New Americans The Ellis Island

Experience

Immigrants came to America for different reasons

• To escape poverty and hunger

• Lack of jobs in their old country

Immigrants came to America for different reasons

• Other immigrants were escaping violence, war, and injustice

Immigrants came to America for different reasons

• Escape mistreatment because of their religion

Immigrants came to America for different reasons

• Many hoped to find some adventure!

• Some thought that America had “streets paved with gold”

Coming to America• There were three

classes on immigrant ships: first class, second class and steerage.

• Immigrants who were poor could only afford a steerage class boat ticket– Passengers were

packed into crowded rooms beneath the deck of the ship

Steerage

• Even though the average cost of a ticket was only $30, larger ships could hold from 1,500 to 2,000 immigrants,

• Make a profit of $45,000 to $60,000 for a single, one-way voyage.

Steerage Conditions• For most immigrants,

the experience of steerage was a nightmare – At one time, the

average passenger mortality rate was 10 percent per voyage.

– The conditions were crowded, dark, unsanitary and foul-smelling

Steerage Conditions

• "The ventilation is almost always inadequate, and the air soon becomes foul. The unattended vomit of the seasick, the odors of not too clean bodies, the reek of food and the awful stench of the nearby toilet rooms make the atmosphere of the steerage such that it is a marvel that human flesh can endure it... Most immigrants lie in their beds for most of the voyage, in a stupor caused by the foul air. The food often repels them... It is almost impossible to keep personally clean. All of these conditions are naturally aggravated by the crowding.“

• William H. Taft, the United States Immigration Commission

Ellis Island

Ellis Island

• Ellis Island served as the portal for a majority of new immigrants from 1892 until it closed in 1954.

• More than 12 million immigrants were processed here.

Statue of Liberty

• The famous symbol of the United States– Symbolized freedom

and a new life

Arriving at Ellis Island

• First and second class passengers who arrived in New York Harbor were not required to undergo an inspection process at Ellis Island.

• They were simply “inspected” onboard the ship and allowed to go into New York

• The theory was that if a person could afford to purchase a first or second class ticket, they would probably not cause any trouble in America

Steerage Passengers• Steerage passengers

poured across the pier to a waiting area.

• Each wore a name tag with the individual's manifest number written in large figures.

• The immigrants were then assembled into groups of 30

Baggage Room

Stairs of Separation• Although they did not

realize it, the immigrants were already taking their first test: – a doctor stood at the top

of the stairs watching for signs • lameness• heavy breathing (heart

condition)• "bewildered gazes" (mental

illness)

The Great Hall

The Great Hall – Registry Room

• The Ellis Island inspection process would last approximately three to five hours

Medical Exam• A doctor would examine the

immigrant's face, hair, neck and hands.

• The doctor held a piece of chalk.

• On about two out of every 10 or 11 immigrants who passed, he would scrawl a large white letter

• That letter indicated whether or not that immigrant was to be detained for further medical inspection.

Medical Exam• The next group of

doctors were the dreaded "eye men."

• They were looking for symptoms of trachoma, an eye disease that caused blindness and even death.

• This disease was the reason for more than half of the medical detentions and its discovery meant certain deportation.

Legal Examination• The ship's manifest log

(that had been filled out back at the port of embarkation) contained the immigrant's name and his/her answers to twenty-nine questions.

• This document was used by the legal inspectors at Ellis Island to cross examine the immigrant during the legal inspection.– Only spent about 2

minutes with each immigrant

Legal Examination

• Some questions:– name, age, marital status, occupation, nationality,

ability to read or write, race, physical and -mental health, last residence, and the name and address of the nearest relative or friend in the immigrant's country of origin

– Immigrants were also asked whether they had at least $30 and whether they had ever been in prison

Dormitories

• Immigrants that were detained for medical or other reasons stayed in these rooms, tightly packed with rows of bunk beds.

Deportation

• The two main reasons why an immigrant would be deported:– had a contagious disease or not healthy enough

to work– Were likely to become a criminal or would work

illegally.

Deportation

• Sick children age 12 or older were sent back to Europe alone

• Children younger than 12 had to be accompanied by a parent. – The “Isle of Tears”

• 2 percent of immigrants were deported

Deportation

When 6-year-old German immigrant Johannes first arrived in America, he was quarantined for two weeks at the Ellis Island hospital. He had no access to his parents, and he spoke no English.

Angel Island• Immigrants

who came from Asian countries like China and Japan came through Angel Island in San Francisco, California

Angel Island

• In the early 1900’s, a quota law existed that limited the number of Chinese immigrants who could come into the United States

Angel Island

• Most Chinese immigrants had to prove that they had family members already living in the United States

• Many Chinese spent weeks and months at Angel Island

Entering America

Entering America

• First sights: skyscrapers, electric streetcars, automobiles, crowds of people

Entering America

• Immigrants now had to find jobs and homes– Often relied on friends and relatives for help

A New America

• Many immigrants moved to neighborhoods with common nationalities– Italy Town, Greek

Town, Polish Town, Chinatown

Tenements

• Many immigrants lived in tenements – small, run-down, overcrowded apartments

New Life in America

• New jobs: railroads, factories, mines– Others started

small businesses or sold from pushcarts

New Life in America

• Many immigrants faced prejudice: an unfair negative opinion about a group of people

New Life in America

• Worked 12 hours a day and some would go to school at night

A Melting Pot

• From 1880-1920, more immigrants arrived in America than any other time in history– More than half of the

people in big cities were immigrants!

A Melting Pot

• America became very diverse – a variety of people lived here– In 1924, the US

government placed quota limits on how many immigrants could come in each year

Ellis Island Today

Angel Island Today

Links

• http://www.thewayitwas.org/america.php

http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/culture/immigration/preview.weml