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1841-1850-- 434,626 1846 } (98,000) } 1851 } (408,000) } New York } Amount of People entering port in New York (Altogether) 1855 } (161,000) } Germans immigrated to US because seeked religious/political freedom, economic opportunities, and fresh start in US. Castle Garden, in New York, is one port that immigrants used from 1830 to 1892. (Located in New York City) Come over from country on a boat, got to port and go through building, in building get questioned about name, age, birth date, family members and then Settled with others that spoke their language New York City was a place where many Germans settled Medical check to see if they are healthy and don't have contagious diseases Prove which country from Exchanged home country's money to money used in America Took ferry to Manhattan to begin their new life Used Marks in Germany in 19th century

1. Guten Tag! My name is Sophie and I am originally from Deutschland, or as you may call it, Germany. I have light brown hair, light skin and blue eyes. I am nine years old and I am a bit short for my age. My parents say that I am adorable, but I am certain that all parents say that about their children. 2. I sighed as I sat on my bed staring out the window. I missed all of my friends that were back in Germany. My family and I had reached port in the United States just a week ago on May 30, 1851, coming from our home country of Germany. 3. I thought back to my old lifestyle. It was much different here in the United States. Our culture was so much different in Germany, but to fit in, in a different country, I knew that I had to change. Another reason that I was willing to change was because, I realized how hard my parents worked to get to America and earn a living back in Germany. 4. Money seemed to be very tight in our household. That is the main reason that our family moved to the United States. My parents thought that they could earn a better living in America and that there would be more opportunity. 5. We were not the only family that moved. My friend, Lucas, had moved a year before we did, because his family wanted more religious freedoms and a change in government. Another one of my friends, Hannah, had moved as well. Her family just wanted a fresh start in America. 6. It seemed as if all that I had done since we got to America was lye down on my bed, resting or sleeping. The long journey from Germany had made me quite ill. Our entire family had suffered from sea sickness the whole trip, and there was no proper medicine on board. 7. The boat ride over to America was over three weeks long and it was very unrelaxing. The boat was not huge compared to the other ships with immigrants on board and had to fit one hundred people, who were coming to America as well. 8. Each small room had to fit two families. We were paired with another family from our town, in Germany. Besides the living space, the food was also not the greatest. There was mostly potatoes and beans for meals. The entire boat voyage was just horrible, but it did help us accomplish our goal in the end...to reach America! 9. After weeks of living on the boat, we finally arrived at New York at the port of Castle Garden. All of the families filed out of the boat and onto the dock that was just before a huge building. There was a great amount of confusion. People from many other boats were all traveling towards the building and it was quite crowded. I got separated from my parents! I was terribly afraid, but luckily I found them a few moments later. 10. People were speaking in all different languages. I happened to recognized French, English, Spanish, Italian and of course, German. They were all speaking different languages, but everyone had something in common...they were traveling towards the huge building. Being only nine years old, I had no idea what this building was for, but soon enough, I would find out. 11. The front of the building had a faint coat of paint that said "Castle Garden Immigration Port". My mother gently held my hand, and we slowly entered the building. Inside, there was a bit of a line to a door that was guarded with two security guards. The line moved slowly and I started to fall asleep...standing. My mother gently shook me an hour later. I opened my eyes and I was in my father's arms in front of the door, right before the guards. 12. One of the guards showed us all through the door. We were in a large room that was bare besides one desk that was in the middle of the room. A man was sitting their with a clipboard and he was writing something. My parents luckily could English speak fairly well. I could not speak English at all. The man looked up from his clipboard and said something in English that sounded like "He-llo". 13. He started talking to my parents in English. He then started asking them questions and after, my parents would answer them. I was not sure what they were exactly, but my mother told me later that he was asking them questions like their full name, age, date of birth and their family members. They gave the man honest answers and stated that their reason for coming to America was because they were looking to get better jobs that payed more. 14. Then, as my mother told me later, they had to prove from which country we were from. My father pulled out all of our birth certificates from one of our bags. The man seemed like he was satisfied. He spoke to them in English once again, and my parents dragged me through the next door. I had no idea why we had to do all this, but it seemed very easy. 15. The room that we were in was small and there was a man who was clearly a doctor. My parents put me on a stool and the doctor came over to me. He did a basic medical exam; he checked my heart, throat and made sure that I was all right and did not have any illnesses. When he was finished checking me, he checked my mother and father. They seemed fine and in a matter of minutes from coming in to the room, we were out! 16. The next room that we were in had a large counter at the front of the room. There were many people at the counter and they were handing out a strange type of money. We had to wait in line for several minutes and then the man at the counter said something in English to my father. 17. My father took out his wallet and gave the man some Marks, which is the kind of money that we use in Germany. I wasn't sure why my father had done this, but then the man pulled out that strange type of money from a cash register and gave it to my father. My mother told me that we were exchanging the money that we used in Germany to the type of money that they use in America, so that we could pay for things here. 18. Again, we had to go through another door, except this one was made of glass and I could see outside. This had two security guards, like the door that we went through when we first got to America. They spoke in Engish and my parents took out their birth certificates, just to make one last check that we could come to the America. And then we pushed the door open... 19. That brings us pretty much up to where we started started at...me sick, lying on my bed. You may be wondering what happened to us afterwards. Well, we took a walk through...I believe they call it...New York City? I got my first real sight of America, even though I was not feeling well from the journey. My father had arranged that we stay in an apartment building, just a few blocks down from the port, Castle Garden, so that is where we are staying for now, as we are still tight on money. There were many German families in our apartment building, so it will be nice to make some new friends. 20. I do miss Germany and my friends and family very much, but I am anxious to get a good look at America and their culture...just as soon as I feel better. There was so much that we had to do to be able to immigrate to America. I will remember this experience forever, and it will be something to tell to my kids that will be passed down from generation to generation. I know that we are going to be happy living in America, and maybe I could end up enjoying living here more than in Germany. Das Ende! (The End!)

http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/immigration-statistics.htm http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/immigration/tour/stop1.htm