Immigration and Citizen Unit Lesson 3 - The Trip to America – Are We There Yet?

Objectives Students will develop a sense of empathy with the experiences of immigrants who came to America. Students will understand that societies and cultures are diverse, have changed over time, and have influenced one another.

Vocabulary Words motto: a short saying that explains the beliefs of a group of people immigrant: a person who leaves their home to settle in another country Immigration: the movement of people from their own country to a different country

Trip to America Many immigrants came to America in the 1800’s as America was growing and people were moving westward. How do you think people from Europe, Asia, and Africa traveled to America? If you said by ship your correct. How long do you think the trip lasted? The trips usually lasted many weeks. Do you think the people who immigrated to America during this time were rich or poor or in between? The people who immigrated were mostly poor. What do you think would be difficult about such a trip? Some of the most difficult things were seasickness, boredom, not enough food, and cramped living areas.

A Land of Opportunity? Most immigrants were sad to leave their old homes but hopeful about life in the United States. They thought America would be a land of opportunity, a place where they and their families. In the 1800, may immigrants came to America in crowded ships. For most of the passage across the ocean they were cramped in the big, dark bottom of the ship, called steerage.

Immigrants who could not afford to pay for a cabin on the first or second deck of the ship stayed in steerage. The tickets were cheap, but it was a large open area beneath the ship's deck. There were toilet facilities and no privacy. The steerage of a ship also held more diseases. It was originally built for storing cargo.

A Land of Opportunity There were no separate rooms. Everybody was jammed together. There were no sinks or bathtubs. The air smelled awful. If you had hard crackers and dried cheese to eat, you were lucky. Some passengers got sick, and in the crowed spaces disease spread easily. Weaker immigrants often dies before they even got to America. Today you will pretend to make a voyage to a new land. You will experience what it was like for immigrants to travel in a cramped boat heading to a land of opportunity.

Farewell Postcard Pretend that on are on the long voyage across the ocean to America. Write a postcard to one of you friends or relatives. On the front draw a picture of what you would see coming to America. The ship, the ocean, the Statue of Liberty or Ellis Island. Then on the back write a short note on the left side, telling what the journey to America has been like.

Immigrant Journey Simulation

Read Read the book All the Way to America: The Story of a Big Italian Family and a Little Shovel by Dan Yaccarino