Airhead101's+19th+Century+Immigration+Stuff

Airhead101's 19th Century Immigration Stuff
http://nhs.needham.k12.ma.us/cur/kane98/kane_p6_immig/russian/eklbab.html


 * Many from Germany, Ireland, and England.
 * Most arrived in New York from boats
 * Russian Jews immigrated because of the persecution, discrimination, fear, and economic problems they faced in Russia.
 * CT, NY, PA, OH, and NJ = most common places to settle for Russian immigrants
 * Russian people had problems communicating with the officers at Ellis Island
 * They told the officers their names which were later shortened
 * They were tested for different diseases before allowed to roam the country

Story Book

 * Page 1.)** Privet! Or how you say it hello! My name is Kseniya, and I am from the Russian Empire, which is known as Russia today. I am 10 years old, have light brown hair and green eyes. I live in St. Petersburg with my mother, father, and my younger brother, Alexei.


 * Page 2.)** As I was coming home from school with my two friends, Alisa and Izabella when my parents told me to come inside. They told me to say goodbye to my friends and come into the living room with my brother. They said they had exciting news for us.


 * Page 3.)** I walked into my house with much curiousity. What were my parents going to tell me that was so surprising? Were we moving to Moscow? Oh, how I love to roam through the streets there. Was my mother having another baby? One younger brother is bad enough. I didn't know what to expect.


 * Page 4.)** When I came into the room with my brother, my parents were already sitting down on the couch. Once we were all seated, my mother told us that we would be immigrating tomorrow. Immigrating is when you move to a country you were not born in. I was excited to hear the news but, I was still sad to leave all my friends behind here in Russia.


 * Page 5.)** I went up to my bedroom, packed my suitcases and my dolls and I was ready to go. I kept one doll in my hand, and she was my favorite. She had red hair and a blue dress with a little white apron like the one my mommy wears when cooking. As I waited for my parents to be done packing, I hugged my dolly tight to make sure that I remebered all the good times I had in Russia.


 * Page 6.)** When we were all packed up, we walked over to the metro, known as a subway in America, and headed for the port where all the boats depart. When we arrived there were many people crowded around with their belongings and their children. I squeezed my dolly tight and followed my parents and my brother to the front of the crowd.


 * Page 7.)** We all sat down and waited for the transportation boat that would carry us to the new place I would be living in. Соединенные Штаты Америки! The United States of America! I was ready to leave Russia, there are many problems here in my country. There was discrimination, fear, and money problems. My family didn't want to face all this, so we are going to live in America where there are none of these problems.


 * Page 8.)** The boat drew near and came to the port. Officals were standing at the front of the boat and signaling that we were allowed to board. People ran to the boat, scattering to get a spot to sit on the long trip over seas to get to America. My father grabbed mine and Alexei's hand and we ran together on the boat. My mother had already found a perfect spot to sit, so we joined her.


 * Page 9.)** Once all the immigrants were on board, we set sail. I couldn't stand the first hour of the ride. It was loud and crowded. When it was time to have dinner, the food was terrible and we were only given a small amount each. There were little kids crying and screaming, jumping and running around. I couldn't hear myself think, and I couldn't get to sleep with all the noise. There were also people of many classes. Some were rich, and others were poor, and some others were in the middle, just like me.


 * Page 10.)** The next morning, I woke up early; around 5:30 am. My brother was already up and so were my mother and father. They were all reading books that they had taken with them on the boat. When I woke up, I grabbed my dolly and walked to the outside of the boat, where I could look out at the deep blue sea. Many people were getting sea sick, others were getting different kinds of diseases, and some people were dying because of lack of food or sickness.


 * Page 11.)** We walked back to my mother and brother and sat down with them. My father was starting to organize lots of different papers. There were papers for citizinship, birth certificates, and others that were needed for security when we arrived. My parents could speak some English. They knew basic words and woud be able to comunticate with the officers at security.


 * Page 12.)** Communication was a big problem for me. I couldn't speak any English. English sounded like a very complicated language. It had funny letters and the sounds were strange, and I didn't know if I could adapt to that. In Russian and on the boat, everybody spoke Russian so it wasn't a problem for me.


 * Page 13.)** Many days had passed by, though it seemed like a very long time, and my daddy said that we were about to arrive in America. My heart was pounding. I was so excited to finally get my new country. I saw land coming towards us, and a big statue of a lady with a book, torch, and a crown on her head. I read about her, they call her "Lady Liberty". I couldn't believe that I was actually seeing a statue showing off the new country.


 * Page 14.)** The boat finally arrived in Castle Garden, the New York City Port. My family and I all got off the boat. I looked around. I saw so many tall buildings and many people walking around along with other immigrants. There were no buildings as tall as these in Russia. In Russia, their were a lot of houses and small brick buildings. Here, there are buildings that look like they touch the sky. Afterword, the officals lead us to the security table where we would show our papers.


 * Page 15.)** The people at the desk asked about all our birth certificates and citizenship papers. My daddy gave the officals the papers and they quickly looked through them. They handed them back to my daddy. They said, "Walk over there, ple-ase". So my brother and I followed my mother and father over to a different station.


 * Page 16.)** Other people checked us for any diseases and issues. They said they wouldn't let anyone with diseases into the United States. Thankfully, the 4 of us were in perfect health. The officals showed us the exit and now we were on our way. We walked outside to the busy streets of our new home. Their were people buying food and clothes and other things. This was the new place I could call home, in my 10 years of being in Russia


 * Page 17.)** My family moved to Brooklyn, where a lot of the Russian families live. My parents now work in a factory and me and my brother both go to school. We both learned the English language. We learned with difficulity but we managed. Now I am proud to tell my story, because I am one of the families, that immigrated to America.