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In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, millions of Europeans left their loved ones and all that felt familiar to come to America in search of a new life. Starvation and poverty drove people to abandon everything they knew. Irish tenant farmers left the "Emerald Isle" in droves after the Potato Famine of 1845-1847. In Great Britain, more than one third of the population departed over a 75-year period, as the government encouraged its poor citizens to immigrate to ease over population and indigence concerns. Others immigrated for religious reasons. Willing to face a perilous journey, the immigrants all shared a secret dream, a hope. America had no king they heard. Poor men could become rich in the vast land of opportunity. Untouched acres waited for homesteading and gold spilled from the ground. America embodied a dream worth pursuing, a risk worth taking. But as they bravely bid their families good bye with long tearful embraces and left the shores of their beloved homelands, the journey was just the bdginning. A long treacherous sail across the Alantic lay ahead providing myriad hours to contemplate the harsh reality that many would be turned away even if they survived the trip. With little more than the coats on their backs and a few coins in their pockets, many immigrants were welcome to America by the Statue of Liberty, a glorious vision that replaced the long journey's miseries with hope. Alas, for some, this joy faded quickly at Ellis Island, as the newly arrived immigrants were herded into holding pens and forced to wait for hours, days, or weeks before learning their fate.
Please Do Not Snag Tile
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In Operations from January 1892 until November 1954, the Ellis Island Immigration Station sits in New York harbor at the mouth of the Hudson River, one mere mile from the tip of Manhattan, but a lifetime away if an immigrant didn't get permission to pass through the immigration gates. Only the steerage passengers were required to go through health inspections, as first and second class cabin passengers had their medical examinations on board and most were sent their way. The rest, called the "great unwashed", had to be sorted before being released into the "Empire City".
Please Do Not Snag Tile
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The first order of business called for a physical examination. As the immigrants walked through the Great Hall, some were marked with chalk symbols determining their status. Doctors conducted "six-second physicals", identifying medical conditions at a glance. Next, the immigrants were asked a series of questions, including name, occupation, and financial worth. (With good health and a little money, a man was considered a desirable immigrant and the doors of the Promised Land flew open.) Poor immigrants also had to pass reading, writing, and history exams. The wealthier ones did not. Only 12 million of the 17 million immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island between 1892 and 1924 were able to "touch" American soil. For the rest who were sent back, Ellis Island was known as "Heartbreak Island" or "The Isle of Tears." But for most it was the beginning of a new adventure and a chance to live the American Dream.
Please Do Not Snag Tile
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| In the era of sailing ships they came. In the era of steam ships they came. And when the great ocean liners dominated, still more came. How did your ancestors arrive on American shores? Most likely by ship. In the 1840s, nearly 3,000 trans-atlantic voyages were made, carrying more than 650,000 Irish escaping the famine. Immigrants traveled in wooden sailing ships like the three-masted barque Dunbrody, primarily a cargo vessel meant to carry timber from Canada and cotton from the southeastern U.S. Once the cargo was unloaded, shipmasters quickly converted teh storage compartment into a makeshift steerage for travelers. Loose boards, laced over the bilges, served as temporary flooring, and rows of cramped berths were fitted with straw for bedding. The ship companies would pack the immigrants in like cattle, eager to take their money.
Personally i think thats just awful packing people in like cattles the price they paid for coming to America. Please Do Not Snag Tile
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| It took one to two months on average to sail across the Atlantic, good weather permitting. Sometimes the ships sank due to faulty navigational tools or the captain's ineptitude. Supplies of food and water frequently ran out. Crowded into dark and dank quarters, the already sick and hungry passengers contracted typhus and cholera in alarming numbers. So many died at sea that these transporters of human cargo became known as "coffin ships" or "fever ships." Later, Immigrants came in steamships like the iron-hulled England. In the spring of 1866, a great tragedy occurred as the ship headed to New York. Hundreds died from a cholera outbreak and quarantines were imposed. On into the twentieth century before the age of the airplane, Immigrants first saw Ellis Island from the bows of the Britannic, the Lusitania, and the Queen Elizabeth marvels of steam engine transportation and great symbols for their nations. What's even more astonishing? Our forebears, who endured such perils at sea, then had to start from scratch and make a new life in America. Personal Comment: That is quite a journey in deed, Now seeing like how i can't swim i would be worried something would happen with the ship and i drown odd the ship is closer to water than a plane to the ground, yet i am not afraid to fly. Please Do Not Snag Tile
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