The majority of immigrants came from those strata which had become accustomed to leaving their homes as migratory and seasonal workers. Most were scarcely literate and were little aware of the cultural progress that was going on in their homelands. At first they came merely in the hope of saving up enough money to return and live with more comfort in their native villages. But it was not long before they either despaired of this or were attracted to the American mode of living and sent for their wives and families. Many of these early arrivals had little national consciousness and the Slovaks and Ukrainians in particular reflected the conditions prevailing in the last quarter of the nineteenth century. The change from the hard but traditional life of the Slavic village to the confusion and grimness of the American mining or factory town was a disagreeable shock to many of these immigrants, for it was primarily the agricultural population of Eastern Europe that poured into the American factories and mines. The newcomers were exploited everywhere and with their ignorance of English were at a disadvantage in competing with their neighbors. However, they rapidly adapted themselves to their changed environment. They began to form various kinds of associations for their own advantage and leaders of their own groups began to appear. Some of these were unscrupulous men who learned some English and didn’t blush to drain money from their less fortunate comrades. But the number of those who seriously worked for the good of the immigration steadily grew and finally eliminated, to a large extent, the more greedy and grasping pseudo-leaders.[15]