Transcript Ellis Island

American Immigration
Ellis Island’s Story
Power point created by Robert Martinez
Primary source information: Ellis Island by Pamela Reeves
Ellis Island
New York City, NY
Four out of ten
Americans trace
their heritage via
Ellis Island. Like the
Statue of Liberty, it
has been a
powerfully evocative
symbol to
generations of
immigrants.
Mr. Martinez’s Grandmother:
Genevieve Menager Garza
My grandmother, third
from the left,
immigrated to the
United States from
France. My
grandmother like
many others passed
through Ellis Island.
The Menager Siblings from France
Class System
Ellis Island
showcased some of
the best aspects of
the United States,
but also some of the
worst. Its very
existence was
testimony to a class
system.
1st Class Ticket
Immigrants who could
afford a first- or
second-class ticket
aboard the big
ocean liners from
Europe were briefly
inspected aboard
ship and allowed, to
pass directly into
the United States.
Describing the lower decks, “Some…had sold
their clothes to raise the passage-money, and had hardly
rags to cover them; others had no food and lived upon
the charity of the rest; and one man…had had no
sustenance but the bones and scraps of fat he took from
the plates used in the after-cabin dinner, when they were
put out to be washed.”
– Charles Dickens, 1842.
Steerage Passengers
Only the poor were
required to undergo an
inspection at Ellis
Island, and the poor
comprised, by far, the
majority of immigrants.
These steerage
passengers-so called
because they traveled
in the lowest levels of
the ship – did not
always receive a warm
welcome.
Treatment of the immigrants on Ellis Island
varied over the years from tolerant to
scandalous, and even the most honest
and well-meaning administrators had
trouble getting rid of the men of prey who
tried to cheat the newcomers out their few
possessions or their often meager life
savings.
Indeed, the immigrants were easy marks,
having just completed an
uncomfortable or even wretched
journey across the ocean, stepping
onto shore in a country where they
knew neither the language nor the
money exchange-rates.
The island also drew legions of kindhearted
missionaries and ethnic-aid societies, whose
members guided their countrymen through
the entry process, past the lurking pitfalls,
and safely into the new land. The volunteers
helped immigrants locate friends and get
jobs.
Some immigrants were forced to leave their
homes because of war, famine, political ,
economic or religious persecution. Some
left unhappy family situations and struck out
on their own. Most were drawn by the
promise of a better life, and a country where
plentiful and hard work led to prosperity.
In 1845, Ireland was hit with a famine
stemming from crop failures of the
main peasant food- potatoes. Over the
next decade, 1.5 million Irish citizens
set out for the United States.
Irish Laundry Girls
These Russian orphans lost their mothers due
to political persecution in their homeland.
Ireland was not alone in suffering from
lack of food- in 1847, a shortage of
bread and potatoes caused rioting in
Germany.
Xenophobia:
the fear of strangers or foreigners.
Between 1880 and 1900, nine million
immigrants entered the country, the
largest number of new arrivals in any
20 year period. This alarmed many
Americans, in part because of a shift in
the nationality of the immigrants.
The earliest settlers in the U.S. were from
northern and western Europe, primarily
England, Ireland, Germany, and the
Scandinavian countries. When people from
southern and eastern Europe began to
predominate (Italy, Russia, Poland, Spain,
Greece, Eastern Europe, and AustriaHungary), Americans began to protest. In
1924, a stiff immigration-restriction law was
imposed.
A Jewish peddler on the streets
of New York City.
On the West Coast, there had been race riots
against the Chinese, who had comprised 17
% of the population and worked for low
wages for railroad builders. Feelings ran so
strong that Congress banned Chinese
immigrants from entering the United States
(Chinese Exclusion Act). The immigration
station in San Francisco is located on Angel
Island.
Industrialization:
Major Motive
Ellis island opened in
1892 in the midst of an
industrialization in the
United States that drew
eager workers from
dozens of foreign
nations; at its height in
1907, more than one
million people came
through its doors.
At the turn of the 20th century, America was
undergoing a major transformation from a rural
to an urban society. This change was
accompanied by huge growth in iron, steel,
mining, and lumber industries and such major
developments as the telephone, the automobile,
electric light, and the phonograph.
Thomas Edison and
his phonograph.
Henry Ford and his
Model T automobile.
Alexander Graham Bell
and his telephone.
The offshoots of industries required
millions of laborers and provided the
economic draw for those in less
prosperous European nations.
Despite some early mutual distrust, many
of the immigrants joined the newly
developed American labor unions,
eventually becoming a major force in
the movement.
Their struggle for such rights for the 8 hour day led to
bloody strikes and violent confrontations. In 1886
alone, there were nearly 1,600 strikes involving
600,000 workers, one them culminating in Chicago’s
infamous Haymarket Riot, in which 8 policemen were
killed and more than sixty people wounded. Many
Americans would blame the unions and their
immigrant members for causing the troubles.
At the same time as the labor classes, there was an
outcry against the abuses at New York City’s Castle
Garden, which had opened in 1855 as the nation’s
first receiving-station for immigrants. During its 35
years of operation, Castle Garden handled 9 million
immigrants, including labor champion Samuel
Gompers, the 1st president of the AFL-CIO.
Samuel Gompers, the 1st
president of the American
Federation of Labor.
Ellis Island opens it doors to immigrants on
New Year’s Day, 1882. The federal
government opens the new station because
of disrepair and corruption of the Castle
Garden Immigration center. Prior to the
federal government, immigration in New York
City was handled by state officials.
Ellis Island ferry
Ellis Island
The wharves were large enough to
receive immigrants from 2 ships
simultaneously. Once ashore, they
went straight into a giant hall and a
maze of aisles where they waited their
turn to talk with a registry clerk, and a
medical inspection.
After passing the medical examination, immigrants waited anxiously in
the Registry room to be summoned to an inspector’s desk for the legal
inspection.
Primary Evidence: Inspection Card
The inspection card,
dating from 1911,
gives the name of
the ship which the
immigrant traveled
to America, plus the
immigrant’s name,
point of departure,
and last residence.
Medical Inspections
A mother and her children wait for
medical examination. At the far
left of the photograph, a doctor
can be seen checking a child’s
eyes for signs of trachoma.
A doctor examines a woman who bears
a chalk mark on her dress, courtesy of
a sharp-eyed inspector.
Those who failed to pass the initial inspection
were “placed in a wire-screened enclosure,”
due to improper papers, or failed health
screenings. Sometimes paperwork could be
corrected. Sometimes immigrants were
placed in quarantine. Many times, these
immigrants were just sent back home.
Sometimes family members would be
separated.
The Ellis Island hospital and contagious
Wards contained beds for 700 patients.
Deportation:
Expulsion of someone from a country.
Immigrants who failed
inspection were often
sent home. Pictured
are immigrants who
are awaiting
deportation in an
outdoor area of Ellis
Island.
Having passed all inspections,
immigrants were permitted to send
telegrams notifying relatives of their
safe arrival to
America.
The rest were separated into groups,
depending on whether they planned to
stay in New York or were taken to
another destination.
Immigrants who were to travel
to their final destinations by
railroad had their railway tickets
pinned to their lapels.
At the Railroad ticket office, newcomers happy to have passed
inspections bought tickets to travel on from Ellis Island.
Restrictions on Immigration
As ever growing numbers
of immigrants looked
hopefully toward
America and the
promise of a new life,
Americans themselves
were reluctant to allow
immigration to continue
unrestricted. Congress
would implement
numerous restrictions
and quotas on future
immigration.
After World War I, immigration in the United
States dwindles due to Congressional
Quotas. During World War II, Ellis Island will
be used as a detention center for enemy
aliens (Germans, Italians, Japanese,
Hungarians, Romanians, and Bulgarians.)
1951
The once packed Registry room was quiet, its vast
spaces empty save for a few immigrant families.
Nativism:
opposition to immigration.
Its decline began shortly
after World War I, when
Congress imposed
severe restrictions on
immigration, reflecting
the attitudes of a
society grown weary of
foreigners. After 1924,
immigration slowed to a
trickle and Ellis Island
fell into disuse. It was
closed in 1954.
Ellis Island is now a restored
National Park and Museum
Approximately 17 million immigrants passed through the
gates of Ellis Island.
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