Ellis Island Research Paper

Immigrants needed money to come to America. Sometimes they would get their money from 'loan sharks'. Loan sharks are unlicensed lenders who will lend you money when no one else will. They often target unemployed people, immigrants, or lone parents. The loan sharks would lend the immigrants money and they would recollect it along with a little profit from interest. Other times immigrants would get money from family already living here. Ellis Island could be heaven for one family, and hell for another. Many people were sent out, no matter what their age. Families were broken apart because some members would be sent back, and some were allowed to stay.

Ellis Island, which was an immigration station, opened in 1892. Ellis Island was a place where Immigrants from all over Southern and Eastern Europe, Greece, Serbia and Hungary to name a few came to have a chance at getting into America. Immigrants came to Ellis Island for many different reasons such as war, drought, famine, religion, and political and economic oppression. Although coming to Ellis Island was one step closer to freedom, the immigrants still had many more obstacles to face. The immigrants had to face numerous medical inspections, and also legal inspections to make sure they were fit to come to America.

Because of a fire in ...Many of those immigrants were dealing with diseases that could kill them and many caught them all from people on or off the Ellis Island was the major US Immigration hub in the late 1800's and the early 1900's. Between the years of 1892 and 1954 some 12 million were processed at Ellis Island . To many, Ellis Island represented the gateway to opportunity and a new and prosperous life by way of the American dream. However to the 25 that were turned away from Ellis Island and denied entrance into the U.S., Ellis Island represented cold shutting doors of hopelessness and failure. Those that were turned away from Ellis Island were few percentages wise, but 2% of 12million translates into more than 250,000 dreams

According to History.com, “it is estimated that close to 40% percent of all U.S citizens can trace at least one of their ancestors of Ellis Island.” This information is important because it shows you how big of a role Ellis Island played in U.S immigration. Ellis Island was important to many immigrants because it meant freedom, new possibilities, and a new life.

Hundreds of years have past since many people immigrated here, to “The New World.” Life was difficult and many people died on the way here. If traveling by boat, it took about 2-3 weeks at sea. About one half of the immigrants docked in New York City and in Pennsylvania. Some immigrants went to Ellis Island before getting to America starting from 1892 until 1954. On Ellis Island, everyone got inspected for diseases and/or disabilities, in order, to make sure that these people coming in could support the United States economy. The inspections were one of the most dreaded parts about the trip, because if someone was not accepted, they would be sent back. ”The New World’s” population grew rapidly from the 1700s to the 1900s because people were trying to get away from crop failure, raising taxes, famine, religious restrictions, executions and/or to have a chance at a better life.

From the years 1892 to 1954, Ellis Island most famously used as a station to inspect and process almost twelve million immigrants that were coming in from all around the world. It’s located in the Upper New York Bay on an island that takes up almost twenty-eight acres of land; making it take up part of New Jersey. Even though that it was famous for being the first Federal immigration station, it has an important history long before this title.

Over twelve million people entered the United States of America through Ellis Island. Ellis Island is a small island in the Upper New York Bay. It served as the gateway to America. The Statue of Liberty was a gift given to America from France. In the late 1800s and early 1900s many of the immigrants coming from overseas were greeted by Lady Liberty when they arrived at Ellis Island.

There was so many people from different countries wanting the same thing as we did. Ellis Island was covered with long lines of people waiting for inspection. This consisted of examination by a doctor and an interview with an inspector. If a doctor saw you as sick, you would have to stay at Ellis Island until you were well again. While with an inspector, immigrants were expected to answer questions like where they were from, whether they had relatives in America or not, how much money they had, could they read or write in any language, and if they had jobs waiting for them in America or not. Most Italian immigrants had to speak to the inspector through a translator because they did not know any English. I could many Italians “refer to the island as L'Isola delle Lacrime: The Island of Tears" (Grossman, 1993). We were amongst the lucky ones that did not get sick and have to be sent back to or homeland. We only had to wait about twelve hours before being passed and were able to stay and start a new life. While many Italian immigrants scattered across the states, my family felt as if it was in our best interest to stay close.

However, this could be comparable because some of my family may have traveled through Ellis Island. If this was the case, I understood that they faced difficult times of getting into the country and were discriminated against; they also faced some of the same stereotypes that immigrants like myself face today. There are currently no lingering questions in my mind. However, I believe that everyone should receive a fair chance. Ellis Island has been a great part of immigration history and I am happy to have had the privilege to learn about that period in history. I am disappointed about the fact that America had the idea of wanting to sell Ellis Island and not appreciate that part of history. This kind of shows that we as a country do not really appreciate this part of history. Which is disappointing because most of America’s citizens descended from immigrants and “America was built on the back of immigrants.” Immigrants helped build this nation and they were an important part of the industrial revolution because of the low skilled labor they provided which helped build things like roads, bridges, high rise buildings and jobs that many Americans had no desire of

No humans live permanently on the island but there are scientists that live and work there. As the island needs to be protected, the number of humans allowed to visit is restricted and requires special permission to be able to visit. People can only visit one area of the island at a time so that damage doesn't occur and so that the plants and island don't get

After World War One, Europe and Asia were in chaos. Many European people were without a home, a job and way of life. Desperate, hundreds of thousands immigrated to more stable and industrialized nations such as the United States of America. From 1915 to 1919, an average of over two-hundred thirty-four thousand immigrants per year came to the United States of America (Cohn 2). A large number of these immigrants came from Europe and were processed at Ellis Island in New York City. Forty percent of all Americans can trace their heritage to Ellis Island (United States Department of the Interior). Ellis Island was so overcrowded with people, the government hurriedly built dormitories, kitchens, and hospitals (United States Department of the Interior). When these people came, they arrived in over-crowded boats from unclean places. Due to widespread disease in the boats, there were many burials at sea. One of these burials quite ironically, was my great-uncle who was four-years-old. Upon arrival, from Italy, my great-aunt was buried. When the immigrants arrived, government

Countless individuals connect the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island to immigration in the early history of New York/nation. However, we have records of immigrants long before 1886, when the Statue of Liberty was placed. The first of these immigrant settlers were primarily the Dutch, whose control was supplanted by the British in 1664 (Haberstroh, Web). Not until the mid-19th century did New York City see immigrants settling in great numbers. One of the earliest immigrant populations to settle on the Lower East Side in masse were the Germans. By the 1850’s the massive population

From the mid-nineteenth century to the mid-twentieth century, the United States of America witnessed the arrival of millions of immigrants. "Most of them were natives of Central, Eastern, and Southern Europe, Slavs and Italians looking for a better life and Jews fleeing from oppressive ghettos" (Kubic 4). It is estimated that during that period millions of immigrants crossed Ellis Island, the so-called door to America, upon their arrival at the seaport of New York. Throughout history the United States has been characterized as a country that provides new life opportunities. It was founded under the ideals of the Founding Fathers that provides its citizens liberty, equality, opportunity, democracy, and rights. Thus, it has become the haven for immigrants around the world.

Everyone stays clear from this island so they won't be cursed, but those who have ventured there have reported seeing ghosts, hearing eerie screams and finding out things have been moved around. An American TV presenter visited the island to enter the abandoned hospital for the Travel Channel series Ghost Adventures and claimed to having been possessed by a ghost there. Can you imagine anything freakier than a haunted island? If things take a turn for the worst, you can't just run out of it, you have to run out, get the boat started (let's hope it's a fast one) and then make your way over the water.

Whether you are a history lover, a carnival-bound reveler, a beach bum in search of solitude, a nature lover, a birdwatcher, a spring breaker, or a diver, you are guaranteed to find a corner of the Bahamas that will just suit your needs. The islands have a lot to offer to every visitor. The larger