Most of the immigrants who arrived at Ellis Island were released into the United States within hours. Ellis Island is a historic site that initiated in 1892 as a station of immigration, a reason it attended for over 60 years until it shut down in 1954.
EXPLANATION:
When Ellis Island was initiated, major changes occurred in US immigration. Fewer entrances came from northern and western Europe—Ireland, Germany, the United Kingdom, and Scandinavian countries - as more immigrants arrived from southern and eastern Europe.
Among this new generation were Jews who had escaped from political and economic oppression in ruling Russia and also Eastern Europe (around 484,000 arrived in 1910 alone) and Italians who had escaped poverty in their countries. There were also Hungarians, Poles, Czechs, Serbs, Greeks, and Slovaks, along with non-Europeans from Turkey, Syria, and Armenia.
The purposes they left their home countries in the Old World involved war, famine, drought, and religious oppression, and all had expectations for greater opportunities in the New World.
After a difficult sea voyage, immigrants reaching on Ellis Island were marked by information from the registration of their ship; they waited a long time for medical and legal examination to decide whether they were suitable for entry into the United States.
From 1900 to 1914—the peak years of operation of Ellis Island—around 5,000 to 10,000 immigrants crossed immigration stations every day. About 80 percent were passed in a matter of hours, but many others could be apprehended for days or weeks.
Many immigrants stayed in New York, while many others went by barge to the train stations in Jersey City or Hoboken, New Jersey, on their way to their destinations throughout the country.
LEARN MORE:
If you’re interested in learning more about this topic, we recommend you to also take a look at the following questions:
•What was Ellis Island?
•A difference between Ellis Island and Angel Island?
KEYWORDS: Ellis Island, immigrants, immigrants in Ellis Island
Subject : Social Studies
Class : 10-12
Sub-Chapter: Ellis Island