"Spaces and exchanges" - BAC anglais.

The notion "Spaces and exchanges" deals with the geographical and symbolic areas that all societies occupy and the interactions between men and different societies. Our world is built on the exploration and conquest of new spaces. The different cultural, economic, sociological and language interactions have shaped and characterised our world.

Among various the propositions offered by the notion "spaces and exchanges", I chose to speak about immigration, mainly in the United States. Migration is not a new phenomenon. People have always migrated. But since the beginning of the 20th century, migration has been on the increase. Immigration definitely involves the idea of space as immigrants are moving across countries: they leave their home land to get a new start in United-Statz. Thus, it also involves exchange: immigrants come with their own share of cultural background that gets melted into a whole new lifestyle in their arrival country

"A nation of immigrants" characterises properly the United States, since almost everybody is either an immigrant or a descendant of immigrants. The exception is probably the indians. But some anthropologists believe that the Indians themselves were immigrants from another continent.

We can wonder, how has the Unated-State been shaped as a nation by the arrival of waves of immigrants?

First of all, I would like to insist on the history of immigration in the United State. The motivations of people to immigrate to the United-State will be evoke in a second part. Finally, we will talk about the impact of immigration on the american culture.

I- The history of immigration in the United State

To my mind, the documents that seem to best illustrate this subject is a drawing by Jeff Parker. It deals with the Pilgrims. It is the name commonly applied to early settlers of the Plymouth Colony in present-day Plymouth, in Massachusetts. In this drawing, we can see Indians or Native Americans building up a high fence so as to prevent pilgrims to land and to settle down in the USA. The first European settlers arrived in 1620 on board the May Flower. The caption is full of sarcasm and irony : historically the Indians did not prevent the Pilgrims from setting down in the USA. They even helped them. In the end, Indians lost their lands, their culture and traditions. The autor denounces the modern American point of view about immigration. We can make a link between the document and the notion because it focuses on a major issue which is the transmission of knowledge, culture made between Americans and Indians.

II- The motivation of people to immigrate to the United-State

Bruce Springsteen wrote a song called « American Land ». Through this song, he evokes the thoughts and aspirations of a young immigrant who sees the United-State as a land of home. The narrator is a young adult who have a girlfriend. His aim for the future is to settle down in the United States.

Moreover, he wants to live the American dream. According to the author, the United States is a paradise for workers, a kind of Eldorado. He thinks it’s a land of opportunity. The narrator says that America welcomes everyone, regardless of religion, nationality, or social class.

People are emigrating

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