Michael Burgan - Ellis Island: An Interactive History Adventure

For the best You Choose experience,
view in portrait (vertical) orientation.

YOU are one of millions of immigrants who are leaving their homelands during the early 20th century to travel to the United States. When you reach America, your first stop is Ellis Island, just off the shores of New York City.

In this book youll explore how the choices people made meant the difference between life and death. The events and work youll experience happened to real people.

Chapter One sets the scene. Then you choose which path to read. Follow the links at the bottom of each page as you read the stories. The decisions you make will change your outcome. After you finish one path, go back and read the others for new perspectives and more adventures. Use your device's back buttons or page navigation to jump back to your last choice.

YOU CHOOSE the path you take through history.

Immigrants came to the United States long before Ellis Island opened in 1892. They came for many reasons. Some wanted to escape problems in their homelands, such as wars or . Some immigrants couldnt worship as they chose in Europe. Many came seeking jobs. For many, hard work led to a chance to earn more money than they could at home. Their children also had a chance to get an education.

At times friends and family members already in the United States pulled immigrants to the country. Letters talked about the land available in the west or the jobs in factories. Most immigrants of the 19th and early 20th centuries were young men. Some came to make money and then planned to return to their homelands. Others sent for wives, children, and other relatives once they found homes and jobs.

Immigrants often had few comforts on the ships that brought them to the U.S.

By the 1880s many native-born white Americans were alarmed by the growing number of immigrants entering the country. Americans also noticed a change in the immigrants. Previous immigrants had come mostly from northern Europe, Germany, and the United Kingdom. Most were Protestant, which was the major faith in the United States at the time.

Ellis Island in New York was the first stop for many immigrants.

But the immigrants of the 1880s and after came from southern and eastern Europe. Some were dark skinned. Many were Roman Catholic or Jewish. They spoke unfamiliar languages.

Some native-born Americans saw these new immigrants as a threat. These Americans thought the new immigrants committed crimes and spread political ideas that could weaken democracy. Some American workers also feared the immigrants would take away their jobs.

The first major law to limit targeted the Chinese, who settled mostly on the west coast. That law was passed in 1882. But soon other laws affected all immigrants, including the ones entering New York City. The number of immigration laws increased after 1890.

Ellis Island will be the first stop on your search for wealth and freedom in the U.S. At Ellis Island you see the effects of the laws meant to restrict immigration. If youre lucky, youll pass all the tests you must go through. If youre unlucky, Ellis Island might be your last stop before going back to your homeland.

You live with your family in a part of western Russia called the Pale of Settlement. The Russian rulers set aside this area for Russian Jews long before you were born. Now, in 1909, several million Jews live there.

You ask your mother why Jews are forced to live in this region and cant travel freely in Russia.

Because the Russians hate us, she replies. They think we take business away from them. They think Jews are evil. Thats why your father left for America. Soon we will too.

Your father left your village three years ago, after a . In these vicious attacks, gangs of Russians destroyed the homes of Jews. Sometimes they killed the Jews. People in your village escaped the violence, but you have neighbors whose relatives were killed. The police did nothing to stop these brutal gangs.

A house in Russia was home to eight families and included a grocery store.

You know a little about the United States from your fathers letters. In one he described his voyage there and his arrival at Ellis Island. Youll go there too. But first you and your family must travel to Hamburg, Germany. From there youll sail to New York.

You have a passport and your ticket for the ship. Mama also has money to show the officials in New York. Paupers, who are people without money, arent allowed into the United States.

The day finally comes to begin your journey. Your heart beats fast with excitement as you stand by your mother. Next to her is your brother, Samuel, and your mothers sister, Hannah. Shes going with you to meet her husband, who emigrated last year. Three large wagons wait in the village square to carry you and others to the train station.

The people jostle as they try to get into the wagons. You get separated from your family. Suddenly you hear a cry. Its Samuel! Hes lying on the ground. Your mother stands over him.

What happened? you ask after you force your way through the crowd to get to them.

He fell, and someone stepped on him! your mother replies, her voice thick with anger. I think he broke his foot. He needs to see a doctor right away. Go with Hannah. Well have to take another train. Don't worry. Well be OK.

You want to be with your mother and brother for this long trip. But you think of the ticket in your pocket and finally seeing your father again.

You look at your mother as you feel tears fill your eyes. Go with Hannah, she says. Everything will be fine.

Hannah squeezes your hand and then waves at your mother. You step into the wagon. As it pulls away, you wonder whenor ifyou will see Mama and Samuel again.

The wagon takes you to the railroad station. The train is even more crowded than the wagon. People are jammed onto benches and sitting on their bags, which are crammed into the aisles. You and Hannah finally find a spot to sit.

At the German border, several men get on the train. Two of them are police officers. They stop and question everyone on board. I think ones a doctor, your aunt says.

Speaking in Russian, the doctor asks about your health. No signs of cholera? Hannah says no.

As the men move on, you ask Hannah, Whats cholera?

A sickness of the stomach. If they thought we had it and could spread it, they wouldnt let us into Germany.