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Angel Medina
7 March 2016
Dr. Stone
Written Assignment #2
The Other People
It is the year 2016. The United States of America is in an election year and the country is
on an upward swing as a whole. Many economic developments have been made and citizens
want to continue that movement forward. The struggle with the election this year is that many
deem the presidential candidates as ill-equipped to lead our country. In most circumstances,
celebrities are not good presidential candidates for a superior country such as the United States.
Donald Trump is not demonstrative of an exception to that general rule either. Donald Trump has
released some public statements that have been very controversial and certainly have grabbed
headlines. One of the driving campaigns of Trump is to relocate citizens of foreign decent back
to their own country, or at least out of ours. Immigration is large topic at hand still to this day and
that was no different in the 17th and 18th century either.
By the 17th and 18th Century, British America had been globalized throughout the world
creating a very diverse population. In 1709, a large number of Palatines fled their home of
Palatinate for a new home in England. Among these immigrants, many fit into the groups of
Mennonites and French Huguenots. French Huguenots were Protestants of a Catholic home
country that fled because of religious oppression. Mennonites were members of a Protestant

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nonconforming religious movement who fled their home of Switzerland for the same reasons of
religious oppression (Preserving American Freedom).
British government was pressed to find a solution that would get these poor Palatines
out of their country. Colonial boosters along with the British government would push these
Palatines to migrate to the British colonies of the Americas. Promises were made of free land,
transportation, and economic supremacy. The truth of the matter was that many colonists
withheld a grand distrust for people with religious or cultural views that were unfamiliar to their
own. Many thought that Protestantism and freedom went hand in hand but that Catholic and
other non-protestants were influenced too strongly by irrational religious leaders. Although most
of the immigrants that would come to America were Protestant, they were still labeled as
Papists. A papist was a term created by the memorialists to describe somebody that had
questionable loyalty to the British crown. Papists would also be known as people who practiced a
religion that was potentially sinister or even simply foreign to their own (Preserving American
Freedom).
As the letter, Memorial Against non-English Immigrants, suggests, They retire
commonly back into the woods amongst or behind the remoter inhabitants, sometimes purchase
land, but often sit down on any piece they find vacant that they judge convenient for them
without asking questions (Foner, 92). Immigrants to the American colonies were made promises
of this free land and had no familiarity with the colonial civil services that distinguished
ownership of land and property. The action of occupying land angered the neighboring Native
Americans because the Native American were lead to believe that colonial officials had already
set a standard through intensely discussed treaties. The occupation of this land also raised
questions of who actually controlled the 40th parallel between Pennsylvania and Maryland.

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The writer of the first letter, Memorial Against non-English Immigrants, was likely
writing with a subjective view of what his local issues were. It was perceived by Memorialists
that the Papists would ally with Catholic New France and this posed a threat of them being
outnumbered (Preserving American Freedom). The truth of the matter was that the Palatines
were very much poor and weak. The lack of comprehension of the English language would also
serve as a dilemma for these immigrants.
The letter, that proposed a potential provision against immigrants, is very critical upon
immigrants coming to the American colonies and settling without asking any questions, and the
letter from the Swiss-German boy falls completely in line with that statement. The SwissGerman boy describes his stay in the American colonies as pleasant. Just as British officials had
promised, the Swiss-German immigrant was able to make more money and live a free lifestyle.
The free land that was promised is available. Although, the immigrant is not aware of the deeds
in which land a property were distributed, he continues to notify his family of the luxury to
settle wherever one wants without asking anyone when he buys or leases something (Foner,
93).
The letter against immigration also mentioned how immigrants would arrive and enjoy
their stay, thus inviting the rest of their families to come to the American colonies as well. The
letter from the Swiss-German supports that claim. The boy is documented of saying, I want my
brother to come (Foner, 93). The letter was also addressed to his father, brother, sister, and
brother-in-law, which by the elegant description of the American colonies, can be presumed to
have intent of bringing the entire family. Many memorialists felt threatened by the mass numbers
of immigrants coming to the American Colonies. Although, through the prejudice of the
memorialists and ignorance of Pennsylvania laws. The Palatine immigrants were able of building

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everlasting communities here, thus the diverse selection of different beliefs and religions in the
US.
The documents discussed are excellent example of seeing the same situation through two
different lenses. The Swiss-German was delighted with the new lifestyle that was provided but
did not know of the wrong that he was doing to others nearby. The memorialist was very
thorough in what the immigrants are doing wrong and why he wants them removed from the
American colonies. Both of these documents support many of the same claims but they have
absolutely different perspectives. The two documents are very truthful and do not deviate from
each other all that much. The level of knowledge, respective to their time is overwhelmingly
apparent.

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Works Cited
Foner, Eric. Give Me Liberty!: An American History (Brief Fourth Edition)(Vol. 2), 4th Edition.
W. W. Norton & Company, 20140205. VitalSource Bookshelf Online.
Preserving American Freedom. Memorial Against Non-English Immigration, December 1727.
Web. 05 Mar. 2016.