Ellis Island
The late 1800s to the early 1900s was a time for change. There were changes in transportation, immigration, and the government. Transportation let people connect with other cities without traveling for months to get there. The government changed a little by cities changing due to their low involvement with culture. Lastly, immigration changed a lot because thousands upon thousands of immigrants from different countries traveled on boats and cargo ships to America. Immigrants came to America for several reasons but the most important one was the American Dream. They came to America to give their children a better education and to have better lives for themselves. Many people in the 21st century may think that New York’s Ellis Island is the only immigrant port but there are other ports in Boston and San Francisco.
About twelve million people went through Ellis Island which is a small island in New York located just off the New Jersey coast, near the Statue of Liberty. Ellis Island used to be called “Kioshk” or the Gull Island. On this Island resided local Native American Indian tribes and it was owned by Samuel Ellis in the 1770s. This island started to become a local “hang out” for pirates. Even before the 1700s, Ellis Island was known as the Gull Island owned by the Mohegan tribe in the 1600s and it wasn’t any larger than two or three acres. By 1628 the Dutch settlers found out that there were many rich oyster beds which is why it was later named as the Oyster Island. Finally on January 20th, 1785 Samuel Ellis purchased the property and gave it its name of Ellis Island. After Mr. Ellis passed away, he gave the property to his grandson and later the island was bought by the state of New York and sold to the federal government in 1808 for ten thousand dollars. During 1876, the United States Navy used Ellis Island as the munitions depot storing 260,000 pounds of powder. After numerous complaints from New Jersey residents, the government removed the port in...
View Full Essay
