Immigration

1880-1914

“The largest mass movement in history.”

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Table of ContentsWhere are you coming from?Trip across the seaEntering America Life in the citiesWhat does the future hold?

Where are you coming from?

China RussiaEnglandIreland

Trip Across the SeaMing How Chow (Chinese rice farmer)Aharon Solomnik (son of Russian tailor)David Coppersmith (English cartographer)Michael Flannegan (Irish farmer)

Entering AmericaAngel Island

Ming How Chow (Chinese rice farmer)

Ellis IslandAharon Solomnik (son of Russian tailor)David Coppersmith (English cartographer)

Michael Flannegan (Irish farmer)

Life in America New York City

Aaron Simon (son of Russian tailor)

Boston, MassachucettsMichael Flannegan (Irish farmer)

 

RussiaYour name is Aharon Solomnik and you are a Jewish, ten year old boy. Your father was a successful tailor until the soldiers began setting restrictions. Now you have to be in your house at 6 pm and your father’s business is suffering. The soldiers are making life hard for the Jews. If a Jewish person is out after curfew, they are killed.

Head for AmericaDecide to Stay in Russia

Stay in RussiaYour family has chosen to stay in Russia. Now you cannot practice any Jewish holidays and several of your friends’ relatives have been murdered during pogroms. Your dad now wishes he had thought more about immigrating to America.

Buy a ticket nowTry Again

Head for America?You have many relatives who have already made the journey across the great ocean. Their letters tell you that they are free to practice their religion and the children can play on the streets in the evening. They all live with other Jews in New York City and feel safe and happy.

Buy a ticket nowDecide not to go

IrelandYour name is David Flannegan. You were a potato farmer until the potato famine struck. You now have no money and are struggling to support your family. The bank wants to repossess your farm and home. You don’t know what you are going to do.

Head for AmericaDecide to Stay in Ireland

Stay in IrelandYou decide to stay in Ireland and try to revive your farm. Your family has owned the farm for generations and you don’t want to give up on the tradition. The potato famine spreads and you loose everything. The bank takes over the farm and you and your family go to live with relatives in Dublin.

Buy a ticket nowTry Again

Head for America?You have sold your farm to the bank and gathered your belongings. You’re ready to leave Ireland right away. On the day you are to buy your tickets, you receive a letter from some friends that have been living in America for several years. They tell you that people are fighting for factory jobs, but they were lucky enough to get one and were able to rent an apartment.

Buy a ticket nowDecide not to go

ChinaYou are a single man who’s a farmer and owns a small piece of land. The Chinese government is imposing high taxes and you’re worried you will not be able to pay. Each day, you become more and more frustrated with the government. You have heard that America is a good place to farm, but you’re not sure if you could even afford the ticket.

Decide to Stay in China Head for America

Stay in ChinaYou decide to stay in China and conditions only get worse. You are having trouble finding another piece of land that is affordable. Taxes continue to rise and your government seems to be causing trouble in the surrounding areas. It looks like war may be in China’s future.

Try AgainBuy a ticket now

Head for AmericaYou are having trouble getting enough money for the ticket. You continue to farm, but floods wash away many of your crops. You decide to sell your land and seek out a better life. The money you made is just enough to start over.

Decide not to goBuy a ticket now

EnglandYour name is David Coppersmith. You are a single man who works as cartographer. When your parents died, they left you a good deal of money. You’ve decided that you’d like some adventure in your life and are thinking about moving. America sound like a great place to make money and start a new life.

Buy a ticket nowDecide not to go

Stay in EnglandYou decide to stay in England because you heard that a quota had been started for immigrants coming from England. You don’t feel like paying the money for a ticket and traveling if you’re not going to be let into the country. You continue with your business and save your money for a future adventure.

Try Again

Buying TicketsYou and your family could only afford to purchase tickets in steerage class. This ticket purchases you a room you share with others on the bottom of the boat. You have been warned that you can only bring one bag per person. You heard that the trip is tough and you know of a few people who have been sent back to their country because of sickness, but the pros out weigh the cons and you’re going!!!

Steerage Class

Coppersmith Buys a TicketYou get to the port to purchase your ticket and you see a line of finely dressed people with leather suitcases. You figure that is the line you should be in. The other line is full of screaming babies and people dressed in old clothing and holding ragged bags.

With your inherited money, you purchase a first class ticket to America. You plan on leaving in a week.

Begin your adventure

Chow Buys a TicketYou could only afford to purchase a steerage class ticket. This ticket purchases you a room you share with others on the bottom of the boat. You have been warned that you can only bring one bag. You heard that the trip is tough and you know of a few people who have been sent back to China because of sickness, but the pros outweigh the cons and you’re going!!!

Steerage Class

Steerage Class You travel across the Atlantic Ocean for weeks. You and your family often sit on the floor of the boat and get sores on your skin. The food is rotten and your sister contracts dysentery. The people who die are thrown overboard, but she is trying to hold on until you all get to America.

First site of AmericaContract dysentery

First ClassDavid Coppersmith

You enjoy your voyage to across the Atlantic Sea. You eat your meals in the ballroom. Each night, you take a warm bath and sleep in a cozy bed with clean sheets.

First site of America

Steerage ClassMing How Chow

You travel across the Pacific Ocean for weeks. You sit on the floor of the boat and get sores on your skin. The food is rotten and you become very sick. The people who die are thrown overboard, but you are trying to hold on until you get to America.

Continue to Angel IslandVisit the doctor

First sights of the Statue of Liberty

Dock at Ellis Island

Contract DysenteryYour sister is very

ill. The ship doctors can do nothing for her.

They allow her and some others in

steerage class to come to the deck

for some air. Your family will still try

and make it to America. First site of America

Enter Ellis IslandProcessing Center New York, New York

Flannegans

Solomniks

Find out about getting your

name changed,

registration,

medical exams and

literacy tests.

Enter Angel Island You wait several hours to get off the boat

with the rest of the people in steerage class. You don’t care because you’re finally in America. After waiting in a very long line with your bag, processors begin shouting words you do not understand. You are pulled to a line that says, “Medical Exam.”

Medical Exam

David Enters Ellis IslandProcessing center New York, New York

When you and the other first class passengers get off the boat, a processor is waiting to meet you. You’re quickly processed and face no hassles. A friend you wrote before you left is waiting to help you with your bags. He will share his apartment with you until you get your own place. He already has several high paying job interviews waiting for you.

Your trip to America has been great and you think to yourself, “My American Dream” is about to come true!”

Read another’s path

Doctor on Board You go to the doctor and he says

there is nothing he can do for you. You have a stomach and skin infection. He allows you to go back to steerage class and says, “Good luck entering America.” You’re not sure what he means, but you’re glad he let you go back to your room.

Continue to Angel Island

Medical Exam The doctors look at

your skin, listen to your heart and examine your stomach. They mark a strange letter on your shirt and send you to another line that says “Deport.”

Deportation

Deportation Although you don’t really understand what is going

on, you know it’s not good. They push you into a line where people are mumbling to themselves, hugging relatives and crying. Soon they begin to push everyone outside and you see a docked boat. You finally realize you are being sent back to China. Someone who speaks Chinese tells you you’re being sent back because you are sick. Your American Dream is over…for now.

Read another’s path

Dock at Ellis Island

You and your family make it off the boat. You think all your dreams are about to begin… You’re in America. Processors push you to follow the others inside. Registration

Solomniks at Ellis Island You wait in line for

hours and when you register, they change your last name from Solomnik to Simon.

Before you even have a chance to argue, they push

you into the line for the medical exams.

Medical Exam

Flannegans at Ellis Island

You and your family wait in line for hours. Finally, you receive your papers and go to the room where the medical exams are being completed.

Medical Exam

Medical Exam Your whole family goes through

the medical exams without problems, until your sister is examined. The doctor on the boat had given her antibiotics to cure the dysentery, but she still suffers from dehydration and seems weak. The doctors are unsure of what to do with her.

Sent to the Sick WardPass Medical Exam

Sick Ward Your sister is allowed to

stay three days in the sick ward. The doctors believe she will make a full recovery. They allow her to rest and then she passes the medical exam.

Pass Medical Exam

Literacy Test

Your family passes the medical exam, but now it’s time for the literacy test. They have to be able to read their own language.

Illiterate Literate

Illiterate

You decided to stay together even though some of you passed the literacy test and some of you didn’t. The processors mark a strange letter on your shirts and send you to another line that says “Deport.”

Solomniks

Flannegans

Literate Congratulations! You and

your family have passed the registration process at Ellis Island!!!! Processors hand you the papers and you and your family load onto the barge which will carry you to Manhattan. Family members are waiting for you at the dock!

Begin your American Dream

Deportation Although you don’t really understand what is going

on, you know it’s not good. They push you and your family into a line where people are mumbling to themselves, hugging relatives and crying. Soon they begin to push everyone outside and you see a docked boat. You finally realize you are being sent back to Russia. Someone who speaks Russian tells you you’re being sent back because someone in your family was either sick or illiterate. You cannot complain to anyone. Your American Dream is over…for now.

Read another’s path

Deportation Although you don’t really understand what is going

on, you know it’s not good. They push you and your family into a line where people are mumbling to themselves, hugging relatives and crying. Soon they begin to push everyone outside and you see a docked boat. You finally realize you are being sent back to Ireland. Someone who speaks Gaelic tells you you’re being sent back because someone in your family was either sick or illiterate. You cannot complain to anyone. Your American Dream is over…for now.

Read another’s path

Literacy Test

Your family passes the medical exam, but now it’s time for the literacy test. They have to be able to read their own language.

Tá neart cuimhne agam ar Chonall Néill Óig. Bhí mé 'mo leath-ghasúr mhaith mhór nuair a fuair sé bás. Agus ar ndóighe chuala

mé iomrádh air ó bhí airde do ghlúin ionnam. Nó b'annamh fear nó bean ar a' bhaile a dheánfadh tamall cómhráidh gan Conall Néill

Óig a bheith leo ar thús nó ar dheireadh an tsean- chuis.

Illiterate Literate

Medical Exam Your whole family goes through

the medical exams without problems, until your sister is examined. The doctor on the boat had given her antibiotics to cure the dysentery, but she still suffers from dehydration and seems weak. The doctors are unsure of what to do with her.

Sent to the Sick WardPass Medical Exam

Aaron Simon While in Russia, your family received a

letter from friends saying you could live with them until your parents found a job and an apartment.

They are waiting for you when you arrive in Manhattan. They help you carry your luggage to the apartment.

Go to the tenement

Going to the tenement The sights and sounds of

streets are so foreign to you. People are speaking all kinds of languages. Your friends tell you that all the apartments in their building are rented by Russian Jews. They live in an area called an ethnic enclave. You look around and see kids your age selling newspapers and shining shoes.

Inside the tenement

Inside the tenement Your friends show you

to the apartment. They share it with two men who pay rent. Sleeping is tight, but beds are rotated…when one person sleeps, the other works and then they exchange. This set up makes the apartment affordable.

Where’s the restroom?

Down the hall The restroom is shared

with other families who live on the hall.

The sanitation in the

tenement buildings is very poor. Trash is even thrown into the streets from the windows!

Time to find a job

Finding a job Your father is

able to get a job as a tailor working out of the apartment. Everybody has to help, but it’s still not enough. Even though you’re only ten, you need a job!

Work in a factorySell newspapers

Selling newspapers Your children are up at 4:30 a.m. to

pick up papers and stand out on the corner selling news-papers. People call your kids “newsies.” They work all day and sell the evening paper as well. They get home after dark and are not able to go to school; being able to afford the apartment is more important than school right now.

What’s in the future?

Factory Worker Your children get a job

changing spools of thread in a sewing factory. Children of all ages work there and it is very dangerous. It is dark and extremely hot during the summer. They arrive at work at 6:00 a.m. and leave at 7:00 p.m. When they get home, they eat dinner and go to bed.

What’s in the future?

What does the future hold? You and your family work long hours, often get

sick and have to fight others for jobs. The children eventually go to night school and learn English. Over time, you are able to save some money and move into your own apartment. Each small achievement moves you one step closer to reaching your American Dream. The streets are not “paved with gold,” but there are jobs if you’re willing to work hard, you can save money and you are free to be who you want to be!

You’ve accomplished the American Dream!

Down the hall The restroom is shared

with other families who live on the hall.

The sanitation in the

tenement buildings is very poor. Trash is even thrown into the streets from the windows!

Time to find a job

Finding a job You are able to get

a job in a factory, but the money is still not enough. Even though your children are young, they need a job too!

Work in a factorySell newspapers

Selling newspapers You’re up at 4:30 a.m. to pick

up your papers and stand out on your corner selling news-papers. People who walk by say “Hey newsie.” You work all day and sell the evening paper as well. You get home after dark. You are not able to go to school because you have to work to help your family.

What’s in the future?

Factory Worker You get a job changing

spools of thread in a sewing factory. Children of all ages work there and it is very dangerous. It is dark and extremely hot during the summer. You arrive at work at 6:00 a.m. and leave at 7:00 p.m. When you get home you eat dinner and go to bed.

What’s in the future?

What does the future hold? You and your family work long hours, often get

sick and have to fight others for jobs. The children eventually go to night school and learn English. Over time, you are able to save some money and move into your own apartment. Each small achievement moves you one step closer to reaching your American Dream. The streets are not “paved with gold,” but there are jobs if you’re willing to work hard, you can save money and you are free to be who you want to be!

You’ve accomplished the American Dream!

Michael Flannegan While in Ireland, your family received

a letter from friends saying you could live with them until you found a job and an apartment.

They are waiting for you when you arrive in Manhattan and will help you get to Boston. They carry your luggage for you. You are so happy to see friends and finally be in America.

Go to the tenement

Going to the tenement The sights and sounds of

streets are so foreign to you. People are speaking all kinds of languages. Your friends tell you that all the apartments in their building are rented by Irish folk. They live in an area called an ethnic enclave. You look around and see kids your children’s age selling newspapers and shining shoes.

Inside the tenement

Inside the tenement Your friends show you

to the apartment. They share it with two men who pay rent. Sleeping is tight, but beds are rotated…when one person sleeps, the other works and then they exchange. This set up makes the apartment affordable.

Where’s the restroom?

First sights of the Statue of Liberty

Dock at Ellis Island