Ship Boarding To America Research Paper

When the ship finally arrived at America. I was feeling excited yet apprehensive. I felt excited to see this new world that had been all the talk on the ship. However, worry was practically eating my insides; where would we go? What would we do? Would wild animals attack us? How would we earn our living? Would there be savages waiting for us? Where were we landing? Would we be sent back? What would the people be like? Would I still be able to go to school? Would we have to live off the land? (If so, I could take Carlotta and Sancho with me)! I could not bear the thought of another few weeks cooped up in that ship. Of course, I was nervous, and there were butterflies in my stomach, too!

I spent an entire day in my cabin feeling sick and eating ginger. The next day, I grew my sea legs, and was able to do some fun. There was resturants, pools, stores, art galleries, all kinds of stuff I was missing out on. I went to the cafeteria to eat breakfast the next morning, I got myself some bacon, pancakes, and ice cream. The people who worked there were all from foreign countries, so they rarely ever spoke any english. They mostly stood outside doors with hand sanitizer saying, “Washy, washy!”

I had never been on an airplane. My stomach felt like I had just eaten rotten fish and I was about to throw up. I was so excited to go, but at the same time I was scared because I had never been on a plane. We waited in the airport for at least an hour. Finally our flight was called, as I walked on the plane my heart was about to jump out of my skin. After the flight attendant had went through all the rules and we put our seat belts on the plane was going to take off. I thought the worst thing about the flight was taking off and landing. I didn?t like taking off and landing because my ears popped. Other than the fact that my ears popped taking off and landing the flight went smooth, we didn?t crash. When the plane landed, I couldn?t wait to stand on solid ground again.

In the poems on America many of the writers write about love for a certain view of this country.

The Ellis Island known today was founded by the New York State government in 1855 and it was the first immigrant processing station established in the United States. This maverick immigrant processing station was originally based on an island off the southwest tip of Manhattan, Castle Garden. The NY State Government placed this Immigrant processing station off shore for two main reasons. The first of those reasons being, for the protection of the immigrants who were often robbed or tricked out of their already meager funds by city swindlers. Also, to further prevent the spread of any infectious diseases that potential immigrants may have been carrying. Prior to the establishment of the Castle Garden processing station, Immigrants were allowed to simply walk freely into Manhattan harbor after departing from their ships. In April of 1890, due to legal issues, the castle garden project was ended and the US government purchased a swampy and small island to the to the southeast of Manhattan, where they would construct a new immigrant processing center and

Ellis Island was the stopping grounds from 1892 to 1954, for over twelve million immigrants, who entered the United States as a way to conquer new opportunities and live a better life that mirrors the American Dream . Ellis Island is a small island that sits in the S hadow of The Statue of Liberty right off the tip of Manhattan by the coast of New Jersey within the New York Harbor. It was the major harbor for immigrant’s entry, all who came, arrived by steamboats and had one to two weeks of travel. On the steamboat the passengers were divided according to wealth and class. The staterooms and cabins were designed for the first and second class passengers and the large open space at the bottom of the boat was called “steerage” this area was assigned

People say that coming to the United State would be a dream come true. I was born on September 21, 1998 in Thailand. I thought coming to America, my life will change to better rather than working so hard everyday and night at the farm to get just enough rice for the family. Even in the United State, my parent’s had to starve just so we can eat.

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!

From the start of the 20th century until today, immigrants haven’t been treated as equal as natives, however that didn’t stop immigrants from entering the US. America received a lot of immigrants up to 20 million, mainly coming from Europe. The immigrants went through a variety of check ups in Ellis Island, which determines their fate of entering America or not. The check up revolved around health. Ellis Island had a high acceptance rate, which was “Approximately 80 percent successfully passed through in a matter of hours, but others could be detained for days or weeks” (Ellis Island). As well as 80 percent sounds amazing, it isn’t the best because lots who made it had to leave family behind who got rejected. Also the article stated that

     It started like any other day up on the hills of Rhein, but that day had the scent of freedom floating in the air. The journey ahead of me had been teasing me for weeks, I was just so anxious to get away and start all over again. I had made certain arrangements before I left, our family dog was not allowed on the ship that we were going to be arriving in America, so I had my parents take care of the dog for us. It was a hard thing to do seeing that the dog had become more than just a pet to the children and I, for we almost would recognize him as a family member. Most of our possessions we were able to keep with us, but we had to keep the load light since it was going to be a tight stay in the steerage. I

Ellis Island was an immigration center located in New York Harbor. “At Ellis Island, some people were allowed to enter the united States right away, some were detained (held for a while), and some were deported (rejected and sent back)” (Levine). Some people called Ellis Island “Island of Tears”. Others called it “Island of Hope”. The United States ethnicity is so diverse because of the many different immigrants that came through Ellis Island to live in America. Ellis Island is a symbol of hope to many immigrants and their ancestors.

The Europeans visiting the America’s was the best foot forward. There are a couple downfalls to such a successful voyage. The downfalls were disease and warfare. The successful things do outweigh the bad. Without the European exploration we would not be here right now. Spain, England and France all contribution to exploration of North America.

My family and I came to America in search of a better life. The journey was a long and dangerous, but in the end, it was better for my family and me. I am from the Congo of central Africa and at the time the country had begun to recover from the war, but life was harsh. Living conditions were bad. Food and water were scarce, and soldiers would roam the streets terrorizing innocent villagers. But the worst problems came from home.

Upon boarding the ship my wife and children were separated from me. I did not know where they were or what they where going through for the duration of the ride. Nor did I know if they would be alive at the end of the trip. You see, we were among a slave ship. A ship with a crew that was so brutal, treating us in such cruel ways. I had never witnesses such brutality and neglect in my entire life.

My journey the day I left my home country in search of a better life was not as pleasurable or exciting as I expected. Although it was not a long flight, the accumulation of unexpected vicissitudes during the trip made my dream of traveling an absolute nightmare. Not only my sadness to be leaving my family behind, the uncertainty to fly alone and for the first time, or my inexperience with the procedures at the airport contributed to this calamity, but even my neighbor on the plane added his bit of sand in the affair. All this situation was such traumatic to me that I even considered never daring to fly again.