Download or read book Becoming American written by Alixa Naff and published by SIU Press. This book was released on 1993 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Alixa Naff explores the experiences of Arabic-speaking immigrants to the United States before World War II, focusing on the pre-World War I pioneering generation that set the pattern for settlement and assimilation. Unlike many immigrants who were driven to the United States by dreams of industrial jobs or to escape religious or economic persecution, these artisans and owners of small, disconnected plots of land came to America to engage in the enterprise of peddling. Most of these immigrants planned to stay two or three years and return to their homelands wealthier and prouder than when they left.