Howard Zinn: A People's History of the United States

Between 1900 and 1920, more than 14 million immigrants arrived in the United States, Howard Zinns parents among them. They came fleeing poverty, war, racism, or religious persecution and dreamed of a promised land, of wealth, of a better life. The New World opened its arms wide to the poor and huddled masses of the Old: its unwanted fugitives. But above all, the rapidly expanding industries of the time required cheap labor. There were strikes and labor struggles all over the country led by great figures such as Emma Goldman, Mother Jones, Eugenes Debs and the Wobblies.