Land of Opportunity

What does “the land of opportunity” mean?

Consider: Colonial Era Immigration (17th century) Economic Reasons: Farmers, fishermen, tradesmen, shipbuilders and crafts men all found work in 1650’s Jamestown (Painting by Keith Rocco) Religious Reasons: Pilgrims and Puritans sought religious freedom, "The Embarkation of the Pilgrims” (Painting by Robert Walter Weir in 1857) Living Conditions Immigrants fled poverty, war/ violence, famine, persecution; “Bridget O’Donnell and Her Children” (Irish Potato Famine, The Illustrated London News, 1849) Political Reasons: Intellectuals and political refuges left after failed revolutions, “1848 Revolution in Berlin” (Unknown artist, 1848-1850)

Billboard during the Dust Bowl, 1930s