Ellis Island

                                                                   Ellis Island

I'm going to present Ellis Island

It is located in the port of New York (USA), more precisely in Upper New York, east of Liberty State Park and north of Liberty Island.  It's an island. The Statue of Liberty can be seen from Ellis Island, which is the first thing immigrants would see from their boat upon arrival.

From 1892 to 1954, more than twelve million immigrants entered the United States through the Ellis Island portal, Jews who fled the oppression of Eastern Europe and the peoples of Serbia, Hungary or Slovakia, who escaped political and economic oppression in their countries, mainly European countries (Italy - Ireland...) landed on Ellis Island.

Immigrants have decided to leave their countries of origin because of war, for example. At the time, many countries were in conflict situations. Moreover, the Irish, who escaped famine and poverty, like the Italians. So they decided to escape and try to start a new, better life, new opportunities and succeed in the United States.

 The first immigrants arrived in 1892 and at that time, they travelled by sailboat. Then, with the industrial revolution, they travelled with steam and motor boats.

Travel conditions were difficult. The boats were overcrowded and therefore noisy, especially when they were on board motor boats.

In addition, the people on board were suffering from hunger, thirst and disease were highly contagious. Immigrants were not allowed to enter New York City directly.

 First, they had to undergo a medical inspection (to see if they were in good health). At Ellis Island, immigrants had to be patient and go through different procedures to be registered. They had to be in good physical condition (especially men, who would need to find work once settled in the country), have no mental problems or mental illness, and their identity had to be verified (no criminals were accepted).

Most people manage to enter the USA: about 80% of people are accepted on the territory every day after only a few hours, and without needing more checks. Those with health problems were sent home or kept in detention rooms until they were cured. They also had to answer a test of 29 questions (including name - profession - job - money transported). 2% were refused admission to the United States.

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