Abstract
The history of the United States depends on the idea of immigration. Ellis Island is the place where the thousands of immigrants started the new life during the period of the 1880s-1930s. As a result, immigration on Ellis Island contributed to the economic and social progress of the country.
Ellis Island
The history of the United States is closely associated with the concept of immigration as the source for the country’s progress and development of the American dream. From this point, Ellis Island is the place where the dreams of thousands of immigrants coming to the country during the period of the 1880s-1910s became a reality. Thus, the history of Ellis Island is closely connected with the aspects of immigration and its role for the society’s development. That is why, it is important to focus on such important and interesting moments in the history of Ellis Island as the contribution of immigration to the economic progress of Ellis Island in the 1860s-1880s, the experience of the Asian immigrants, and the impact of the immigration in the 1880s-1920s on the future generations.
To discuss the role of immigrants for the development of the American economy in the 19th-20th centuries, it is necessary to focus on the timelines describing the changes in the state’s policies related to immigration. During the 1850s, the Americans stated that immigrants could ‘steal’ jobs because the number of immigrants was constantly increasing. However, the situation changed in the 1860s, when the authorities accepted the significant role of the immigrants’ labor in the development of the country’s economy. As a result, it was stated that immigration could contribute to the increase of the nation’s wealth because of proposing additional labor resources. The role of immigration could not be ignored anymore. Many Europeans shared the idea of the American dream as the focus on well-being, freedom, and happiness, and they concentrated on the opportunity to come to Ellis Island (Ellis Island, 2010). The laws of the 1880s became more oriented to the aspects of immigration, and the numbers of people in search of better life increased.
Having examined the photographs depicting immigrants preparing for coming to Ellis Island, the families of immigrants, or immigrants in the dining room, it is possible to note that immigration influenced all the aspects of the people’s social life in New York. Immigrants spent all their money to come to the land of dreams and prepared for this event properly while using even new dresses for the special event. The photographs also demonstrate how immigrants coped with such challenges as the long journeys, special mental tests, and approval procedures to start the new life on Ellis Island (Ellis Island, 2010).
However, the acts of the 1880s were supported only by the European immigrants because the Asian immigration was intentionally ceased with the help of such initiatives as the Chinese Exclusion Act. Many Asian males, who had come to Ellis Island previously, lost the opportunity to bring their families to live in the United States because of the act’s limitations. As a result, many communities were known as the ‘bachelor societies’ where many Chinese male immigrants lived without their wives and children (Ellis Island, 2010). During the 1880s-1890s, only Chinese immigration was influenced by the specific acts providing the limits for coming to the United States, but during the 1920s-1930s, many immigrants from the other regions began to notice the changes in the American policies about immigration because of the focus on national resources.
However, today, it is important to pay attention to the impact of immigration on Ellis Island on further generations because of the Ellis Island patriots’ contribution to the country’s historical development. It is possible to focus on the personal stories of such patriots as Irving Berlin, Yogi Berra, and Ella Grasso. The stories of the persons are interesting because, in spite of the fact that these people represent different generations of immigrants, they acted as the real patriots of the United States. Thus, Irving Berlin is the composer of “God Bless America,” Yogi Berra is the legend of the New York Yankee and the fighter in D-Day Invasion, and Ella Grasso is one of the first female governors in the country (Ellis Island, 2010). These persons contributed to changing the history of the United States while coming from the families of immigrants. Referring to the examples of these persons, it is possible to note that the United States definitely influence the life of the immigrants, and these people share the ideals of the American dream as well as the other Americans because the country is the melting pot, and the question of immigration should always be into account because of the extreme role of immigration in the development of the country’s history (Ellis Island, 2010).
Thus, the history of Ellis Island is one page in the history of American immigration, which influences every aspect of the social and economic life in the country. During the 19th-20th centuries, the immigrants struggled for coming to Ellis Island because they believed they could improve their life, and they made all possible to gain benefits not only about their personal life, but they also influenced the whole social structure and relations.
Reference
Ellis Island. (2010). Web.