Ellis Island: Gateway to Freedom and Opportunity
In the 1800s, immigrants came to the United States for many reasons. Many suffered under the hands of brutal governments and dictatorships. Others wanted to escape religious bigotry and racial prejudice. Many were extremely poor and came for the promise of work. Famine in some parts of the world forced others to make the hazardous journey.
In 1891, the U.S. government created the Bureau of Immigration to oversee the arrival in the United States of new immigrants. More than three-quarters of those entering the United States passed through New York alone. The government ordered the construction of an immigration station on Ellis Island.
Facilities were built on the island to house and feed the immigrants while they waited for their identification papers to be processed. A state-of-the-art hospital complex was built to treat and cure most sick immigrants in order for them to be permitted entry into the country. Ellis Island was to become the first stop on the way to a new life for many newly arrived immigrants.
On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore, a 15-year-old girl from Ireland, was the first immigrant to enter the Ellis Island Immigration Station. Annie and her two brothers braved a very difficult journey across the Atlantic Ocean to be reunited with their parents who were living in New York City. They were not alone. Seven hundred immigrants passed through Ellis Island that first day.
In total, more than 12 million immigrants entered the United States through Ellis Island from 1892 until the station was closed in 1954. During its peak in 1907, nearly 5,000 immigrants a day came through Ellis Island. Studies show that 40 percent of Americans can trace at least one ancestor's entry into the United States through Ellis Island.
To help the island's visitors understand the history of immigration to the United States, the Save Ellis Island Foundation is trying to raise more than $300 million to renovate many buildings on the island's south side. The site includes the hospital, as well as a laundry, a kitchen, and a dormitory building. When the work is completed, it will help people today understand what it must have been like to immigrate to the United States through Ellis Island in the late 1800s or early 1900s.
For Better or Worse
Once they were officially admitted to the United States, the new Americans had to make a living for themselves. Millions settled in New York City. That city overflowed with thousands of skilled laborers who filled jobs as bakers, butchers, construction workers, and craftsmen, as well as jobs in the garment industry. Many lived in buildings called tenements. These places were usually overcrowded, dangerous, and full of diseases.
Lots of immigrants moved to the West to work on railroads, in mines, or on farms. Many states with small populations actually tried to attract immigrants. But, even with all of this opportunity, America was not as wonderful as many immigrants had dreamed it would be.
Often there were not enough jobs and many employers took advantage of immigrant laborers. They were often overworked for little pay. Many women and children worked long, hard hours in “sweatshops.” Some immigrants worked in factories up to 15 hours a day for about one dollar a week.
Building a New Culture
The large number of immigrants pouring into the country in the 1800s caused tension. Immigrants were sometimes subjected to verbal and physical abuse. They were bullied because they were different. Yet the diversity and culture that these newcomers brought with them helped transform the country into what it is today.
Today, over a million immigrants come from around the world each year to live in the United States. And, even though today's immigrants do not pass through Ellis Island, the island's museum and research center help people to remember the struggles of past immigrants.