Immigration



Immigration

Did you know that all Americans are immigrants? An immigrant is someone that has left the place they are from and moved to another. Evidence shows that our species first showed up in Africa 2.5 million years ago. From Africa, humans spread all over the world. Some humans made it all the way to North and South America 30,000 years ago - - we call these people Native Americans. Others went to Europe and Asia.

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Push Factors

In Europe there is a country called Russia. In Russia most people believed in a religion called Christianity, but there were also many people that believed in a religion called Judaism. The Christians were in control of Russia and never treated the Jewish people as equals. The Jews were blamed for all sorts of things in Russia – disease, bad weather etc.. By the 1800’s the Russians wanted to take the Jews land away and take their things. Russian people that did mean things to Jews never got in trouble so they would organize “pogroms”. A “pogrom” is when townspeople gang up on a group and attack them.

By the late 1800’s, pogroms against Jewish people in Russia began happening more and more. Many Russian Jews wanted to move to a new country where they could live in peace, and not be treated poorly because of their religion…

1. Summarize why Russian Jews wanted to move to a new country.

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Pull Factors

Many people in Europe believed that moving to America would solve all of their problems. The European people heard stories that “In America the streets were paved with gold”, and that everyone was rich in America. They also knew that the US had a Bill of Rights that protected many freedoms people did not have in Europe. They also knew that they could find jobs in America because of the Industrial Revolution and that the US gave away free land in the wild west…

2.) Which pull factor would be the most important to a Russian Jew?

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The Journey Across the Atlantic

Many Russian Jews sold everything they owned (home, clothes, family heirlooms) and left their villages with nothing but what they could carry. The money they got from selling all of their things was used to get tickets aboard trains to the Atlantic Ocean and then tickets onto great steamships that would take them across the Atlantic Ocean to New York City in America.

Most immigrants were poor and had to ride in “steerage” across the Atlantic Ocean. These trips took weeks and the steerage passengers would live in awful and dirty conditions. Many died on the crossing because of the diseases people got from unclean conditions and rotten food.

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3. If it were you, was the dangerous trip worth it? Explain why or why not.

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The Statue of Liberty

The Statue of Liberty was designed and built in pieces by the French. When the pieces arrived America it was assembled (like Legos or a puzzle) it was finished in 1886. It is a statue of the Ancient Roman goddess of freedom. She holds a torch in her right hand and holds a tablet that has the Declaration of Independence on it in her left - - at her feet are broken chains that show how the Americans (and French) once used to be controlled by kings but have broken free.

One of the main reasons the Statue of Liberty has become so important to Americans is because it was the first part of America that immigrants saw as they sailed into New York City. Once they saw the Statue of Liberty they knew they had made it and that they were free to start over in a new place.

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4. Put yourself in the shoes of a Russian Jewish immigrant - - what would you feel as you sailed by the Statue of Liberty?

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Ellis Island

Before immigrants were allowed to enter the country they had to be checked out at Ellis Island in New York City. The immigrants were taken off of their steamships and put into lines where they waited to be processed by American officials. The Americans checked the immigrants for disease and made sure they had skills that would get them a job. Those that had disease, were criminals or had no job skills were sent back to their country- but 98% of those that came to Ellis Island were made US citizens. Often when a name was hard to pronounce, the immigrants were given more “American” sounding names. One third of all Americans today had an ancestor go through Ellis Island.

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5.) Why did the US make immigrants go through Ellis Island?

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New Immigrant Life…

When immigrants finally arrived in New York City they quickly found out that even though they may be free in America - - they would have to work hard to be successful. There were lots of Americans waiting to take advantage of the new immigrants - - some even tried to sell them the Brooklyn Bridge as a trick! Most immigrants moved to neighborhoods where there were many more immigrants like them. The Irish stayed with the Irish, the Jewish people lived with other Jewish people etc..

Many immigrants had to live in “tenements”. Tenements were tiny dirty apartments. The immigrants lived in tenements because the city was crowded and they could not afford anything better. The immigrants mostly worked in factories for low pay– even kids worked in the factories. The immigrants did not like working in the factories, they worked hard so that their children and grandchildren could have a better life.

The combination of immigrant workers and the industrial revolution made the US the richest country in the world.

6.) Do you think that the immigrants thought the journey was worth it once they found out the roads were not “paved with gold”? Explain why or why not.

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