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History
of Immigration Continued
The
chief language was Gaelic and due to their numbers in the mining
towns, their culture and language fought off assimilation during
the first decade of the twentieth century. Throughout the area,
there was a feeling that the Gaelic language was culturally
and socially inferior. This perception, coupled with the rapid
urbanization and industrialization within the towns, in addition
to an English-speaking elite, led to the decline of the Gaelic
language in urban, and eventually rural, Cape Breton. There
was, however, a unifying "family feeling" especially
among the Scots. During this time there was also a feeling among
the Anglo-Saxon population of Cape Breton that the influx of
foreigners would endanger their standard of living. Petty and
violent crimes were not uncommon during this time period.
The Anglicization of foreign names was part of the assimilation
process; LeFargue became LeForte, Grinevicius became Green,
Porrier became Perry, etc.
By the 1920s, tensions among ethnic groups in the mining community
were diminishing. Perhaps this was due to the Immigration Department's
increased restrictions on the coal company's importation of
labour, and also to the advent of the First World War in 1914,
which slowed down the steady population and industrial growth
that Cape Breton had been experiencing since the late 1800s.
It is safe to say that the wave of immigrants were attracted
to jobs, but for some foreigners, the jobs were an opportunity
to escape poor conditions in their homeland. Arrivals from continental
Europe and the West Indies met with cruel local conditions and
had more difficulty than the Anglo-Saxons in adapting to their
new home and work.
The Lithuanians came in 1906 to avoid conscription and to work
the mines at Sydney. Jewish immigrants were able to escape persecution,
poor conditions in Eastern Europe and the fear of conscription
if they took a job in Canada. The Italians found work in the
steel plant construction and later worked in Sydney Mines. Between
1906 and 1913, Polish immigrants came specifically to work in
Cape Breton industry, spurred by the promise of employment.
More immigrants came from mining areas of Greece, expecting
to make enough money and then return home, but most settled
in Glace Bay. Another group, Blacks from Alabama, came to Sydney
in 1889 to work on construction; some went to Glace Bay's Sterling
areas and others to Reserve to work in the mines.
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