The Social, Cultural, and Economic Reality of Arab Immigrants in the United States in the Late Nineteenth and Early Twentieth Centuries

Abstract

This study aimed to analyze the social, cultural, and economic realities of Arab immigrants in the United States during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, within the period extending from 1880 to 1924, as a foundational stage in the formation of the Arab presence in the diaspora. The study sought to examine the nature of immigrants’ daily lives, the transformations in their social and cultural patterns, and their economic conditions within a new environment characterized by competition and rapid change. The study employed a historical approach to trace the origins and development of Arab migration and to situate it within its broader context, alongside an analytical approach to examine the content of primary sources and extract their underlying meanings. Kawkab America newspaper was used as a contemporary journalistic source that reflected the realities of immigrants in the late nineteenth century, while Stories of the Diaspora (Hikayat al-Mahjar) by Abd al-Masih Haddad (1921) was used as a literary source with a documentary dimension that reflected the realities of immigrants in the early twentieth century. Selected samples from these sources were analyzed to uncover the dimensions of the immigrant experience. The study reached several findings, most notably that Arab immigrants faced multiple social and cultural challenges, including difficulties in adapting to American society, exposure to various forms of discrimination, and a state of cultural duality between preserving their original identity and adapting to new values. The findings also showed that the majority of Arab immigrants during this period were Christians from Greater Syria and settled primarily in urban areas. Economically, the study revealed that immigrants engaged in a range of simple and gradually advancing occupations, most notably peddling, as well as small-scale trade, factory work, mining, and agriculture, with some gradually progressing toward establishing their own businesses. The study also highlighted the role of journalistic, literary, and historical sources in documenting this experience, as they provided a vivid portrayal of immigrants' daily lives and contributed to a deeper understanding of the transformations they underwent during migration.