Product Description

With a timely new chapter on immigration in the current age of globalization, a new Preface, and new appendixes with the most recent statistics, this revised edition is an engrossing study of immigration to the United States from the colonial era to the present.

Customer Reviews (3)

delightful experience
I received my product fast and effieciently and it was in better condition than I had expected

The sine qua non for understanding immigration to America
Roger Daniels second edition of "Coming to America" is masterful.There is no other book, I believe, that is more authoritative by way of explaining immigration to the United States during the final third of the twentieth century.And for those interested in exploring the story extending back to the European settlement of North America since the seventeenth century, "Coming to America" is also the place to begin.Daniels narrates this history, in all of its pain, complexity, and brilliance, with a thorough-going understanding of its twists and turns.This book merits its place on the shelf of often-consulted staples in every American's home library.

Must have if you do a lot of genealogy!
This is an outstanding book that every genealogical society should own, as well as serious genealogist.The book provides information in both an overview format as well as ethnic group specific information.The price isright - add it to your collection of materials - you will not be sorry. ... Read more

Product Description
A Companion to American Immigration is an authoritative collection of original essays by leading scholars on the major topics and themes underlying American immigration history. The book focuses on the two most important periods in American history when immigration had its greatest impact on American society: the Industrial Revolution and the Globalizing Era from the post-World War II decades to the present. It explores immigration from a global and interdisciplinary perspective to show the variety of methods that scholars have recently used to supply new insights.

The volume’s structure and approach provide in-depth treatment of central themes, including economic conditions, public policies, demography, social structure, group identity, communal institutions, and cultural life. The book also places a key question in the foreground of the book: how immigrants of the industrializing era and the globalizing era can be studied with respect to a host of collective and common experiences that bridge historical periods. The comparative dimension is a defining feature of this volume, capturing the essence of America, and its rich history of immigration. ... Read more

Product Description
This volume, in three parts, provides a wealth of articles on the migration and settlement of East European Jews in all parts of the States from Pennsylvania to Detroit and from Rhode Island to Denver. Articles also focus on the emerging Hebrew press and the voice of Jewish women in areas such as suffrage and the labour movement. ... Read more

Product Description
engaging textbook is a concise overview of a sweeping topic – American immigration. Immigration is central to the history of America: a "nation of immigrants" that is diverse by definition. Beginning with the first arrival of migrants from Asia, Africa, and Europe, and ending with a discussion of the United States at the turn of the twenty-first century, this book offers an unflinching analysis of the complex relationship between America's national solidarity and ethnic diversity.

The text introduces the main migrations of each era of American history, and examines the ensuing interaction between established citizens and new arrivals, and the formation of ethnic groups, regional cultures, and individual identities. The book describes how each are perceived "Americans," and how each most recent group of immigrants sparked the recurring debate over the concept of American nationality. Lively and straightforward, this valuable text shows both the optimistic and disparaging image of the United States as a "melting pot." ... Read more

Customer Reviews (2)

A look at the first two waves of immigration to America
"A Century of Immigration, 1820-1924" is another one of the volumes in The Drama of American History" that really benefits from the "central core" approach used by Christopher and James Lincoln Collier.The idea is "to draw in bold strokes" and "bring out the basic themes of the American story."By focusing on the topic of immigration, without having to entwine it with the other threads of American history, young students will get a much better understanding of what was happening with immigration during this period.

The Colliers quickly break down immigration from 1820 to 1924 into two distinct waves (arguing that a third wave of immigration followed World War II and continues today).Those two waves effectively divide the six chapters of this volume in half: (1) A Nation of Immigrants talks about the uniqueness of the United States in terms of the (general) acceptance of immigrants because of the huge amount of empty land to be cultivated and because of the rise of the industrial city.Within this context the first wave of immigration is presented as having two distinct components.(2) The Irish Immigrants are the largest part of that first wave, unique as well because of their ability to assimilate (most knew how to speak English) and their establishment of the Roman Catholic Church as a socio-political power.(3) The Germans and Other Immigrants of the First Wave are different from the Irish in terms of not wanting to assimilate, but preserve their own culture.The Germans also tended to be more skilled at trades.The contrast in the two dominant groups of immigrants for the first wave is quite striking.

The second wave of immigrant lasted from about 1880 to the time of World War I: (4) The Second Wave Begins draws a contrast between the first wave of mostly Northern Europeans with the Southern and Eastern Europeans who dominated the second wave.The Italians are presented as the paradigmatic example of this wave.(5) The Second Wave: The Jews deals with the second-largest group to come to the U.S. in the late-19th century, as well as immigrants from Asian nations who also found an unfriendly reception in their new nation.By the 20th-century immigrants from Southeastern Europe were the largest percentage of those coming to the U.S., which explains what happened next.(6) The Anti-Immigration Movement resulted from Americans fearing that the newest immigrants were going to replace traditional American ideals with new ways of thinking and behaving.The result was a series of political attempts to not only limit immigration but also curtail the political activities of immigrants already in the country (e.g., keep Catholics out of office so they would not take orders from the Pope).

In this last chapter the Colliers not only cover anti-immigration legislation and the fight against parochial schools, but they also evaluate these efforts in light of what they see to be the American ideal (i.e., it is ironic that a nation of immigrants would be afraid of or dismiss new immigrants)."A Century of Immigration" is illustrated with historic photographs, etching and paintings, from both sides of the Atlantic.One of the strengths of this book is its explanation for how conditions were so bad in the "old country" that many immigrants took horrifically low wages to work in subhuman conditions because it being in America was a better life for them.This is an extremely sobering thought.

I really like these books and fret that the cost of a classroom set would be truly prohibited except for "rich" school districts.However, I still have to think that history teachers, at all levels, not just elementary or secondary schools, could benefit from the approach taken by the Colliers.I can easily see a two day class lecture on these two waves of immigrants; they could even come at two different points in an American history course; even two different semesters, given the standard dividing point in such classes today.

Eye-opening look at the past
An examination of the first two huge waves of immigration to the United States. The Irish, Germans, Italians, Jews, and Chinese came for different reasons and with varying resources and talents. Many faced prejudice andeven looked down on each other. A chapter on the anti-immigration movementdiscusses assimilation versus preservation of cultures and the quotasystem. Useful for reports; recommended for students who know little aboutthis time. Balanced look at several sides of an often controversial topic.Pen and ink illustrations, photos, bibliographies for students andteachers, and index included. ... Read more

Product Description
In these vivid recollections, recorded both in Mexico and the U.S., 90 Mexican-Americans share their innermost thoughts and feelings and reveal a wealth of experiences: the risks they take, what they left behind, their dreams versus the realities, and how immigration has changed their lives. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Great reference for understanding cultural differences
The largest group of immigrants to the United States are Mexicans. In this book, the author, by mean of interviews, shows the several differences between the culture of America and Mexico.

Questions like: Why doMexicans come here? Where do they work? What do they miss? areanswered.

The experience of crossing the border, the ideas of the womenand family that stay in Mexico, the reality that they find here, are alsocovered, and also the changes that they experiment living here, and theideas of the children of the immigrants (chicanos).

I think thateverybody who needs to understand the mexican immigration from its rootsshould read this book. ... Read more

Product Description
This engaging narrative chronicles the history of the immigration to America from the 1600s to the present. The author offers an in-depth exploration of the American immigration experience, including why people emigrated, what they left behind, and what they found when they arrived. He also delves into the immigrants' unique contributions to the history and culture of the nation. The book examines the legal and social aspects of immigration, beginning with the founding of Jamestown in 1607 through the 1994 passage of Proposition 187 in California. Also featured are a brief chronology of immigration and the biographies of 45 important figures in American immigration history. The text is enhanced with photos, illustrations, and political cartoons, and a detailed bibliography is also included. ... Read more

Product Description
Immigration has generated ongoing debate throughout American history. This resource offers students an examination of the 12 most persistent immigration issues from colonial times to the present and provides the text of 86 key primary documents throughout American history that express differing views on those issues. These 12 controversies, posed in the form of questions, will encourage critical thinking and student debate. Each issue concludes with an annotated bibliography of print sources and websites. ... Read more

Product Description
No one knows how many Chinese are being smuggledinto the United States, but credible estimates put the number at50,000 arrivals each year. Astonishing as this figure is, it representsonly a portion of the Chinese illegally residing in the United States.Smuggled Chinese presents a detailed account of how this traffic isconducted and what happens to the people who risk their lives toreach Gold Mountain.

When the Golden Venture ran aground off New York's coast in1993 and ten of the 260 Chinese on board drowned, the publicoutcry about human smuggling became front-page news. Probinginto the causes and consequences of this clandestine traffic, Ko-linChin has interviewed more than 300 people--smugglers, immigrants,government officials, and business owners--in the United States,China, and Taiwan. Their poignant and chilling testimony describes aflourishing industry in which smugglers--big and littlesnakeheads--command fees as high as $30,000 to move desperatebut hopeful men and women around the world. For many whosurvive the hunger, filthy and crowded conditions, physical andsexual abuse, and other perils of the arduous journey, life in theUnited States, specifically in New York's Chinatown, is adisappointment if not a curse. Few will return to China, though,because their families depend on the money and status gained byhaving a relative in the States.

In Smuggled Chinese, Ko-lin Chin puts a human face on thisintractable international problem, showing how flaws in nationalpolicies and lax law enforcement perpetuate the cycle ofdesperation and suffering. He strongly believes, however, that theproblem of human smuggling will continue as long as China'scitizens are deprived of fundamental human rights and economicsecurity.

Smuggled Chinese will engage readers interested in humanrights, Asian and Asian American studies, urban studies, andsociology. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Smuggled Chinese
This is an interesting book, an obvious result of extensive research. It best serves as a historical reference tool for anyone interested in the crisis of Chinese being smuggled to the U.S. in the 80's and early 90's. That is also its shortcoming, since it lacks any reference to more recentevents related to the smuggling of Chinese into the U.S.This was a majordisappointment to me for a book published in 2000.The book would bewell-served to be updated with reference to new routes being used bysmugglers; the INS Global Reach program, new offices in China, and effortsto disrupt the smuggling trade; the Chih Yung interdiction and other boatsstopped off Mexico and Central America; the Spring 1999 influx ofsmuggler's ships in Guam and Tinian; and the impact on the smuggling ofChinese as a result of the 1996 immigration reform law. ... Read more

Product Description
Almost All Aliens is a complete reinterpretation of the shape and meaning of immigration in the history of the United States.It leaves the traditional Ellis Island model of immigrant assimilation as it embraces the multicultural reality of immigration that has always existed in the United States.Almost All Aliens operates from the point of view of ethnic studies as much as history and shows that migration to America has always been linked to colonialism, slavery, and racial oppression.This book will change the way American immigration is taught and understood. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Greatest Book on Race Formation in the US...ever!
This is one of the greatest books I have ever read.It really lays down the facts about the founding of the US and the implications for all minority groups involved.I feel as though everything I have been taught in public school was a fabricated enhancement of white power (I am white by the way).Finally, all the facts are in one place.I think every person in America should read this book.

Good for perspective
This book is written rather heavily in the voice of Spickard. His views and perspectives are bold and must be taken into consideration when reading, though he is dedicated and thorough in his work. He uses pie charts throughout to show the changing demographic, which is nice. He also is very picky about the terms he uses, making sure that the ideas behind the words are correctly chosen.
I use it for my race and ethnicity class and find it to be useful, though sometimes in conflict with lectures and other sources. I'm not saying Spickard has his facts wrong, but that history involves multiple angles and his is but one good one.

Common Sense, conveniently packaged
This is pretty much everything you knew about American immigration history, combined into one bulky book. We're using it for a class and I would really have been better off using the reading time as study time for other classes. It's useful for specific cases used as examples of different situations, but most teachers don't require you to know anything that detailed, so that's really more just for personal interest. ... Read more

Product Description
Dive deep into Early American Immigration history anywhere you go: on a plane, on a mountain, in a canoe, under a tree.Or grab a flashlight and read Shmoop under the covers.Shmoop's award-winning US History Guides are now available on your Kindle. Shmoop eBooks are like having a trusted, fun, chatty, expert history-tour-guide always by your side, no matter where you are (or how late it is at night).Shmoop US History Guides offer fresh analysis, timelines of important events, brief bios of key movers and shakers, jaw-dropping trivia, memorable quotes, a glossary of terms, and more.Best of all, Shmoop's analysis aims to look at a topic from multiple points of view to give you the fullest understanding.After all, "there is no history, only histories" (Karl Popper). Experts and educators from top universities, including Stanford, UC Berkeley, and Harvard, have written guides designed to engage you and to get your brain bubbling. Shmoop is here to make you a better lover (of history) and to help you make connections to other historical moments, works of literature, current events, and pop culture. These learning guides will help you sink your teeth into the past.For more information, check out http://www.shmoop.com/history ... Read more