Then and now

WHY ELLIS ISLAND WAS THE GATEWAY TO AMERICA

The Population

The people of the USA: population, the society. Ellis Island - Gateway to America. Contribution of the immigrants to the national identity.

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When the first census was taken in 1790, much of the country had not even been explored, and much of it did not belong to the United States, but to France and Spain. The "western settlers" of that day were in the Appalachian Mountains.

By 1854, the United States had acquired the western part of the country by purchase and by treaty. This region had been unified politically, and there were about as many people living west of the Appalachians as east of them. At that time people seriously believed that the task of settling and developing the country would require at least 500 years. The speed with which it actually was settled is one of the most exciting stories in American history.

At first, the settlers pushed westward in thin lines along the rivers; then they began to fill the intervening spaces throughout the middle of the country. And there, dramatically, the movement of the popu­lation jumped to the Pacific.

As of the census taken in the year 2000 the population of the United States was 281, 421, 906. Just over three quarters of the people live in urban areas and the rest in rural areas. The peoples of the United States represent many cultures and ethnic groups from around the world. After a growth of 13 million since the 1990 census Hispanics (primarily from Latin America) number about 35 million people, just about equal to the number of Afro-Americans, who had previously been the largest minority in the country. Native Americans comprise less than one half of one percent of the total population. Minorities of Asian descent include Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese, as well as people from India and Pakistan. More and more people are now claiming to belong to more than one of the government's official ethnic and racial categories.

This may be hard to believe but it’s true: 9 percent of the population of Norway relocated to the United States during the 1880’s. And that was just the beginning. Another 27 million immigrants arrived on our shores between 1890 and 1930, most in search of a new life and a brighter future. For about 20 million of these courageous passengers, Ellis Island was their first stop. This is the reason why 40% of all Americans alive today have at least one ancestor who entered this country through that 27.5-acre portal in New York Harbor know as the "Gateway to America."

Way back, the local Indians called it "Kioshk’ or Gull Island but, later, it was known as Oyster, Dyre, Bucking and Anderson’s Island by the Dutch and English colonialist who replaced them. When Samuel Ellis bought it in 1770, only 3-acres was visible at high tide. Still, the Federal government purchased it from New York State in 1808 and by the start of the War of 1812, it was a major component of the defense system that encircled New York Harbor. The battery of cannon on Ellis Island, the other fortresses on Governor’s Island, at Battery Park, and on Bedloe’s Island, plus two more installations on the Varrazano Narrows at the entrance to the harbor, proved to be an impenetrable guantlet. With the help of landfill development, the size of Ellis Island has grown to 27.5-acres. Also, today, Bedloe’s Island is called Liberty Island and is the home of the Statue of Liberty.

Fifteen-year-old Annie Moore became the first new immigrant to be processed on Ellis Island.

"SEND THESE, THE HOMELESS, TEMPEST-TOST TO ME,....

The processing of legal immigrants used to be the responsibility of each individual state and in New York the task was accomplished at Castle Garden in Battery Park at the southern most tip of New York City. In 1890, however, President Benjamin Harrison designated Ellis Island as the first Federal immigration station in the country. As a result, a newly constructed facility began to process immigrants on the first day of January in 1892. Fifteen-year-old Annie Moore became the first new immigrant to be processed on Ellis Island. Five years later, in 1897, a fire leveled the entire wooden structure and destroyed priceless records dating back as far as 1855. Three and a half years later, on December 17, 1900, processing in a new main building resumed without further interruption until the outbreak of World War I.

After the war, immigration screening shifted from the home front to the many new US embassies being opened worldwide. Immigrants could now apply for visas and medical testing at US consulates in the countries in which they resided. So, by the end of 1924, Ellis Island was only used to house war refugees, displaced persons, or immigrants with document irregularities. In fact, the last person detained on Ellis Island was Arne Peterssen, a Norwegian seaman. Following his release in November 1954, the facility was officially closed.

Bob Hope, Frank Capra, Bela Lugosi, Baron Von Trapp, Irving Berlin, Max Factor, Xavier Cugat, Rudolph Valentino, and Igor Sikorsky all entered the USA through Ellis Island.

During 62 years of operation, Ellis Island, along with the ports of San Francisco, New Orleans, Miami, Savannah, Baltimore, Philadelphia and Boston, processed more than 27 million arriving immigrants while denying entry to only 2%. Nearly 1.25 million immigrants were processed in 1907 alone, more than in any other year in the history of the USA.

Ellis Island is closer to the New Jersey shore but officially within New York State.

Дата добавления: 2015-04-24