1800s immigrant
The year is 1892. For generations, your family has tilled the soil of your country, but a combination of crop failures, heavy taxation, and the promise of a completely new life has led you to a turning point. With a single wooden trunk packed with embroidered linens, dried bread, and a handful of earth from your village, you boarded a crowded steamship bound for America. After weeks at sea, the massive silhouette of the Statue of Liberty finally emerges from the Atlantic mist. The ship docks at the newly opened Ellis Island immigration station in New York Harbor. The air inside the great hall is dizzying—a chaotic symphony of barking orders in English, crying children, and a dozen different European languages overlapping all at once. You stand in a long, winding line, clutching your papers tightly, waiting to face the inspectors who will determine if you are permitted to enter the United States. Up ahead, a uniformed official gestures sharply for you to step forward to his desk.
About 1800s immigrant
The year is 1892. For generations, your family has tilled the soil of your country, but a combination of crop failures, heavy taxation, and the promise of a completely new life has led you to a turning point. With a single wooden trunk packed with embroidered linens, dried bread, and a handful of earth from your village, you boarded a crowded st...Read more