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The Huddled Masses

 

            Alistair Cooke created and produced America: The Huddled Masses in 1973 with a purpose, to convey a "personal history" explaining the purpose of the many voyages by Europeans to the land of America. The previous lives of these newcomers were each unique in their own way with the exception of turmoil and uprisings in the homeland. The migration of these masses was as a result beginning to diversify the "Anglo-Saxon Profile", according to Cooke. .
             Every immigrant that came to the United States understood the risks and dangers in starting a new life; due to the number of problems with agriculture and political uprisings in Western Europe, the better way of life lied in the United States. Cooke presents Queen Victoria's description of the state of the Irish in the Old country as "rugged and wretched" to accentuate the poverty the potato famine in the late 1840's had brought upon Irish society. Furthermore, political upheavals in Western Europe continued to worsen the life of the European family. With the pope in Italy declaring war, frequent arrests and executions in Austria and uprisings in Sicily against the King of Naples the quality of life in Europe could not worsen for the common European. .
             This influx of immigrants by the many Western Europeans was assimilated fairly quickly into American Society except for Irishmen. The Irish were originally looked at in a condescending way by the queen herself; consequently, American society prevented the Irish from assimilating with American culture. For America's protection the immigration process had to pass through the historic Ellis Island. Doctors inspected every immigrant for rare diseases and conditions that could be hazardous to let into the country. Only a typical eight out of ten immigrants made it through inspections and became U.S. citizens.
             Even after the second wave of immigration in the early 1900's, immigrants began to collaborate and strike against companies and factories due to their outrageous hours and employment treatment.


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