Coming to America By Amritpal Dhanjal

Inspections The immigrants had to take a medical exam before they boarded the boat to America. They did not pass the test for ringworms, lice, or for any other disease. They were ask 29 questions that involved if they insane, if they had 30 dollars or if they already had a job in America In addition, before boarding the steamship to America, the Europeans were asked if they were insane, anarchists, or prostitutes. If the answer to any of these questions was “yes,” then the immigrants were detained.

The Boat Ride to America The average cost of the ticket was for $12 or $250 now for lower class The lower class was the worst possible class ever. Some people said that they were treated like cattle. The third class cost for a ticket was $30. They were treated better than the lower class and had a quick exam unlike the lower class that had a exam outside.

Seeing the Statue of Liberty Riding on a big boat across the Atlantic Ocean may sound like fun, but it wasn't. The two-week trip was miserable! Our room was in steerage, way down in the bottom of the boat. It was lined with bunks, one on top of the other. It was uncomfortable and crowded. I went up on deck all the time, just to have room to move around. We hit many bad storms at sea. It rained hard, and I was wet and shivering. By the time we sailed into New York Harbor past the Statue of Liberty, I had a very bad cold. Still, I was up on deck, in my good white suit, cheering along with everyone else at the awesome sight of the statue. By: http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/seymour/chapter2.htm

Stairs of Separation U.S. Public Health Officials Watched them for signs of a number of illnesses. It took the Officials seven seconds to tell for any signs of any diseases.

The Great Hall Also known as the Registry Room, this was where the millions of immigrants were processed for admission to the United States. After applicants waited for hours, sitting on benches, or standing on line, an interview with the inspector would determine the their future.

Medical Exams Medical Examiners would mark chalk on you for anything that they thought was disease. Like itching of the feet or the head. A single sneeze or coughing. They would also mark you for any mental disability.

The Kissing Post The Kissing Post was the most emotional place in all of Elise Island. It was so emotional because it was where the immigrants met their relatives.

Life in New York Urban life was often filled with hazards for the new immigrant, and housing could be one of the greatest dangers. At the turn of the century more than half the population of New York City, and most immigrants, lived in tenement houses, narrow, low-rise apartment buildings that were usually grossly overcrowded by their landlords. Cramped, poorly lit, under ventilated, and usually without indoor plumbing, the tenements were hotbeds of vermin and disease, and were frequently swept by cholera, typhus, and tuberculosis. The investigative journalist Jacob Riis, himself a Danish immigrant, launched a public campaign to expose and eradicate the exploitative housing new immigrants were forced to endure. Tenement house, ca. 1890. In a room not thirteen feet either way slept twelve men and women, two or three in bunks set in a sort of alcove, the rest on the floor. A kerosene lamp burned dimly in the fearful atmosphere, probably to guide other and later arrivals to their beds, for it was only just past midnight. A baby’s fretful wail came from an adjoining hall-room, where, in the semi-darkness, three recumbent figures could be made out. The apartment was one of three in two adjoining buildings we had found, within half an hour, similarly crowded. Most of the men were lodgers, who slept there for five cents a spot. -- Jacob Riis, http://rs6.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/alt/italian6.html

FIN. Thanks to http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eihist.html http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Past.html http://www.ellisisland.com/ellis_home.html http://www.ellisisland.org http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/index.htm http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk/USAEjourney.htm http://members.shaw.ca/tromps/immgrant/imm.html http://library.thinkquest.org/26786/en/articles/view.php3?arKey=12&paKey=17&loKey=0&evKey=&toKey=&torKey=&tolKey= And others