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In the late 1800’s everyone was on the move. The Chinese were moving east to avoid being persecuted, families were traveling to new lands in search of a better future, the Native Americans were being savagely moved by force, and Mexicans were moving north to raid Southern Texas. Everyone wanted change and although their journeys and destinations were different the things they found when they arrived were often the same.

The Chinese moved to America after hearing ship captains talk about the wonderful new land of opportunity where they treated the Chinese fairly and with respect. However when they arrived what they found instead was endless humiliation and a lifetime of hard work.

Soon after arriving to America the Chinese found jobs as merchants, farmers, and mechanics but more notably they worked as miners. Work in the mines was usually very dangerous and always underpaid giving the workers only enough money to pay for the necessities. On top of this workers had to pay for a license to work in the mines every month. When they did not have enough money to buy their license they would often be beaten and sometimes killed. Unfortunately this common occurrence came with no penalty for the offender since the Chinese were not allowed to accuse white citizens of any crime including murder. The Chinese responded to this persecution by writing letters trying to get people to understand their situation but it was with little success.

Another group facing changes were the pioneers moving west to claim free land and start a new life. One such family was the Lingrens who came to America from Sweden to chase the American Dream by moving west. Although the Lingrens did face some discrimination due to their language barrier it was with much less magnitude than other groups at the time because their appearance was much more stereotypically American.

When they arrived they worked hard to grow crops but with little luck as they were struck with the several harsh realities of the west such as wildfires, dry spells, horrible winds, and swarms of grasshoppers which destroyed their crops numerous times. However, like most pioneers, they were religious people and kept their hopes high with the promise that God would see best for them.

One group of people had no intention of moving at all and were instead harshly forced out of their homes, these were the Native Americans. It was a common misconception at the time that the Native Americans were a savage people who needed to be educated in the ways of the "civilized world". To do this the government took it upon themselves move these people to new land, take their children away, reeducate them, and destroy a culture that was older than the nation itself.

Not all groups of Native Americans saw what was coming for them when the treaties began but many did including the Nez Percé tribe. The tribe was asked to sign many treaties asking them to give away their land which they always declined. They lived peacefully next to the white men putting up posts to clearly show where their land began. When their land was eventually stolen from them they fought back giving the white men an opportunity to prove what savages they were. The once great tribe was eventually forced off their land and into Indian Territory where they would remain.

A final group was also moving however this group was not looking for opportunity but for trouble. Some Mexicans came into Southern Texas planning to raid local farms, steal cattle, and burn houses. After a particularly bad raid in Corpus Christi Texans decided to take vengeance killing many innocent Mexican farmers. The stereotype formed that all Mexicans were thieves and a back and forth relationship between Mexico and Texas formed with a never-ending cycle of revenge.

Although each journey was unique they all had similarities....

<I'm really bad at writing closing paragraphs so any help with that would be great. Also, I know this essay isn't great because I wrote it in two hours but its due tomorrow so please help. Thanks!>

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