How were people in the past able to come to America with literally no money and survive and thrive and some even starting businesses and becoming wealthy? Is that even possible today?
In: Economics
It is very difficult for Immigrants today to achieve what Immigrants in the past did, in the past the United States wasn’t as crowded as it is now and the political machines certainly needed votes, thus they used Immigrants as a leeway and offered them lucratives for votes. Those Immigrants such as Irish Immigrants were also able to receive citizenship later on, and that fostered them to climb the social ladder. Some enlisted in the police force and even established their own communities in North-eastern United States, especially in major cities like New York.
Nowadays it is difficult for Immigrants to be poor and achieve wealth, for instance the Immigrants who would leave China and come to the US are more likely to be upper-middle class and are professionals. I met a Chinese Immigrant in 2016 and he had masters in electrical engineering and was renting two units, and these units were managed by a company which would share the profit with him.
Simple answer : They were not
You need to read the survivor bias on wikipedia
1860 average life expectancy in the us 40Yo, now 78
[https://www.statista.com/statistics/1040079/life-expectancy-united-states-all-time/](https://www.statista.com/statistics/1040079/life-expectancy-united-states-all-time/)
In 1900, pneumonia and influenza, tuberculosis, and enteritis with diarrhea **were** the three leading **causes of death in the United States**, and children under 5 accounted for 40 percent of all **deaths** from these infections
[https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/](https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK220806/)
The global average child **mortality rate** (weighted population) was 43.3% in 1800 and now fell to 3.4%
[https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality](https://ourworldindata.org/child-mortality)
Also peoples need to realise that Europe provides more opportunities to move up/down the social ladder and less inequity than the US.
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Gatsby_curve](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Gatsby_curve)
My Irish great-grandmother grew up in an orphanage. Back then, if you were in the orphanage you had the choice of becoming a nun or becoming a maid. So she was shipped off to England to become a domestic servant, but the orphans kept in touch with each other as they moved out.
Some of the older girls saved their meager money, left for the States and managed to save enough to help their “little sisters” get to the States. An older girl put up half the money for a girl to come over, the younger girl put up half (which was harder for her to save; wages in England were worse). They often wrangled a job for the new girl coming in. Then when the new/younger girl got to the States, she saved up her initial money and paid back the person who’d helped her.
Then that newcomer kept saving so she could front half of another “little sister’s” ticket. Lather, rinse, repeat. I don’t know how common the strategy was; this is just what my grandmother told me. So great-grandma may have arrived with only a few dollars to her name, but she had a job already arranged. Back then you had to submit a formal photo with your job application so they could see you presented neat and clean and, to be blunt, weren’t a cripple.
TL:DNR: for many the vetting was already done before they left the Old Country.
I know many people that came with less than $100 in the US and they are doing fine. Some of them are paperless still, after 20 years. But they do own small businesses etc. Some of them are very successful, some are still bums. At first, some would just sleep under a bridge or in the park, pick up any work available. Others were lucky and had a friend let them stay in their place. But the serious hard workers were quickly recruited… roofing, farming, harder cash jobs etc. after a year or two, when they figured out how things work and form relationships they start doing really well… get good jobs etc. some remain in savings mode all their life, living modestly and saving huge.
My grandfather tried this and it did not work. He had to leave after three months to go to Puerto Rico (originally from Cuba) and it was my father who came later in life after they had saved enough for him to go to college. From what I understand, it’s largely either luck or connections.
Being from Europe helped a great deal. Africans, Mexicans, Native Americans and others make up certain subclasses that the European immigrant was able to separate themselves from, by the color of their skin. not saying it’s they only thing, but it sure helped to be white in those days. European immigrants were welcomed with opportunities compared to the treatment of recently freed enslaved people.
Absolutely possible today, as evidenced by the demand to immigrate legally and illegally. Freedom is very attractive to those who haven’t had it, and those with the “proper” mindset. Don’t give me anything, but don’t put obstacles in my way either.
Seems like no one is mentioning indentured servitude. If you found a ‘sponsor’ you could get a ticket to the new world by signing a contract to serve the benifactor for a certain amount of time.
“Will work for boat ride” was common during the early european migration into the Americas.
Prior to a hundred years ago, they mostly farmed. My ancestor came here from Ireland to fight in the civil war for $100. $50 down, and another $50 at the completion of his service.
His wife and daughter used the $50 to buy a small tract of land, raised chickens and grew root vegetables.
He lost and arm and a leg in the war (in the census he listed himself as a piano mover by trade) and never got the remaining $50 he was promised.
It’s important to remember that before social protections or government programs, you would starve to death if you couldn’t find work. People only came here if they believed it was worth the risk. If you couldn’t make it, you had to go back to your home country.
Of course it is possible today.
I know of a family of immigrant Haitians that moved to the Boston area back in the 1970’s with just a few dollars. The father worked two jobs for few years, and the mother had hers. The grandmother stayed at home with the kids. Today they own 4 or 5 apartment buildings and a small construction company. They had 6 kids and they all graduated form college and now are all lawyers, engineers, or nurses. Very successful family.
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