Research Paper On Ellis Island

On December 31, 1890 a transition in history occured. New York City would start a new era in the history of the United States starting with the opening of Ellis Island as an immigration depo. This attracted many immigrants to the United Stated because of more job opportunities and as means to start a new life. As more immigrants came to America, it began to be known as the "land of opportunities". Immigrants coming in filled work spaces in industries with the hopes of someday becoming successful. These immigrants helped prove to other future immigrants that if you moved to America then you could start a better life for yourself and your families. On the other hand with positives come negatives and there were many involving

First, they must pass a health-screening process beforehand. In Canada, health screening was implemented to ensure that no immigrant becomes a burden on health or social services or “is a danger to public health or safety” (Government of Canada, 2002:np). Canada has no list of diseases that will automatically disqualify would-be immigrants, but infectious conditions such as HIV-AIDS can decrease their chances of acceptance (Zencovich, Kennedy, MacPherson, & Gushulak 2006). Screening does not guarantee that the host country will receive immigrants that are healthier than its own citizens, but it does ensure that people with serious health problems are not allowed to immigrate; consequently, the cohort of immigrants coming to North America tends to be healthy.

The issue of immigration has become a major debate for everyone. Although people argue over the negative impacts of immigrants living in America such as overcrowding, less jobs due to immigrants taking them, drug trafficking, and threatening of American culture, immigrants still have a huge impact in the American society. The United States is by far the largest destination for immigrants, annually receiving over a million legal immigrants and about seven hundred thousand illegal immigrants. Many people come to the United States to get a better life for themselves as well as for the education system for their children.

Immigrants needed money to come to America. Sometimes they would get their money from 'loan sharks'. Loan sharks are unlicensed lenders who will lend you money when no one else will. They often target unemployed people, immigrants, or lone parents. The loan sharks would lend the immigrants money and they would recollect it along with a little profit from interest. Other times immigrants would get money from family already living here. Ellis Island could be heaven for one family, and hell for another. Many people were sent out, no matter what their age. Families were broken apart because some members would be sent back, and some were allowed to stay.

In the late 1800s , America became the land of new opportunities and new beginnings and New York City became the first landmark for immigrants. New York City was home to Ellis Island, the area in which migrants were to be handed for freedom to enter the nation. Living in New York City gave work and availability to ports. In time the city gave the chance to outsider's to construct groups with individuals from their nation , they were classified as new and old settlers. Old outsiders included Germans, Irish and, English. The new outsiders incorporated those from Italy, Russia, Poland and Austria-Hungary. In 1875, the New York City populace was a little 1 million individuals contrasted with the 3,5 million it held when the new century

Christopher Columbus landed on the shores of America back 500 years ago in the year 1492. Were he and his crew the first illegal immigrants in America? The land was occupied by another group of people that didn’t grant these explorers the right to have whatever they please without acquiring some kind of legal status. The topic of legal status might have been irrelevant back in those days but it surely is an issue that is widely talked about in today’s America. The issue of illegal immigrants has been a hot topic especially when it comes to discussing whether these people should be allowed to have health care provided by a government that doesn’t recognize their

Ellis Island was a place many immigrants came in hopes of seeing the new world. Many of the immigrants were faced with many obstacles, but nearly 80% of the immigrants who came to Ellis Island were let through to America. Many immigrants came to

Ellis Island by Joseph Bruchac and Europe and America by David Ignatow possess similar components regarding the American Dream. For example, both works include dreams, experiences, and disappointments of earlier generations. The poems differ within their similarities though through how the narrator feels towards their ancestors doings. To begin, Ellis Island discusses the dreams of two Slovak children who became the narrator’s grandparents. Lines nine through eleven state, “...tall woman, green / as dreams of forests and meadows / waiting...” The tall woman referred to represents the Statue of Liberty which stood proudly and greeted boats as they sailed to Ellis Island. At first sight, the monument became the “...answerer / of dreams” (16-17), for

Ellis Island and Angel Island presented an opportunity for success. People that wouldn't normally have a chance to succeed got to come to America and start a new life. Carl L Bankston talks about the travel to Ellis Island, “Doctors took one glance while immigrants go to the second floor. This was known as the "Six-Second exam" (Bankston, Carl L, 179). Rebman also talks about Coded Chalk Marks, she says, “A chalk mark drawn on the shoulder of an immigrant’s jacket or on his lapel indicated a wide variety of abnormalities. This system of coded chalk marks quickly identified immigrants needing further examination. Illness and medical problems were the most frequent causes of deportation. More than a dozen letters were used to indicate possible problems; for example, B: back, CT: trachoma, E: eyes, H: heart, L: lameness, Pg: pregnancy, Sc: scalp, X: suspected mental illness (a circled X meant definite signs of mental disease had been observed)” (Rebman, 24).

Today, New York City is the most populated city in the United States. New York City, NYC, is made up of five boroughs including Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, The Bronx, and Staten Island. Ellis Island, the first immigration station, and the statue of liberty are both located in New York. Immigrants went for more freedom in the 1800s and for economic and other opportunities back then and even now. Since NYC is such a large city, there are more job opportunities which draws people to the city. Also, there are an abundance of attractions and much more cultural diversity. All of these factors contribute to the reason the population is a whopping 8.538 million people!

Another major hardship that was faced by most immigrants was the way that they were treated. Often times they were treated like second-class citizens and were thought to be inferior to the natural born citizens. They also seemed to only be able to hold jobs that no one else really wanted to do, for very low wages. Most of the time people would

In 1892, the government made an immigration station on Ellis Island, in a bay between New York and Jersey City, New Jersey. Every day, hundreds or even thousands of people arrived by boat and pass through inspections as they arrived, potential immigrants were escorted through a quick health exam. As immigrants climbed up a set of stairs, officials watched for symptoms of illnesses, heavy breathing, and signs of mental disturbances. These were indications that the person might not be able to find or maintain a job. Doctors then gave a "six second physical" and checked for diseases, including a contagious eye infection called trachoma. Sick people were sent to a hospital on Ellis Island to be treated, and escorted through the same immigration process again. After the physical checkup, potential immigrants were asked a series of questions by immigration inspectors.

There was so many people from different countries wanting the same thing as we did. Ellis Island was covered with long lines of people waiting for inspection. This consisted of examination by a doctor and an interview with an inspector. If a doctor saw you as sick, you would have to stay at Ellis Island until you were well again. While with an inspector, immigrants were expected to answer questions like where they were from, whether they had relatives in America or not, how much money they had, could they read or write in any language, and if they had jobs waiting for them in America or not. Most Italian immigrants had to speak to the inspector through a translator because they did not know any English. I could many Italians “refer to the island as L'Isola delle Lacrime: The Island of Tears" (Grossman, 1993). We were amongst the lucky ones that did not get sick and have to be sent back to or homeland. We only had to wait about twelve hours before being passed and were able to stay and start a new life. While many Italian immigrants scattered across the states, my family felt as if it was in our best interest to stay close.

As Immigrants would come through Ellis Island and other places with a gleaming amount of hope, they would experience something totally different on the other side. Inside the US was this feeling of Anglo-Saxon superiority and therefore immigration was frowned upon in may areas. An immigration officer from this time period cited “early economic opportunity came to an end” as one of the major things that affected immigrant life. They [immigrants] were left to find day jobs working at the first opportunity that presented itself and then return to the tenement. Out of this pattern grew an extreme feeling of isolation. Immigrants lived in their own communities, socialized with their own, and slept with their own. Nativist feelings from the american-born community were real and present and ultimately the belief was to sleep, eat, and work for someone else and be content.

After World War One, Europe and Asia were in chaos. Many European people were without a home, a job and way of life. Desperate, hundreds of thousands immigrated to more stable and industrialized nations such as the United States of America. From 1915 to 1919, an average of over two-hundred thirty-four thousand immigrants per year came to the United States of America (Cohn 2). A large number of these immigrants came from Europe and were processed at Ellis Island in New York City. Forty percent of all Americans can trace their heritage to Ellis Island (United States Department of the Interior). Ellis Island was so overcrowded with people, the government hurriedly built dormitories, kitchens, and hospitals (United States Department of the Interior). When these people came, they arrived in over-crowded boats from unclean places. Due to widespread disease in the boats, there were many burials at sea. One of these burials quite ironically, was my great-uncle who was four-years-old. Upon arrival, from Italy, my great-aunt was buried. When the immigrants arrived, government