Jane Hamblin

Americanization
E-Portfolio
Spring 2014
One of the defining characteristics of America is that it is, and has been a
"melting pot" of nationalities providing a chance for a "new beginning" for
many immigrants. However as we have discussed and examined
throughout this course the "Americanization process" was difficult and
often times impeded by the "power structure". Of all of the
groups/nationalities of people !lac"s and #ative Americans
included$ studied/discussed in this course, whom do you believe had the
most difficult time being "accepted" in America% &n your response include a
description of the group/nationality of people that discusses when they
came to America, primary reasons$ for migration and uni'ue aspects of
how they settled. Also include a discussion of the obstacles they faced from
the power structure, citing examples of marginalization and exclusion, if
and how these obstacles were overcome, the extent of their "cultural
identity" being sacrificed to be accepted and finally reflect on the
contributions/impact of this group/nationality in shaping
American society.
& thin" the the group that had the most difficult time being accepted
in America was !lac"s. (he )outh was a great place to farm several
different crops and there was such a large *uropean demand for different
items that )outhern farmers had the ability to prosper, but needed a large
supply of cheap labor. +*nslaving #ative Americans was not the answer.
(here were too few of them. ,ith their lac" of immunity to *uropean
disease, few could survive prolonged contact with *uropeans- epidemic
death remained catastrophic. An economy based on slave labor re'uired an
abundant supply of easily recognizable people conditioned to settled
agriculture and immune to *urpean disease. Americans turned to Africa..
(he *thnic /imension, pg. 01$ (hey were brought to America in three
waves and once here en2oyed a considerable amount of freedom. (hey were
considered indentured servants considered to be released within 3456 years.
However, as time went on and laws were passed their length of service
gradually increased and their freedom and rights decreased.
!lac"s were marginalized in many ways first starting with slavery.
+7erhaps in the middle of the 53th century, if you were one of several
thousand Africans living in 8irginia you certainly "new that your children
would be free 44 you might have that expectation. (o suddenly find
themselves involved in lifelong servitude, and then to realize that in fact
their children might inherit the same status, that was a terrible blow, that
was a terrible transformation.. 7eter ,ood, Historian-
http9//www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part5/title.html$
/uring slavery they faced many obstacles and didn:t have any rights
of their own. (hey were sub2ect to whatever their +master. wanted them to
do. (hey were excluded from society as a whole and loo"ed down upon as
worthless even though they were the bac"bone of the plantation in many
cases. (he end of slavery continued to stir up strong emotions and was a
hard battle to fight.
(he ;ivil <ights movement was also another way blac"s were
marginalized. =rom the poll tax +which re'uired people to pay a fee before
voting. to the literacy tests "eeping them from being able to vote. (he
*thnic /imension, pg. >63$ And from the inception of ?im ;row laws.
+@any whites felt socially vulnerable after emancipation. (o restore the
control they had once exercised over blac", whites began enacting +?im
;row. laws late in the 5AA6s, segregating blac"s in theaters, buses, trains,
streetcars, waiting rooms, schools, housing, hospitals, prisons, par"s,
amusement par"s, toilets, restaurants, and drin"ing fountains.. (he
*thnic /imension, pg. >63$ )upreme court rulings li"e !rown vs. the
!oard of *ducation gave some hope, but it still too" years to see any
progress. +&n the field of public education the doctrine of Bseparate but
e'ualB has no place. )eparate educational facilities are inherently une'ual"
from the decision of the C.). )upreme ;ourt in the case of Brown vs.
Board of Education of Topeka, @ay 53, 50D1, E13 C.). 1AE$.
http9//www.everyculture.com/multi/A4!r/African4
Americans.htmlFixzzE567&pw8i$ )egregation in schools was still very
much an issue even after the )upreme ;ourt ruling. +African Americans
found massive resistance terribly frustration, especial after the euphoria of
!rown. !y 50G6, less than 5 percent of southern schools had integrated and
segregation remained the rule in other areas when court orders went
unenforced. (he *thnic /imension, pg. >D5$@artin Huther Iing was an
inspirational blac" leader that fought for change and "new that his ideals
would come to fruition one day.
& thin" that throughout all of the hardships and challenges blac"s
faced, their cultural and identity has stayed intact and has even grown
stronger over the years. (hey have evolved, 2ust li"e most everyone in
America, but they have gotten stronger over the years. (o thin" D6 years
ago that we would have elected a blac" president today would be unheard
of. (he pride that comes from remar"able evolution li"e this is pretty
outstanding, but there is still a long way to go.