AMERICAN IMMIGRATION

#9: What did immigrants experience when arriving in America?

As ships docked all immigrants received landing cards (also called inspection cards) to show they passed health and baggage inspections.

1st and 2nd class passengers (the rich) were inspected on the ships, and then released so they did not have to stand in line with the poor.

3rd class (the poor, in steerage) had to be inspected in immigration processing centers – normally located on islands.

#9: What did immigrants experience when arriving in America?

Immigrants had two main ports of entry into the U.S. Ellis Island- a port to process European immigrants in New York

City

Angel Island- a port to process Asian immigrants in San Francisco, California

To enter the ports immigrants had to be healthy and show they had money, a skill, and/or a family member in the US to provide for them.

Immigrants had to go through a series of health tests and evaluations and could possibly be sent back to their homeland if they did not meet proper guidelines.

#10: Describe Ellis Island

Answer the following questions as you look thorough the following photographs of Ellis Island:

What did the immigrants look like? Describe their ages and what they wore.

How many people were in Ellis Island on a given day? Did they have room to move around?

Why different types of rooms do you see in the photos?

Do you think it was a pleasant experience to be processed in Ellis Island? Why or why not?

If Finished Early:

Check out Ellis Island’s website!

Under the Ellis Island tab click on the Timeline tab and read through it, as well as other features.

https://www.libertyellisfoundation.org/ellis-timeline