Immigration in the early 20th century greatly affected immigrants. Millions of people from all over the world came to America in hopes of a better life. Their hope was that America would provide them with more economic opportunities and more individual freedoms. Once they arrived, their individual experiences differed greatly, but there were some common themes.
Immigrants new to the country usually lived in big cities where they can obtain factory jobs. This allowed for immigrants to interact with individuals who came from the same country. This resulted in a sense of community for thousands of new Americans.
However, many Americans were upset with the new wave of immigration. Many feared that these individuals would take their jobs, as many immigrant workers were willing to work for less. This fear sparked a nativist movement. Nativism is the idea that the needs/wants of individuals who are born in a country should be priority over individuals new to the country. Nativism resulted in job discrimination against immigrants, making work more difficult to find.
Religion in Colonial America was dominated by Christianity although Judaism was practiced in small communities after 1654. Christian denominations included Anglicans, Baptists, Catholics, Congregationalists, German Pietists, Lutherans, Methodists, and Quakers among others.
ZLATA’S DIARY begins in September of 1991 as a typical fifth-grade enthusiasm, recording the beginning of school in Sarajevo and vacations to Jahorina, the “most beautiful mountain in the world.” Within six weeks, her hometown was at war, and she was soon facing deprivation and the death of friends and classmates.
Often there was no gas or electricity. Zlata and her father were forced to haul buckets of water to their apartment building. Bombs were falling continuously, forcing the family to move into their damp, dark cellar. Sometimes Zlata would be left by herself while both of her parents worked. Constantly worried about the safety of her relatives and her own well being, she feared that the war would never end and poured her deepest feelings into her beloved diary, which she named Mimmy.
Most of Zlata’s friends had moved earlier to escape the progressively worsening conflict. When bombs and shrapnel killed those who remained, she wrote in frustration: “STOP SHOOTING” and “PEACE, PEACE, PEACE!” In a final entry dated October 17, 1993, written before sending her diary “out into the world” to be published, Zlata recorded the results of a terrible day of bombing: 590 shells beginning at 4:30 a.m., six dead, fifty-six wounded. “I keep thinking that we’re alone in this hell,” she wrote. Nevertheless, she refused to yield to despair. With youthful heroes and loving family members confirming her belief in the ultimate decency of humanity, she chose to share this touching record of hope in the midst of tragedy.
To get rid of the native and to save the man. They took away their way of culture and their traditional ways due to the fact that they wanted to raised them the Catholic way and in hope the Catholic natives would influence other natives to ditch the culture and continue the Catholic ways
