Use the informational text titled 'Pilgrim Feet' to complete the activity.
PILGRIM FEET:
Most people probably wouldn’t call pilgrims’ feet “beautiful.”
Yet that’s the word Katharine Lee Bates used in “America the
Beautiful.” One definition of pilgrim is “someone who embarks
on a quest for something that is considered sacred.” Over the centuries,
pilgrims and immigrants have contributed a richness to America. People
willing to take a chance found great opportunity in this country. Bates saw
inspiration in the ways these travelers beat a “thoroughfare for freedom”
“across the wilderness.” So pilgrims’ feet and feats did all that and more
from our country’s beginnings to today.
Bates’ family had lived for eight generations in New England. She grew
up in Falmouth, on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. She spent her childhood
not far from where the first Pilgrims—with a capital “P”—landed in
Plymouth in 1620. Those first settlers, a group of religious Separatists, had
faced persecution because they did not support the Protestant Church in
England. They risked a great deal to cross the Atlantic Ocean in the hope
that they could make a better life for themselves. With help from the local
Wampanoag Indians, their colony took root and grew.
The establishment of permanent English settlements in Massachusetts
and Virginia encouraged more Europeans to risk the difficult Atlantic
crossing in their own quests for a better life. It is important to remember
that Native Americans have been here for thousands of years, and African
slaves were brought by force. But almost everyone else either came here as
an immigrant or is descended from someone from another land.
Feats are notable
acts, deeds, or
achievements.
© 2014 Kathiann M. Kowalski
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The First Two Waves
America’s first wave of immigration spanned the colonial years. Most of
these settlers were English. Smaller numbers of Scottish, German, and
Irish people also arrived.
A second wave of immigration lasted from about 1820 until the mid19th century. Those travelers mostly came from western and northern
Europe. Some people arrived on the West Coast, too, including workers from China. Economic opportunity drew many people to America.
Religious and political freedom were also big “pull factors.”
At the same time, different “push factors” prodded people to move.
Starting in 1845, a potato famine led more than 1 million people to leave
Ireland. Land seizures and high unemployment made life difficult in
Germany. Poverty, political and religious differences, and other factors
spurred many Scandinavians to leave their homes.
Newcomers often followed the footsteps of earlier settlers from their
countries. For example, Germans and Scandinavians settled along
“migration chains.”
I prefer wings
for traveling,
but whatever!
By the time
Bates wrote
her poem, the
United States
had already
become
the land of
opportunity
for several
generations of
pilgrims and
immigrants,
beginning
with the first
“Pilgrims”
landing in
present-day
Plymouth,
Massachusetts.
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The path eventually led many of them to the Midwest. Many of the second
wave of immigrants helped settle America’s frontier. Their labor also built
the railroads, which connected the East and the West.
The Third Wave
When Bates first wrote her poem “America” in 1893, a third wave of
immigration was in progress in the United States. People still came from
western and northern Europe. But huge numbers of immigrants also
began arriving from southern and eastern Europe. New York’s Ellis Island
Immigration Station opened in 1892 to process the enormous numbers of
newcomers. By 1910, about one seventh of the country’s population was
foreign-born.
Many immigrants faced discrimination. Native-born Americans were
prejudiced against southern and eastern Europeans, Chinese, and
Japanese newcomers. Nonetheless, the new arrivals forged ahead. They
labored for long hours in factories. They built skyscrapers, bridges,
and tunnels. They made homes in America’s new urban landscape.
And they helped the country grow.
Today
One hundred years after Bates’ poem became popular, pilgrims’ feet
continue to leave their impressions on the country. The fourth wave of
immigration to the United States began in 1965 and continues today.
In 1965, Congress removed country quotas that had limited arrivals from
FAST FACT
about 13.9 million
immigrants came to
the united states from
2000 to 2010, according
to the center for
immigration studies.
that’s more than any
other decade in the
country’s history.
Quotas are a maximum
permitted number or
amount. Immigration
quotas limited how
many people could
enter the United States
from specific nations.
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certain parts of the world. Since then, the face of American immigration
has changed dramatically. Now, the largest number of immigrants comes
from Mexico, followed by China. The rest of the top 10 countries of origin
are all in Asia or Latin America.
While many Americans celebrate the nation’s cultural diversity today,
newcomers still face discrimination. Some groups claim that immigration
hurts American workers. But researchers feel that immigrants help the
economy grow. Newcomers start businesses, which create jobs. Newcomers
also are willing to take low-paying physical jobs that other Americans do
not want to do.
Today’s immigrants also include highly skilled talent. They are engineers, mathematicians, computer scientists, and physical scientists. Many
immigrants are in the health care field as well.
The United States faces new challenges in the 21st century. As in the
past, the pilgrim feet of immigrants will journey along these new frontiers. The variety of cultures and traditions that immigrants contribute to
American society enriches the country. As a result, America can grow and
become better. That is indeed beautiful. ✯
Kathiann M. Kowalski has written three books about financial matters for teens: Be Smart About Credit, Be Smart
About Investing, and Be Smart About Shopping. She writes often for COBBLESTONE.
OPPOSITE: These diverse women were among the estimated
23 million people who came to America in the third wave of
immigration. BELOW: In the 21st century, the newest wave of
immigrants has come from Asia and Latin America.
In one to two sentences, explain how the author developed the idea that American society has benefted from variety of cultures within it.
(2 points)