Continuities of Immigration in 1750-1900: Informative Essay

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Do you know how Immigration affected the lives of Immigrants and American People in the 1900s? All American excluding Native Americans are able to claim to of immigrated or have family that immigrated to America. Immigration to the United States was nothing new in America, but United States immigration reached its peak from 1880-1920.

The years 1880-1920 were the so-called ‘Old Immigration’ brought thousands of European (Irish, German) people to the Americans. These groups of people would continue to come, bringing even more ethnic diversity (new languages, religions) mainly from Eastern and Southern Europe. Most of the groups of Immigrants that came from America seemed different, but they had many things alike. Most of these groups had some knowledge of representative democracy, except the Irish who were protestant. Some had a small amount of wealth and were literate. These people can to America in boatloads in a time called the Gilded Age, this happened mainly in 1870-1900 because of economic growth. Most of these groups majority were Roman Catholic or Eastern Orthodox, with the increase in Jews in Europe many Jews were seeking freedom. Not many newcomers spoke any English and could not read or write in the Native tongues and without coming from a democratic government, the American government was as foreign to them as its culture. Most new cities became places for many of the poor and so places like Chinatown, Greek town, etc. were founded. Even with the harsh living and factories, many people agreed that the wages and food they could earn surpassed their old life.

The Central Government wanted to take control of immigration. So Ellis Island was built. The purpose of Ellis Island was to make sure that immigrants didn’t have diseases and were able to support themselves once they arrived in the country. Ellis Island opened in 1892. It’s located on the New Jersey side of Upper New York Bay. It was built on 3.3-acre mud blank, the island was named after the Island’s former owner Samuel Ellis, and in 1808 the heirs of Samuel Ellis sold the Island to the state of New York, later that year the Federal Government bought the Island for $10,000. The first immigrant to be processed at Ellis Island was Annie Moore, who at the time came with her two younger brothers to find their parents who were already inside America. The island processed over 12 million people over the years 1892-1924, and another 2.3 million from 1924-1954. In 1897 the first Ellis Island Immigration building was destroyed in a fire including immigration files dating back to 1855. On January 1, 1902, the second building was finished and is one of the first fireproof buildings. As the Island grow more buildings were built and the island expanded from 3.3 acres to 27.5 acres. What most newcomers feared the most was the processing this is because all newcomers had to take and pass and medical exam and had to be interviewed to see if they could support themselves, after 1917 they also had to prove that they had money and could read.

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