Aspiring immigrants to the United States make many separate border crossings in their quest to become Americans―in their home towns; ports of departure; U.S. border stations; and in American neighborhoods; courthouses; and schools. In a book of remarkable breadth; Dorothee Schneider covers both the immigrants’ experience of their passage from an old society to a new one and American policymakers’ debates over admission to the United States and citizenship. Bringing together the separate histories of Irish; English; German; Italian; Jewish; Chinese; Japanese; and Mexican immigrants; the book opens up a fresh view of immigrant aspirations and government responses.Ingenuity and courage emerge repeatedly from these stories; as immigrants adapted their particular resources; especially social networks; to make migration and citizenship successful on their own terms. While officials argued over immigrants’ fitness for admission and citizenship; immigrant communities forced the government to alter the meaning of race; class; and gender as criteria for admission. Women in particular made a long transition from dependence on men to shapers of their own destinies.Schneider aims to relate the immigrant experience as a totality across many borders. By including immigrant voices as well as U.S. policies and laws; she provides a truly transnational history that offers valuable perspectives on current debates over immigration.
#689521 in Books 2009-05-01 2009-03-30Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.00 x 1.30 x 6.00l; 1.45 #File Name: 0674032446480 pages
Review
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. Excellent reference; but not for casual; fun readingBy MB in CalifThe book is a great; well-documented history mostly about paper currency in the US before the Civil War. However; the quest for inclusiveness and completeness makes it seem repetitive and tedious. The best part is near the end which covers the time period just prior to; during and after the Civil War. The section on Jackson's war on the Second US Bank was also interesting. In the bulk though; the endless begats and interrelationships of counterfeiters soon become boring. A book half its length would have been more readable.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Not an academic text!By GnosisIn doing some research for a paper I came across this book that was written in a much more interesting way than all those academic papers I had to read :) and lots of good; fun information.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Five StarsBy Douglas R.WitcheyI have enjoyed all I have read so far. History is good to learn about.
