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When we were on the ferry going to Ellis Island, I was amazed at how big Ellis Island was. I thought that it was neat that I was walking in a place where the immigrants had been. I read two books about things immigrants thought. The two books were I Was Dreaming to Come to America and Ellis Island Gateway to the American Dream. |
Some things that immigrants
said and thought were interesting. One person was marked for
something wrong with his leg and he said," Why do you want
to keep me overnight when I am a preacher?" He couldn't
understand why they wanted to keep him overnight because he
did not need his leg for preaching. Another person said," Why
don't the first and second class passengers have to go to
Ellis Island when this is a equal country?" Somebody's child was very
sick and when they tried to take her child to the hospital,
she thought they were taking her child forever. An
interpreter needed to explain it to her. For many immigrants the
experience at Ellis island was a scary and unhappy one. In
one of the books I read, it said that one out of five
immigrants spent days or sometimes weeks until the
immigration officers felt they met all the requirements to
come into the country.
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The majority of immigrants who entered America through Ellis Island came between January,1892 to June, 1897 and later between 1901 to 1931. The following chart will give you an idea of from where and when immigrants came: |
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Italy |
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Russia |
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Hungary (1905-1931) |
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Austria (1905-1931) |
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Austria-Hungary (1892-1904) |
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Germany |
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Ireland |
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Sweden |
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Greece |
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Norway |
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Ottoman Empire |
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Scotland |
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The West Indies |
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Poland (1892-1897and1920-1931) |
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Portugal |
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France (Including Corsica) |
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Denmark |
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Romania (1892-1897) |
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The Netherlands |
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Spain |
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Belgium |
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Czechoslovakia (1920-1931) |
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Bulgaria (1901-1931) |
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Wales |
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Yugoslavia (1920-1931) |
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Finland (1920-1931) |
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Switzerland |
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Animated Gif: |
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Picture 1: Baggage |