UNIT TWO

     “The early colonists came over with motives no less colonial than the later. They did not come to be assimilated in an American melting pot. They did not come to adopt the culture of the American Indian. They had not the smallest intention of ‘giving themselves without reservation’ to the new country. They came to get freedom to live as they wanted to. They came to escape from the stifling air and chaos of the old world; they came to make their fortune in a new land.”

  America is known to be the land of the free, and that alone is a huge reason as to why many people have migrated here. To me, this quote is laying out the main reasons many people have come to America. Analayzing this quote, it seems like the immigrants did not come here to get a hand out. They mainly come here because they’ve heard the phrases “you can be whomever you want to become in America”. These people migrated to America in search of a better life. A lot of people who migrated to the United States were trying to escape misery from their homeland. Freedom is something that you can barely get in a lot of country around the world, but as they say here in America, freedom is free. So these people come here to get such freedom. They want to live as they wanted to, like all human should live, to be able to provide them with certain needs such as the needs to survive; which includes food, shelter, many countries cannot provide these needs to their citizens. On top of everything, their main goal was to come here and their fortune in this new and beautiful land. People migrated with the culture and the beauty of it is the fact that they had no intention of adopting another one. This diversity in America is what makes America such a great country. 

  I chose this passage because I can relate to it. I am an immigrant myself, I am a Haitian-American citizen. I came to the United States when I was 16, not to escape misery but to look for more opportunities. Growing up in Haiti, I’ve seen it all, I’ve seen people suffer and I’ve seen people live happy with a fortune. I was lucky enough to fall in the middle. As an immigrant, my main purpose here in the United States is to get the best Education and learn as much as I can, hopefully “make a fortune on the new land” and go back home and help other people get a great education and also “make a fortune on the  OLD land”. I pick this quote not only because I can relate, but honestly I think the Entire class can relate to it. Even if you were born here, your parents might have not. Or you have a friend or someone around you who have come to America simply to live a better life.