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Word Count: 1,192 Quinones 1

John Quinones

Dr. Rowley

Honors 1000

12 October 2017

Essay #1: Who are we?

Hans Neumann Comes to Detroit

Immigrants are what make up the United States. People from different parts of the world

came as immigrants to the United States from the late 1800s to the early 1900s. Those that came

from Asia would come through the West Coast of the United States while those from the Europe

would enter through the East Coast. They move from their homeland because of the economic

opportunity, and essentially a better life, that America had to offer. Not everything came easy

though, there were many hardships and risks taken when coming to the new world and leaving

everything behind. The risk to reward was worth it though, as many migrants during this time did

find better lives once they settled in and became accustomed to the new way of American life.

Hans Neumann is 20 years old. He has a fianc and a daughter that will come with him to

America. Hans and his family are Germans that will be traveling across the Atlantic Ocean to

New York, then will take a train to Detroit. Hans job of just another farmer in Germany was not

supporting his family the way that he wanted to, so he comes to Detroit for the economic

opportunities. They are leaving Germany for the City of Detroit in search for a better life. Hans

chose Detroit because of the good employment that Henry Ford offers through the Ford Motor

Company. He will be working as a millwright, and is very knowledgeable and skilled in


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machines and engineering that helps him earn that job. He will go through a lot of obstacles in

trying to achieve the American Dream, but at the end, he and his family will have a better life,

will be Americanized, and will spend leisure times differently than they would back in Germany.

Hans perspective will change as Detroit changes him for the better.

Coming to America for Hans was not out of the ordinary. His family will become just the

few out of the million and a half Germans that came to America in the late 1880s.1 Many other

Germans left during this time because of economic opportunities, like Hans, or even for political

or religious freedom. Hans does face a setback though. Just before they leave for the America,

Hans mother becomes extremely ill with smallpox, so they stay a couple more years.

Thankfully, she recovers, but sadly they must leave her behind. Leaving Germany for Hans

means leaving many traditions that he grew up with to come to a very unfamiliar place. It took

about a couple weeks from Berlin, Germany to Ellis Island, New York. They finally arrive at the

immigration center in the summer of 1894.

The Immigration Act of 1891, which Congress passed for more secure inspections and

effective enforcement of immigration law, was another huge setback that the whole Neumann

family must face. Under this law, Hans was qualified to enter, but not his fianc and daughter.

They were not allowed to enter because there was no concrete proof that they are part of Hans

family. This law was strictly enforced on them because smuggling among Germans was well-

known by officials of the immigration center. Hans and his fianc must marry first before

entering the United States, so they were sent back to Germany.2 They had to stay a little more

than a decade back in Germany to raise enough money to come back to the United States. They

were never hopeless though, especially Hans, he never gave up.


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It is now 1909 and they are on their way back to Ellis Island. The whole Neumann family

gets approved to enter the United States and this is a beginning of their new life. While New

York during the time was bustling and a center of many new jobs that was available to Hans, like

building new subways or skyscrapers, his mind was still set on Detroit. Hans still had Detroit on

his mind because of the many great things he has heard about Ford and the Ford Motor

Company. He wanted to work for Ford, and the future looked bright for the automobile industry.

The streamlined assembly process of producing a car in just over an hour and a half was very

promising to him.3 Hans and his family arrived by train in Detroit in the spring of 1910. They

begin their living in tenement houses while Hans searches for a job to work under Ford. In April

5th, of 1910 he finds a classified advertisement which reads Toolmakers and millwrights

wanted; good wages. Apply Timekeeper, Ford Motor Co., Highland Park plant.4 Hans applies

and gets the job easily, but sadly doesnt speak English well so communication between

coworkers is difficult. Hans is stable with his job as a millwright, his wife gets a job at a local

flower shop, and their daughter goes to a local school. Five years later, Ford introduces a plan

that will benefit the Neumann family greatly and will help Hans finally learn English, it is called

the Ford Manual. He will attend special free classes that will help him acquire the average

foreigners knowledge of English within a years time.5

In addition to learning English, Ford also introduced the five-dollar a day for eight hours

workers pay. This drastically helps the Neumann family get out of their tenements and into a

safer, cleaner, and a more spacious apartment on the corner of Woodward Avenue and Fort

Street. Through the window of this apartment, a bustling center of what would be later called

Campus Martius Park can be seen, as well as people who are dressed very differently, cars,
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streetcars, businesses, billboards, and many other buildings that are old and new.6 They

experience the special feature that the United States offers, which is democratic social space.

Once World War I ended on November 11th, 1918 there was still a strong presence of

Germans in Michigan that mainly worked in manufacturing centers. Hans was one of those

treated unfairly after the war, but the pressure from industry leaders to encourage assimilation

with Germans happened in industrial cities like Detroit and put WWI in the past. The Germans,

including Hans, just wanted to blend into American society as quickly as possible.7

Hans Neumann and his family came to Detroit in search for a better life, but not before

facing very difficult hardships along the way. Hans now has a well-paying job, his wife is

working and not following traditional practices of staying at home, and their daughter is getting

education early so she can go to college and have a better life than her parents. Detroit changed

Hans for the better as he and his family become Americanized. Their leisure times are spent

differently due to the advancements of technology that led to the enjoyment of silent films,

radios and baseball games. Hans perspective, or way of seeing, of the city will never be taken for

granted since he knows how lucky he is and how more practicable living in the city is versus

living in a rural setting, like Germany. Hans will always work hard and never give up.
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Endnotes

1. Rippley, LaVern J. "German Americans." Gale Encyclopedia of Multicultural

America, edited by Thomas Riggs, 3rd ed., vol. 2, Gale, 2014, pp. 207-223. Gale Virtual

Reference Library, go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/ps/i.do?

p=GVRL&sw=w&u=lom_waynesu&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3273300078&asid=

9945205fa2e42c6c308a26e56033a694. Accessed 11 Oct. 2017.

2. "AT UNCLE SAM'S GATES." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Jul 08, 1894, pp. 8,

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press (1831-1922),

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/562520323?accountid=14925

3. "Automobile Industry." International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences, edited by

William A. Darity, Jr., 2nd ed., vol. 1, Macmillan Reference USA, 2008, pp. 217-224.

Gale Virtual Reference Library, go.galegroup.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/ps/i.do?

p=GVRL&sw=w&u=lom_waynesu&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CCX3045300143&asid=

8903e41a59395e6741dd5bcd2abe3f14. Accessed 11 Oct. 2017.

4. "Classified Ad 1 -- no Title." Detroit Free Press (1858-1922), Apr 05, 1910, pp. 12,

ProQuest Historical Newspapers: Detroit Free Press (1831-1922),

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.lib.wayne.edu/docview/325023281?accountid=14925.

5. Helpful Hints and Advice to Ford Employes. Ford Motor Company, 1915, pp. 31

6. Woodward Avenue: 1917. Shorpy Historic Picture Archive:: Woodward Avenue:

1917 High-Resolution Photo, 11 Dec. 2009, 7:06 PM,

www.shorpy.com/node/7136?size=_original#caption.

7. Kilar, Jeremy W. pp. 42. Germans in Michigan, Michigan State University Press, 2002.

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