Through the Eyes of an Imigrant

Kevin Doyle

History 137

Kris Cornelius

1-30-2014

The Journey toward the American Dream

Through The Eyes of an Immigrant

Many immigrants experienced journeys to the United States that were not quite what they expected to experience. The conditions during these voyages had improved greatly since the time of the first settlers but were still no where they needed to be.

The creation of passenger cruise ships did make the experience better. Sail boats were replaced by big steam ran ships. In the 1800’s the typical journal from Europe to Ellis Island took forty days, by the early 1900s that voyage had benn greatly reduced to about one week.

In order to help regulate this flow of immigration, the American government created processing centers on the coasts of the United States. A new immigrant center at Ellis Island was built in 1892. This Immigrant center was usually used by those who were immigrating from the European countries. On the West Coast, immigrants, mostly Chinese or Japanese, arrived through Washington or California.

Below is how I think the experience if I was an immigrant traveling from Europe to Ellis Island, to experience the American dream might go:

7 Jun 1896

It was a long trip here to America, from the port in Europe to what the Americans call Ellis Island. All I heard as I walked about the lower decks were people talking about the processing center we would all have to pass through. It also is probably wise to tell you that the ship I was aboard was very expensive and for that reason I had to purchase a lower deck pass which was cheaper. I soon learned why after arriving aboard the boat, the lower decks were filthy. It was very over crowed and there was hardly any room to move about the boat because everyone had all the belongings they could carry with them. After about forty day at sea I finally knew I would be able to stretch my legs and take a well-deserved and needed bath.

As I disembarked from the boat, Ellis Island officials...