Immigration at the Turn of the Century

Ellis Island was the "Golden Door" that lead immigrants to the free land of America. From the late 1800s to the early 1900s, millions of people passed through its gates in search of a new life in America. Now, nearly100 years later, people are still leaving their countries behind in hopes of a better, less oppressive life and coming to America. Some reasons they left their home lands were religious persecution, famine, or political oppression. Now, in the twenty first century, although times have definitely changed, the obstacles of immigrants are similar to those who came to America nearly a century ago.

A voyage was often the first step of the immigrants long journey to freedom. The people were packed onto ships and had to endure horrible conditions. They were treated like animals and given minimal food on their journey causing many of the travelers to die en route. After a voyage that cold last from one week to many months, the surviving immigrants had to enter through Ellis Island and pass numerous, rigorous examinations and questioning. If they didn't pass these exams, they were shipped back to their homeland.

Once on U.S. soil, the immigrants were looked down upon; Americans saw them as lesser people who carried disease, increased crime rates, and took jobs away from hard-working citizens. Cultural differences caused gaps between immigrants and natural born Americans and it was very difficult for the immigrants to find shelter and work. In present day, immigrants are no longer required to pass through Ellis Island but the issue of immigrants is still very controversial. Whether it is because of their poor English or their willingness to work for less money, immigrants are still often looked down upon, just as they had been at the turn of the century.

America remains the land of opportunity and our population is growing greater and greater each year because of these immigrants. Much of our hard work ethics and diverse cultures are thanks to the people who travel from other countries. As you can see, the obstacles of the immigrants from the 1900s are similar to those who are still coming to America now.

Sources:
http://teacher.scholastic.com/researchtools/researchstarters/immigration/
http://oah.org/pubs/magazine/gilded/koman.html