Immigration in America

Table of Contents Introduction............................................................................................................................4 About Immigration to America..............................................................................................4 History of Ellis Island .........................................................................................................5 Reasons Why They Immigrated..........................................................................................5 Changes in Information .........................................................................................................6 Conclusion .............................................................................................................................6

Kim3 Outline I. Introduction II. Research Ideas A. Immigration B. Information about Ellis Island III. Conclusion

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Sophie Kim Mr. Rinehart Research Paper English Language Arts 8A 25 May 2011 Immigration in America Introduction In our ELA class, we have learned many topics and for this project, I have decided to do one about immigration in America. This topic was an inspiration theme from the book, A Step from Heaven.

About Immigration to America Sometimes, people chose to immigrate to another country. People desire to move into another country for better success. Many people have a dream of immigrating, especially to America. The United States has various country origins. This was because there were many immigrants in the past, as well as in present. Hundreds of years ago, people immigrated in America within the reach of Ellis Island, the immigration station. Not before it was created, there was a long history behind it, and as well as the amazing records that they have. People didnt come for nothing to America but they had good reasons. However, in order for them to have successfully become the immigrants of America, they had to fill in their records.

History of Ellis Island There is a great history behind the story of Ellis Island. Ellis Island is a small island in New York Harbor, which was the immigration station. Since 1892 to 1954,

Kim5 over 12 million people entered America through Ellis Island. The local Indian tribes first discovered the site and the land was called Kioshk or Gull Island. In 1770s, Samuel Ellis became the islands private owner. Before, it used to be a plain sandy island however it developed into a hang out place for pirates. Later, it became the harbor fort, ammunition, and also an ordinance depot. Finally, at last, it turned into an immigration station. Years later, the island was purchased by the Federal government in 1812. The immigration stations building was first structured with wood however it was burnt in 1897 and was rebuilt with fireproof bricks. It was re-opened on December 17, 1900. Sadly, all the records of the past immigrants until 1855 were lost. The first person to have entered the Ellis Island was a 15-year-old Irish girl named Annie Moore, with her two brothers as her accompanies. The last person to have entered was Arne Peterson, in 1954, when Ellis Island was closed down permanently. The history of Ellis Island was maintained in its 64years of opened immigration station.

Reasons Why They Immigrated The immigrants all came to America for many reasons. Some decided to come for: political freedom, religious freedom, economic opportunity, political refugees, and for being forced immigrates in slavery. There were some specific time periods of when there were immigrations to America through Ellis Island. In 1855 to 1890, 8million from Northern and Western Europe came to America. During 1830 to 1890, America had cheap land and plenty amount of space for jobs. This encouraged many people to come to America. From 1890 to 1924, many Jews came for religious freedom. The Italians and Asians decided to immigrate to work. During that time period, also the Russians came to escape persecution. There was a record of 1,004,747

Kim6 immigrants who were anxious to escape World War 1 on April 17, 1907. Ever since 1968 and now in present days, there are more immigrants to America because they come for greater chance of success. The reasons why immigrants wished to come to America was for safety, freedom, and career.

Changes in Information There were more than 12million people who have passed their immigration at Ellis Island. Everyone has record of his or her information. They need to identify their full name, birth date, and a place of origin. Also, their religion, ethnicity, and relative had to be known. Sometimes when they are recording their names, the officers there, may have written it in Americanized style that the spelling could have been changed. As for example, my English teachers ancestor has also gotten their immigration through Ellis Island and their last name spelling was misspelled while it was recorded. Even though it was an accidental mistake, they maintain the name that was changed during the immigration. The information was to be filled out in order for them to be accepted. However, the people were probably not satisfied that their original name had been changed.

Conclusion The country that many people long to immigrate is America. In America the immigration station, Ellis Island is where people immigrated in the past. In this research paper I have explained about the history, reasons why they decided to move into America, and the records that were made in Ellis Island. Even though, the place is now only a museum of millions of records of the immigrants, it still maintains its beauty of success that it had given for the immigrants.

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Citation Chao, Adam. "Immigration: Journey to America." Web. <http://library.thinkquest.org/20619/Eihist.html#> "Ellis Island- History." Ellis Island - FREE Port of New York Passenger Records Search. National Park Service. Web. 30 May 2011. <http://www.ellisisland.org/genealogy/ellis_island_history.asp - ES>. Unknown. "Why Did People Immigrate to America?" Dreams in the Golden Country. Web. 30 May 2011. <http://islandmemories.tripod.com/id1.html - A>. <http://www.ellisislandimmigrants.org/ellis_island_records.htm - Ellis Island>