the English as savages
• Leaders of war against Native Americans were celebrated as “heroes”; one of them is President Andrew Jackson
• “The whites do not understand Indians because they do not understand America” (26)

In America’s expanding economy, immigrants are swept with ethnic antagonisms

• Irish= inferior; performed tasks not designated to slaves in the South because of the perceived greater value of the latter
• Many Irish wiped blacks out of the market and promoted whiteness;
• Reflection: immigrants against immigrants; akin to Marx’s alienation but based on ethnicity
  • Blacks versus Irish
• Similarities: labor experiences, aspirations and values
• Railworks facilitate a common experience for the immigrants
• Shared class exploitation led to common struggle
• Tie that binds: belief in equality as enshrined in the Declaration of Independence
  • Civil War and World War II
  • Inclusion of African-Americans in the Civil War is borne out of necessity
  • Joining the war as a step towards emancipation for the slaves
  • Post-WWII lobbying resulted in white exclusivity in the 1790 Naturalization Law
  • The case of Mildred and Richard Loving resulted in court deciding against state laws banning mixed marriage.

Howard Zinn, Ch. 1, “Columbus, Indians, and Human Progress”

• Who
  • Author is Howard Zinn and the chapter is from his book “A People’s History of the United States”. The author was a political science professor at Boston University and was also a playwright and social activist.
• What
  • The source is a scholarly monograph (secondary source). It presents what kind of a civilization did Columbus and the conquerors after him really discovered, as opposed to how these people have been presented in history books that are based on the perspective of the conquerors.
• When
  • The book was originally published in 1980 but the content of the chapter covers the age of exploration (15^th to 16^th century).
• Where
  • More than the territories still occupied by native Americans in the Us and in various parts of South America if there is any, the book caters more to the countries who oppressed these people such as Spain, Portugal and Britain.
• Why
  • The chapter provides compelling reason on the need to reconsider how history has largely been written. This historiography is based on the perspective of the exploiter, not the exploited. While historians do not fabricate facts; most, however, are guilty of marginalizing the facts about the achievement of native civilizations as well as brutalites the native people suffered to pave way for “progress” as perceived by the colonizers. If the available pieces of evidence will be studied such as the writing of Bartolome de las Casas, these civilizations already had a system of life even before the arrival of the colonizers. They were very hospitable but this same attitude was exploited by the colonizers to pursue their political and economic ends. The chapter also emphasizes the point that in the writing of history, it has also been the case that the atrocities against the native population are perceived as the necessary price for progress. As a result, native civilizations were obliterated and their conquerors such as Columbus perceived as heroes.
• Reading Notes:
  • According to Columbus, Native Americans in the Bahamas Island were very hospital just like those in the mainland. This same attitude was exploited by the colonizers for their economic and political ends
  • The aim of Columbus expedition was largely to search for gold; this is also due to the circumstances in Europe during this time
  • Discovery of America was by accident, the expedition’s original plan was to arrive in Asia
  • Reflection: Columbus must have been a greedy person, a certain sailor named Rodrigo was believed to be the first to see a land but he never received his reward for Columbus claimed that he saw a light the evening before thus, getting the reward instead.
  • The Arawaks already had agricultural practices and artisanship; artisans were captured to serve as guides in the search for gold.
  • Columbas’ report when he went back to Spain was part-fictitious, part-fact
  • Second expedition was for slave and gold
  • The Indians resisted but largely failed due to the superior military capability and resources of the Spaniards. Mass suicide occurred to prevent persecution. Half of the population of Haiti died because of the situation
  • Bartolome de las Casas- credible chronicler about what happened after Columbus came; became a critic of Spanish cruelty later
    • There was gender equality among the natives
  • Forced labor affected the families of the natives because they only met once for every eight months; has an implication for the longevity of tribes because of reduced population as couples had less time to procreate. Infants also died because of less nutrition received from overworked mothers, who had to assume the role of a provider for the family while the husband was on forced labor.
  • The experiences of the conquered natives were marginalized in history books
  • Historian’s distortion is ideological
  • The acceptance of atrocities as necessary price to achieve progress remains by burying gruesome facts in the writing of history
  • “History is the memory of states”
  • There has to be a shift, from writing based on the perspective of the exploiter to that of the exploited
  • “The cry of the poor is not always just, but if you don’t listen to it, you will never know what justice is.”
  • Religion was also used to justify oppression
  • Massacre was employed as the main military tactic
  • Private property was introduced in the aftermath of the massacres by Englishmen
  • The brutalities perpetrated against the natives did not make Spain stronger and so, the brutalities and the lives claimed were all wasted
  • Who can say that those who were sacrificed in favour of progress (the natives) were really inferior as compared to their oppressor?
  • The achievements of the native people are often discarded or understated in the writing of history
  • Families were matrilineal
  • Women were authoritative in Iroquois society
  • The organized civilization that the natives had prior to the arrival of Columbus contradicts his report that he came at a wilderness

Matthew Restall, Ch. 1, “A Handful of Adventurers: The Myth of Exceptional Men”

• Who
  • Author is Matthew Restall and the chapter is from his book “Seven Myths of the Spanish Conquest”. The author is a history professor, specializing in Colonial Latin America
• What
  • The source is a scholarly monograph (secondary source) and unveils the true characters of prominent conquerors behind their myths. It focuses on the three most popular discoverers in history, namely: Columbus, Cortes and Pizzaro.
• When
  • The book was originally published in 2003 but the chapter is largely concerned with the age of exploration (15^th to 16^th century)
• Where
  • Because its concern is debunking the myths surrounding the prominent navigators, it can be implied that the geographical focus of the chapter are the territories where these navigators are glorified as heroes.
• Why
  • The chapter argues that myths about historical figures such as Columbus and Cortes have been successful because of the abilities of these figures to master the available resources during their time. For example, Cortes made good use of writing letters to the King to project his exploits and how these were done in the name of God and guided by divine providence.  
• Reading Notes
  • The discovery of the New World is presented as one of the two greatest events in the history of mankind, the other being the invention of the printing press. The event has been accompanied by other breakthroughs in the succeeding centuries.
  • Main themes of history-writing: 1) discovery of the new world as one of the greatest events in the history; and 2) discovery as the achievement of few great men. The third theme centers on how those two were achieved
  • Historical complexities are reduced to emblematic characters, which allows the victors to shape the story and the protagonist
  • Greatness of Columbus is also due to historical process: 1) profound Portuguese connection and 2) his myth was constructed in the English-speaking world
  • Too much glorification of voyage heroes was also suppressed because this was perceived as political threat.
  • Cortes’ prestige was caused by the immense potential of the conquered Mexican territory to the Crown as well as his ability to write letters that were widely circulated