Identify the immigrant experience in detail from the time a person or family reaches Ellis Island

RUNNING HEAD : The Immigrant Experience

The Immigrant Experience Beyond Ellis Island

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The Immigrant Experience Beyond Ellis Island

From 1820 to 1880 many immigrants came to the United States from Ireland , Germany , England and the Scandinavian countries . From about 1890 to 1920 , many more immigrants came from Italy , Austria , Poland Russia and various countries of southeast Europe . On the West Coast Chinese and Japanese laborers came to work on the railroads . The new immigrants , most of whom had been poor farmers in their native lands

br had trouble adjusting to American life . Though they spread out all over the country , the majority stayed in cities . There they lived with others from their homelands and thus many of them did not learn American customs or how to speak English . The cities became crowded and slums grew

Immigrants were the main source of cheap , unskilled labor for the growing factories . Timid and unaware of any rights they might have they often work for little pay . American citizens worried about the unending flow of immigration because they felt the immigrants threatened their own jobs . Organized labor clamored for more laws restricting immigration . In 1882 and 1891 , laws were passed to keep out undesirables persons such as criminals and persons with contagious diseases . For many years , Ellis Island , in New York harbor , served as a depot where immigrants were examined before they were allowed to enter the United States

The historian , Alan M . Kraut , in his book The Huddled Masses : The Immigrant...