IMMIGRANTS MAKE AMERICA GREAT AGAIN!

Through the United States history immigrants have changed many aspects of this country. Nowadays, thanks to the Republican Party movement, led by president Donald Trump, immigrants are being seen as a problem that affects the improvement of the nation. However, little by little voices are raising to declaim the importance of immigrants in the American society. For instance, big contributions in this country have been done by immigrants such as Alexander Hamilton, Joseph Pulitzer, Levi Strauss and Liz Claiborne. 

Alexander Hamilton

In the first place we have Alexander Hamilton, one of America’s founding fathers. Hamilton was born in the Caribbean island of Nevis in 1757. As a teenager he went to pursue his dreams of having a bright future in the city of the dreams, New York. After his arrival, Hamilton achieved glory in the War of Independence and became the right hand of George Washington. Moreover, his contributions to the newly created country are huge. For example, Hamilton co-founded the first national bank in North America. Also, as the Treasury Secretary of Washington’s government, he helped to raise the US economy. At last but not least, he helped to forge the US Constitution writing alongside James Madison and John Jay a series of essays called The Federalist Papers; Hamilton wrote 51 of the 85 essays in the document. 

Joseph Pulitzer

Secondly, we have Joseph Pulitzer, one of the most powerful journalists in USA history. Pulitzer was born on April 10, 1847 in Makó, Kingdom of Hungary. After joining the German army, he arrived in New York to fight in the Civil War. In the following years he had a rough beginning in USA, Pulitzer had to learn english and work in countless jobs for make a living. His career in journalism started as a reporter. After many years of ups and downs Pulitzer became the owner of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and the New York World, two of the most important newspapers in US at that time. One of his biggest contributions to USA is the money he landed for establishing the Columbia School of Journalism; this school created the Pulitzer price, in which excellence in literature, journalism, music and drama is recognized. 

Levi Strauss

Thirdly, we have Levi Strauss, the founder of the first company to manufacture blue jeans. He was born in Buttenheim, Germany on February 26, 1829. When Strauss was 18 years old he went to the USA with his mother and two of his sisters. In US he started working in his older brother’s dry goods business. After having luck in The California Gold Rush of 1849, Strauss created his own wholesale dry goods business named Levi Strauss & Co. All of sudden the tailor Jacob Davis, one of his costumers, asked for his help. Jacob had invented a way to make durable pants by adding metal rivets on the pockets and front fly, but he needed money to patent the idea. Finally, Strauss patented the idea under their names on May 20, 1873. As a result, jeans were created and were an instant success. Furthermore, Strauss helped different orphan asylums and created scholarships at the University of California. He also built the first synagogue in California, called “The temple Emanu-El" 

Finally, there’s Anne Elisabeth “Liz” Claiborne, a fashion designer and the first businesswoman to become Ceo of a Fortune 500 company. She was born in Brussels, Belgium on March 31,1929. In 1930 her family moved to New Orleans. Since Claiborne was a child she dreamed of becoming a clothing designer. As a result of her hard work, Liz made it into the fashion world and worked in famous enterprises. However, Claiborne co-founded Liz Claiborne Inc. after seeing that women needed more comfortable but professional clothes. She offered women clothes known for their good quality materials, color section, clean silhouettes and realistic prices. Her collection was a success and she became the founder of one of the world’s most successful companies 

In conclusion, without important immigrants like Alexander Hamilton, Joseph Pulitzer, Levi Strauss and Liz Claiborne, not just USA, but the rest of the world wouldn’t have had amazing contributions that helped to improve our society. Finally, we can see that, despite of the hate toward immigrants nowadays, immigrants make America great again! 

Resources: 

https://www.radiotimes.com/news/2019-07-05/the-true-story-behind-hip-hop-musical-hamilton/ http://2day.sweetsearch.com/joseph-pulitzer-founder-of-the-pulitzer-prizes/ https://shsmo.org/historicmissourians/name/p/pulitzer/#section4 https://www.biography.com/fashion-designer/levi-strauss https://www.famousinventors.org/levi-strauss https://biography.yourdictionary.com/liz-claiborne