Monday, October 31, 2011
Fall 2011 Immigration Stories Post
Write a 300-word summary of some of the interesting things you learned about Ellis Island and the immigrant experiences there. In your summary, include at least 5 unique or interesting stories or facts about the immigrant experience and/or Ellis Island. Save your summary to a Word document and copy and paste it HERE. Then respond to ONE classmate too.
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In the 20th century, comics in America were frequently based off of immigrants and ethnic groups. Surprisingly, several of the first cartoonists in America were immigrants themselves. For example, cartoonist George McManus created a comic depicting the life of an Irish immigrant worker who had made good, living with his extremely social wife.
In addition to the information about comic strips in the 20th century, a story of a woman who recently emigrated from Vietnam caught my eye. Due to a war with communist France in 1975, her family decided to escape their country and flee one by one in a boat. First heading to a refugee camp in Malaysia, they remained on a waiting list to enter America for about 15 months. Currently, she lives in Santa Ana with her four children and husband, one of her children just recently graduating from a university. She has been working on her English, and recently passed the citizenship oral interview, and is on her way to becoming an official US citizen very soon.
Regarding Ellis Island’s virtual tour, one can gather that all the emigrants were amazed at America and how friendly and kind the Americans were to them, in addition to the plentiful amounts of food available and healthcare assistance. In addition, several emigrants were just thankful to be on land again, due to the fact that several got sick while aboard the ships in crossing to America. Some feared the policemen in uniforms, and were reminded of the harsh officials back at their homelands. Unfortunately, if a disease was brought over that an American doctor could not determine, the person was often deported, crushing their dreams of entering America and the freedom she has to offer.
The Statue of Liberty, almost more famous than Ellis Island itself, is a symbol of America’s freedom waiting to greet emigrants from countries all around the world. Ironically, the statue itself was designed by a French architect, and was completed in 1884 and given to the US as a gift. Sent in pieces to the US, the statue was assembled and stands where she remains today, the lady of America.
I learned that the Statue of Liberty, officially Liberty Enlightening the World, was designed by French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi and completed in July 1884. I also learned ever since its founding in 1776, and even before then, the United States has attracted immigrants from around the world. Also In 1862 the first law restricting immigration was made by Congress. This was a law forbidding American vessels to transport Chinese immigrants to the U.S. Another thing I learned is in the United States, most Germans lived on the countryside. Only about two fifths lived in cities larger than 25,000 people. Also German-born farmers made up one third of the agricultural industry in the region. In 1850, less than 4,000 Italians were reportedly in the U.S. The Irish also found it convenient to take the affordable trip to Canada, where they could buy cheap fares to the U.S., or cheaper yet, they could walk across the border. Also 26,000 contract laborers from Japan in 1899 were imported to the Hawaiian Islands. The first Jewish immigrants that came to the United States were Sephardic Jews that were fleeing persecution by Portuguese rulers in Brazil. Also the Ashkenazic Jews were persecuted by the Sephardic. But all Jews living in the American colonies experienced persecution by the Christians and other religions. I also learned five interesting facts about Ellis Island. The first fact is Ellis Island didn't welcome all the newly arrived. First and second class passengers were screened aboard the ship and, unless ill, disembarked at the pier. Third class or steerage passengers were ferried to Ellis Island where they underwent a physical examination and were subject to a mental assessment. The second fact is immigrants that could afford a first or second-class ticket were thought to be a lower risk to society. The third fact is that Ellis Island has been called many different names. Local Indian tribes referred to it as Kioshk or Gull Island. The fourth fact is Ellis Island is 9 times its original 3-acre size. Earth removed from subway tunnels was used to make Ellis Island larger. The last fact is The island gets its current name from its last private owner, Samuel Ellis.
Ellis Island was often referred to as the Island of Hopes, but to those who were turned away from its gates this was not the case. Entering the country was not a simple task and some of the many tasks that must be done before becoming a citizen included dozens of tests, questionnaires, examinations, and interviews. If someone even suspected that you had a contagious disease a white chalk “X” was marked on the back of their jacket. Like in the case of one person whom was a Macedonian immigrant in 1916, who had a x marked on her back because of mysterious black warts on her hands. One nice man told her to turn her jacket inside out so that she would be able to stay with her family and would not be exported back to her country. One of the nationalities, the Irish, immigrated to the US for many reasons but one in particular was the potato famine in 1845. This caused many people to die of starvation, and with little to no money, the only option for these people was to flee to the US in hopes of a better life. 3.5 million Irish men entered the US between the years of 1820 and 1840 alone. A major advantage for these people was that most spoke English and therefore could better adapt to the American society. One Irish immigrant, from 1923, discussed the issue with everyone becoming sick on the boats. She stated how at one point she and everyone else wished that the ship would just sink already so that it would end their misery. The first symbol that many people saw as what would be the foreshadowing of their future was the architecture that went into Ellis Island. One person stated that they could tell that they would gain riches in America if a “gorgeous hall” likes that of Ellis Island, would hold so many poor. He continued to state that he knew that this country would be just because of this. Italian immigrants began their journey and immigration into the US in about 1880. Although there was an abundant amount of them entering the country, it could not be compared to the other nationalities that had already entered in many previous years before them who had already gained a head start. Due to this fact, Italians only made up 1.5% of the US population at its peak. Land was becoming limited because of such the increase in immigration and Italians were forced to reside to urban living rather than farming. The living conditions were often overcrowded and filthy. Like many others at the time, in order to conserve money, they often skimped food. Regardless of the nation in which these people emigrated from, everyone had the same purpose and that was to find a better life for themselves and their families. America would not be what it is today without the combination of these immigrants and Ellis Island.
I am just commenting on what Alyssa said about how congress set the first law that restricted Chinese immigration. Does anyone understand the exact reason why the Chinese were targeted by this rather than another natiionality? Like you stated Alyssa, I found it very interesting to see how many examinations people had to undergo before they were able to enter the country. This was brilliant on the US part as they could prevent many foreign diseases from entering the country this way as well as ensure that those immigrating were mentally stable.
I think it is extremely interesting that Alyssa stated that emigrants who had lower class tickets were thought to be lower risk to America. This is an obvious assumption, due to the fact that they seemingly have very little or no power to inflict or use against the US. In addition, I did not know that Ellis Island was actually named after the previous owner. Very interesting!
Reading all of the immigration stories really got me thinking. Growing up, whenever I read or watched something related to immigrants arriving and living in the United States, I never truly grasped what a huge change it had to be for not only the immigrants themselves, but the already citizens in America.
People came to America for many reasons, but many of them shared at least one thing in common. Whether they were looking for better opportunities, seeking money, have access to an education, hoping to build a good home for their family, escape poverty, discrimination, and violence, or simply wanted an adventure immigrants from all over the world would flood to America in waves.
One story I read was about a man names Long Vang from Laos. He was left behind by his older brothers and sisters because he wasn’t yet old enough to leave his country. A war began in his country and he ended up fighting in it, fearing for his life every day. Hoping to escape it, he fled the country intending to wait it out until the war ended. Finally, he was convinced to come to America and forget his country. His ending remark moved me though, “but I couldn’t. I still miss my home town where I was born.”
Unfortunately, while many newly gained opportunities and freedoms were gained; many immigrants faced discrimination and had to take the blame for any political or economic problems that occurred in the United States. One example was in the Chinese, who, while much of the rest of America’s population was occupied with the gold rush, took on jobs that had been left and needed doing. I never realized that immigrants were often blamed for things they could not really help.
From reading the immigration stories, I found that while many stories were filled with hardships, sadness, and maltreatment, many others told of kindness, generosity, and overall helpfulness of the immigration workers. This, to me was a relief since I had thought that most immigrants always had a very difficult time.
[Response to Caitlin F]
I never realized that many of the first cartoonists in America were immigrants. Often when I think about the jobs immigrants had back then I end up thinking about the history textbook answers, which gives me an an accurate, but average understanding of the immigrants. Before now, I never imagined them having any other kind of job outside of what the textbook listed or told me. I had always assumed immigrants were unable to venture out into different types of work or entertainment.
This was nice to know. :)
During the immigration from Italy starting 1876 and ending in 1976, the United States was the largest group of Italian immigrants in the world. Hundreds of thousands of immigrants from all over the world were migrating to the United States at the same time. American born citizens already made up majority of the ethnic group. Italians though, did plat a major role, socially individuals rising to national stature in different fields.
The Irish was divided during the nineteenth century and was helpless in the face of its grave problems. Bertha Devlin was an Irish immigrant in 1923 and said; "Oh God, I was sick. Everybody was sick. I don't even want to remember anything about that old boat. One night I prayed to God that it would go down because the waves were washing over it. I was that sick, I didn't care if it went down or not. And everybody else was the same way."
The first Jewish immigrants to the US were the Sephardic Jews that came in around 1654. Two years after the first American-Jew put foot on American soil, the first Jewish congregational was made in Dutch Colony which later became New York. An inspirational story came from Katherine Beychok who was a Russian Jewish immigrant in 1910 and she said; "I saw this man coming forward and he was beautiful. I didn't know he was my father. Later on I realized why he looked so familiar to me. He looked exactly like I did. But that's when I met him for the first time. And I fell in love with him and he with me."
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