Coming to America: The History of Immigration to the United States

Treatments of Vietnamese history in American schools are usually limited to the Vietnam War. This book explains the reasons members of the Vietnamese community migrated to a country that conducted a great deal of violence against their people. It explains how they survived a hostile labor market when many did not speak the language, and how they built a cultural identity that preserved their heritage while allowing them to assimilate. Readers will discover the history of the descendants of an ancient and prominent civilization on their journey to become one of the pillars of American society. This volume is essential for creating globally aware citizens.

From agrarian economies to the booming technology industry, Indian immigrants have been a fueling force to the development of today's world. Throughout the intense years of the early 1900s to present day America, they bore the duty of hard labor, political activism against colonizers who have held power in their original home country for 200 years, and the role of pioneers in unfamiliar lands. Readers will discover the journey of the toiling Indian immigrant, the intense political twists, the dark days, and the eventual rise of America's most financially successful and well-educated ethnic group, as told by an Indian immigrant.

Written by a descendent of Irish immigrants, this book tells the tale of how Irish-born immigrants functioned as the largest immigrant group during the first two hundred years of the British Colonies. Readers will discover how they forged frontier societies and expanded the geographic boundaries of colonial settlements. Irish Americans served at all levels in U.S. government, including twenty-two presidents, and they contributed to canals, roads, and railroads during the nineteenth century. This volume will divulge how Irish immigrants suffered severe prejudice and lost much of their original culture and language, though their eventual assimilation provided a blueprint for the acceptance of other immigrant groups.

Chinese immigrants first reached the shores of California in the mid 1800s. Since then, they have made significant contributions to the American economy through their work in mines, on railroads, and on farms as they earned money to send home. However, many saw them as job-stealing freeloaders. They contributed to American culture too, even as discrimination forced them to build their own communities from the ground up. The Chinese American community had no choice but to take on these stereotypes in order to survive. Written by a Chinese immigrant, readers will discover that even the xenophobia that exists today can be defeated and one's culture celebrated in the United States.

Written by an author who comes from Puerto Rican heritage, this book is the story of a people who trace their ancestry from three different races. It tells of how they went from a beautiful Caribbean island to the cities of America for a better life. From humble, peaceful beginnings to rebellion, slavery, and invasion, the Puerto Rican people have endured trials that are common to various historical narratives but aren't commonly told in Mainland American schools. This book is the beginning of a more complete education in history and will motivate readers to be more understanding of different cultural experiences.

The Italian mass migration from Italy happened during a period of political and economic upheaval. Many Italian immigrants faced isolation, discrimination, and fear as they worked to learn English and assimilate to their new home. Despite such obstacles, they also created neighborhoods that continued their cultural traditions as they worked to adapt. Readers will learn why Italian immigrants left Italy, where they settled in America once they arrived, and how they became one of the most influential cultures on American society. The story of Italian immigration comes alive in this volume written by someone whose family endured it.

As the demographics of the United States shift, Mexican American issues and values are gaining traction. Written by someone whose family immigrated to the United States after leaving Mexico, this book explores the generations of Mexican immigrants and their American descendants who struggled for civil rights, whose lands have been colonized, and who have been the backbone of American industry and agriculture since the nineteenth century. This book exposes a fickle culture surrounding work relations in a country that treated Mexican Americans not only like disposable labor, but also like non-citizens or nonpersons, even with the Mexican government's complicity.

This book explores the stories behind leaving the mountains and islands of Greece throughout its recent tumultuous history. Many of those emigrants came to the sprawling cities and countryside of the United States. Readers will explore how Greek Americans did much to overcome war, family conflicts, exploitative labor practices, restrictive xenophobic quotas, and generational identity differences to become part of the American experiment. The history of how Greeks became Americans through these contemplations of the problems that immigration poses will activate the reader's critical thinking skills. They will recognize that these problems are relevant today.