Summary on ellis island - Essay Example

Mugisha Omary Ms. Chastity Holman Spring History 1302 Ellis Island With a large number of immigrants coming to the United s in search of work and to gain civil liberties, it became important for the US government to regulate the number of immigrants. Especially after World War I and World War II, large numbers of immigrants began passing through as war refugees. Ellis Island served this purpose. Elis Island opened for processing on January 1, 1892. During its time, millions of immigrants passed through its gates and into the United States.

Many people who live in the United States today can trace at least someone in their lineage back to Elis Island. At this station, immigrants were required to submit to medical examination in which those that did not pass were sent back to their respective countries. Also, while they were there, it was required to give their information in order to be on record with the United States. Sometimes, due to the lack of interpreters and the different languages and dialects being spoken, when signing in the book names would be written on what they sounded like resulting in the change of the last name.

Towards the end of Elis Island, the US government started restricting the number of immigrants coming through when both the Immigrant Quota Act of 1921 and the National Origins Act of 1924 was passed. Eventually, the facility was closed down. In 1976, Elis Island was turned into a tourist facility in which people interested in their family’s genealogy could trace their ancestry back to. It serves as a testimony to all those immigrants who braved the challenges to make it over here and how America was their opportunity for a new life.

Bibliography Moreno, Barry. Ellis Island. Great Britain: Arcadia Publishing, 2003. 73-78. Print. Szucs, Loretto . Ellis Island: Tracing Your Family History Through America's Gateway. 10th ed. Provo, UT: Ancestry Publishing, 2000. 2-10. Print.