Built on the Backs of Many, The Truth Behind America’s Rise to Power.

Author: Julia Delene

Opinion Piece

The United States of America was built on the backs of slaves and had working immigrants whose work is credited to the wealthy landowning white men who claimed to be the architects of the free world. 

First Arrivals

In 1620, one of the first groups of immigrants came to what would become known as the United States. Puritans from the United Kingdom fled to the eastern coast of North America to escape the religious persecution they were subjected to back in England. These Puritans were some of the first immigrants. However, it cannot go unsaid that no European immigrant was the first to settle in the North. The American continent, centuries before Christopher Columbus or Leif Erikson stepped foot in North America, indigenous tribes such as the Lithic People settled in present-day Ohio about 10,000 years ago.

The history of Native Americans in the United States is gruesome and oftentimes disregarded. The stories that many Native tribes carry with them to honor their ancestors were almost eradicated by greedy and power-hungry individuals who saw themselves as gods. The land that we consider to be the United States of America belongs to the thousands of tribes who inhabited this land long before any “settlers” came and claimed its shores as their own.

The English Puritans were not the only Europeans to claim part of North America as their own. Before the English, the Spanish and French had colonies in the Americas.

The French claimed most of present-day Canada and territory west of the Appalachian Mountains and Colorado. In contrast, the Spanish claimed the western half of North America and present-day Florida and Cuba. What is important to note, however, is how the Spanish and French treated the indigenous communities within their territories. The Spanish were often exploitative and proselytizing, whereas the French frequently traded with Native Americans for fur and other necessities. As we look toward the newly colonized British colonies, we see slavery as their primary means of production.

Slavery in the Free World

The Transatlantic Slave Trade existed in the Americas before the English settlements and officially ended in 1808, 32 years after American Independence. Slavery did not stop, however, in the United States; it grew, and slave owners were now dependent on “homegrown” slaves to produce the next generation of slave labor. Right up to the Civil War, slave labor was how the South made its money.

The South includes Georgia, Alabama, Texas, Missouri, Louisiana, Mississippi, Florida, Kentucky, Arkansas, Tennessee, Virginia, South Carolina, and North Carolina. Collectively, these 13 states produced two-thirds of the world’s cotton, alongside crops like tobacco and rice. For an agrarian society, slave labor was by far the best option for wealthy white landowners because, for them, free labor was a much better alternative than having to do the work themselves. The North, a hub for manufactured goods, did not use slave labor as frequently or in such high volume as the South. However, they did benefit indirectly from slavery because of the agriculture produced and exported out of the South. Northerners prided themselves on working for a wage.

The Civil War was sparked by the debate on whether or not slavery should be allowed in the United States of America. States like New York and Pennsylvania desired to end slavery in the United States. For the South, that was not an option they were willing to agree to because slaves built the economy, and without slavery, the South would crumble.

Industrial Boom

Post-Civil War, we had seen a substantial uptick in race discrimination among not only Black Americans but also Asian, Irish, Jewish, Italian, and Hispanic immigrants. As we entered the Industrial Revolution, most factory workers and hard laborers were immigrants from primarily Europe and Asia, trying to escape wars. Asian immigrants worked mainly on the West Coast, building the Pacific Railroad and in shipyards along the coast. European immigrants worked in industrial fields such as meatpacking facilities in Chicago and steel mills in Pennsylvania. For immigrants, these jobs were crucial yet dangerous, and oftentimes, they could not afford the necessities.

These labor-intensive jobs were seen as bottom-of-the-barrel jobs that no white-bred American deserved. Industrialist men believed they were in control and subsequently owned and operated many industries that boomed during the Industrial Revolution. A prime example is Andrew Carnegie. Carnegie had a chokehold on the steel industry in the United States of America during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. These types of monopolies allowed for zero regulations, and the ones who suffered the most worked the hardest.

A decade earlier, Asian immigrants were building America’s gateway to the West: the railroad. Union Pacific Railroad monopolized the idea of Manifest Destiny and built tracks out west. These Asian immigrants worked for little to nothing and often in unimaginable conditions.

Additionally, during the late 19th century, the United States started implementing restrictions on how many immigrants from some regions of the world could enter, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which prohibited Chinese laborers from immigrating to the United States for ten years. The Exclusion Act continued to be expanded until 1943, when Chinese immigrants could finally enter the United States as citizens. Additionally, during that same time, any Asian immigrant was subjected to harsh interrogations and captivity on the lesser-known immigration island, Angel Island, off the coast of San Francisco.

Angel Island, Hell on Earth

Angel Island was the first stop for Asian immigrants hoping for a chance at the “American Dream”.

Angel Island is oftentimes forgotten in American history because it shows the prosperous land of the free as bigoted and racist. Americans often forget that immigrants built every aspect of our modern world, whether the railroad or skyscrapers in New York City. During WWII, Angel Island was turned into an internment camp to keep a “watchful eye” on hardworking Asian immigrants.

New York, New York

During the turn of the century, immigration through Ellis Island was at an all-time high; from 1900 to 1914, around 1,900 people immigrated through Ellis every day. The majority of those immigrating were men, hoping to build a life before the arrival of family members. Additionally, the demographic of Ellis Island immigrants was mainly from Eastern Europe and Southern Europe, most commonly from Italy. Once you were processed through Ellis, you were let out onto the streets of New York with the expectation that you could pull yourself up by your bootstraps regardless of your situation.

Many immigrants who had brought with them very little tended to end up in tenement housing, which are like our modern-day hostels but in much worse condition. These temporary housing arrangements were typically decrepit and poorly maintained. The few who could afford a place moved to communities resembling their birth country, such as Little Italy in Lower Manhattan. These blocks, however, were in no better condition than the tenement houses they had just left. Immigration into New York has made it what it is today: a melting pot of cultures, ideals, religions, and people.

Down South

Moving south, we feel as though we still live in the 1800s, and blatant racism exists in everyday life. Members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), founded by Civil War Confederate veterans, terrorized and murdered African Americans. Civil Rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. led the march for civil liberties. His home was frequently fraught with burning crosses, which was the KKK’s trademark. The 1950s and 1960s of American history can be categorized as the era of turmoil and equality.

For Black Americans, they gained the right to vote in 1870 with the Fifteenth Amendment. The right to vote, however, did not guarantee the right to equality among whites. From the 1880s to the 1960s, legal segregation controlled the everyday norms for African Americans in the United States of America. Jim Crow laws were state and local laws that enforced legal segregation, for example, in schools, local water fountains, and bathrooms. African Americans were not the only ones fighting for the right to be equal. In Arizona, a man named Cesar Chavez sparked a movement for agricultural laborers nationwide.

Fighting Racism in Arizona

“Si Se Puede”

Cesar Chavez led the civil rights movement in granting fair pay, good working conditions, union rights, and social justice to agricultural laborers in Arizona and, subsequently, the entire United States. Despite the constant pushback he received, he worked tirelessly to ensure working Americans’ rights to fair pay and good working conditions.

Towards the end of the 20th century, we tend to see a rise in white college-aged students on the streets protesting social injustices. However, we do not see any significant movement again until 2020, when a man by the name of George Floyd is brutally killed by police brutality.

21 Century Racism

Police brutality is nothing new to American culture. However, the senseless killing of George Floyde sparked a movement for accountability.

During the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, thousands of people went to the streets of every major city in the United States to protest against racial injustices that have been perpetuated since the inception of the United States itself. To live through such a time where the injustice of individuals was palpable is overwhelming to say; I grew up in a very conservative community that tended to exclude rather than include individuals of different races or ethnicities. In America, we are taught that racial injustices ended with the Fifteenth Amendment; however, these injustices will continue to plague our nation until we all accept our privilege and acknowledge that the United States was not founded by men like Thomas Jefferson or Benjamin Franklin, but by the thousands of slaves and immigrants who worked tirelessly to build a nation that continues to put them down.

Recent Developments

In light of the recent 2024 Presidential Election and incumbent President Donald Trump’s insensitive and uneducated plan to deport “2-20 million” illegal immigrants, I felt the need to address how problematic this idea is.

Regardless of an immigrant’s documentation status, they are the cornerstone of America’s economy. Without immigrants, we cannot harvest fruits and vegetables or build the infrastructure needed to keep America running. America runs on hard-working immigrants who fight daily to earn enough to feed their families.

Resources

“America at Work: Articles and Essays: America at Work, America at Leisure: Motion Pictures from 1894-1915: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/america-at-work-and-leisure-1894-to-1915/articles-and-essays/america-at-work/#:~:text=The%20working%20conditions%20in%20factories,and%20monotonous%20work%20for%20employees. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.

Cesar Chavez Foundation, chavezfoundation.org/about-cesar-chavez/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.

Cornwell, Allen. “Chicago Meatpacking Industry in 1900: Pickled Hands, and More.” Our Great American Heritage, 6 Sept. 2015, www.ourgreatamericanheritage.com/2015/09/disease-death-and-child-labor-the-birth-of-the-meatpacking-industry-in-chicago/.

Dattel, Eugene. “Cotton in a Global Economy: Mississippi (1800-1860).” Cotton in a Global Economy: Mississippi (1800-1860) – 2006-10, Oct. 2006, www.mshistorynow.mdah.ms.gov/issue/cotton-in-a-global-economy-mississippi-1800-1860.

“History of Angel Island Immigration Station: Angel Island Immigration Station – San Francisco.” AIISF, www.aiisf.org/history. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.

“HUSL Library: A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States: Desegregation.” Desegregation – A Brief History of Civil Rights in the United States – HUSL Library at Howard University School of Law, library.law.howard.edu/civilrightshistory/blackrights/desegregation. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.

“Overview + History: Ellis Island.” Statue of Liberty & Ellis Island, 30 Sept. 2024, www.statueofliberty.org/ellis-island/overview-history/.

“Tenements ‑ Definition, Housing & New York City.” History.Com, A&E Television Networks, www.history.com/topics/immigration/tenements. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.

“Timeline of Native American Cultures (U.S. National Park Service).” National Parks Service, U.S. Department of the Interior, www.nps.gov/articles/000/timeline-of-native-american-cultures.htm. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.

“The Transcontinental Railroad: History of Railroads and Maps: Articles and Essays: Railroad Maps, 1828-1900: Digital Collections: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress, www.loc.gov/collections/railroad-maps-1828-to-1900/articles-and-essays/history-of-railroads-and-maps/the-transcontinental-railroad/. Accessed 9 Jan. 2025.