Russian Immigration Essay

1912 Words8 Pages
Russian immigrants have come in steady waves for the past three centuries. Fur traders who crossed the Bering Strait in the 1700's, poor peasants and persecuted Jews fleeing Russia during the Bolshevik Revolution, Russians escaping the Communist Soviet Union under Stalin and Lenin and the Jewish immigrants who left Russia during World War II have all come to America in search of a better life. Russia has had a turbulent and violent history which has caused many of its citizens to come to America. The immigrants, coming for various reasons including religious oppression and poverty, have been successful in America. The first Russians reached America in 1747 when fur traders arrived in Alaska. Some settled in the area and the Russian Orthodox Church became active in the region in 1795 (“Russian Immigrants”). Vitus Bering a Danish sea captain, discovered the strait while exploring eastward under the command of the czar. Fur traders began to cross the strait to secure land for fur trading. Alaska soon became a frontier society with explorers searching for fur and gold. Members of persecuted religions such as the Molokan and Orthodox crossed the strait to escape government oppression in Russia. These people converted many Eskimos to their religions, and started small communities in Alaska. The migration stopped, however, in 1867, when Russia sold Alaska to the United States (“Russian Immigration”). When Alaska was purchased by the United States in 1867 most Russians living in the area returned home. From 1880 to 1914, there was a new wave of Russian immigrants coming to America, which included poor peasants and persecuted Jews. In 1870, a period of "Russification" began; the Russian government implemented a policy to try to stamp out different ethnic groups within the country. Basic rights were taken away from many peoples, including the Jews. Jews were forced to move
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