ELLIS ISLAND The Immigrant Experience

In the 1800s, people in many parts of the world decided to leave their homes and immigrate to the United States.

Fleeing crop failure, land and job shortages, rising taxes, and famine, many came to the U. S. because it was perceived as the land of economic opportunity. Others came seeking personal freedom or relief from political and religious persecution.

Vocabulary:Push Factor – a reason or force that causes people to leave their native land. Pull Factor – a reason or force that causes people to choose to move to a new place. Emigrant – person who leaves a country.Immigrant – person who settles in a new country.

Melting Pot – a place where cultures blend together (USA)

Salad Bowl – integration of the many different cultures of the U. S. residents combine like a salad (they mix up, but do not blend together)

Immigrants from Europe would travel the Atlantic and arrive to be processed at Ellis Island, the main entry point for immigrants into the United States. For millions, this tiny island would be their first experience in the United States

The journey was made by ship, and was extremely dangerous. Most immigrant ships were overcrowded and packed as tightly as possible with immigrants. These ships became breeding grounds for disease, and many would not live to see the United States.

Upon Arrival at either Ellis or Angel Island, all immigrants had to be processed before entering the United States. The processing included inspection for disease, literacy tests and many others. It was not unusual for it to take days, or even weeks for an immigrant to be processed and allowed into the United States.

A long line of immigrants Waiting to be processed at Ellis Island.

A health inspection of Chinese Immigrants at Angel Island.

European Immigrants landing on Ellis Island

Country TotalGermany 5,500,000Ireland 4,400,000Italy 4,190,000Austria-Hungary 3,700,000Russia 3,250,000England 2,500,000Sweden 1,000,000Norway 730,000Scotland 570,000France 530,000Greece 350,000Turkey 320,000Denmark 300,000Switzerland 258,000Portugal 210.000Holland 200,000Belgium 140,000Spain 130,000Romania 80,000Wales 75,000Bulgaria 60,000

European Immigration Totals 1820-1920

Immigrants at Ellis Island

Immigrants

• In 1860 the resident population of the U.S. was 31.5 million people.

• Between 1865 and 1920, close to 30 million additional people entered the US.

These people were:• fleeing crop failures • land and job shortages• rising taxes and famine.• Some were also escaping

religious or political persecution.

Klassen family leaving the Ukraine for the U.S.

The Island

• Ellis Island served as the entry point

• for a majority of new immigrants from 1892 till it closed in 1954.

• More than 12 million immigrants were processed here.

Baggage Room

• The arriving immigrants checked most of their heaviest baggage in the first-floor baggage room before heading to the great hall for processing by U.S. Immigrations Inspectors.

Stairs of Separation

• Stairs of Separation• As the immigrants

walked up the staircase, U.S. Public Health Officials watched them for signs of a number of illnesses.

The Great Hall

The Great Hall cont.

• Great Hall also known as the Registry Room, this is where millions of immigrants were processed for admission to the United States.

• Immigrants would wait in line for hours

• an interview with the inspector would determine their future.

Medical Exams

• Medical Exams were given

• The Inspector would take about 7 seconds to determine if the immigrant had any infectious diseases.

• Some would be sent back/deported and some detained in quarantine/hospital.

• Only two percent of the arriving immigrants were not allowed to enter.

Cafeteria

• In the cafeteria immigrants were served their first “taste of America”.

• They were often introduced to new dishes—such as ice cream.

Dormitories

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

The Kissing Post

• After immigrants were approved for admission, they would walk down the stairs to meet their loved ones – The Kissing Post.

• This area became known as the kissing post.

Final Destination

Final Destination cont.

• Only one third of the immigrants who came to the United States through Ellis Island stayed in New York City.

• Most immigrants scattered across the U.S.• Immigrants were given tags to pin to their

hats or coats. The tags showed railroad conductors what lines the immigrants were traveling and what connections to make to reach their destinations.

Cities

• The arrival of large numbers of immigrants radically changed the face of the nation’s cities.

• Before the Civil War, cities were compact.• Between 1865 and 1900 the percentage

of Americans living in the cities doubled.• Cities grew upward. Prior to the Civil War,

buildings were built only to five stories.

Cities cont.

• “Noise, traffic jams, slums, air pollution, and sanitation and health problems became commonplace. Mass transit, in the form of trolleys, cable cars, and subways, was built, and skyscrapers began to dominate city skylines. New communities, known as suburbs, began to be built just beyond the city. Commuters, those who lived in the suburbs and traveled in and out of the city for work, began to increase in number”.

memory.loc.gov

Urban Living Conditions

• Immigrants often lived in buildings abandoned by middle-class residents and converted into multifamily units.

• These tenements soon became identified as “slums”.

• Many families would cram into spaces only meant for a few.

• Many immigrants tended to settle with others from the same country creating the ethnic neighborhoods and sections that can still be found in many big cities today.

Urban Living Conditions cont.

• Outside the tenements, raw sewage and garbage littered the streets.

• Contagious diseases raged in such conditions.

• Babies were especially susceptible.• In NYC, in one district of tenements, six

out of ten babies died before their first birthday.

Tenement Housing

Tenement housing in New York City.

A typical tenement house on the corner of Ontario and Monroe streets in Toledo, Ohio.

Resources

• http://www.historychannel.com/ellisisland/gateway/index.html

• http://catalog.loc.gov/• http://worlddmc.ohiolink.edu • www.ohiohistory.org• America: Pathways to the Present