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Life as an American Immigrant
College of Education, Grand Canyon University
HIS 144: US History Themes
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Life as an American Immigrant
Imagine leaving everything and everyone you have ever known, packing all your
possessions, and boarding a boat bound for a land you have never seen. This experience is what
the immigrants leaving Europe to come to America had at the turn of the 20th century. Men,
women, and their families uprooted their lives, hoping for something better. Coming to the New
World, these immigrants faced both familiar and new mental, social, and physical challenges.
This journal entry discusses what life would have been like leaving their homes, settling in a new
land, and establishing a life for themselves as American Immigrants.
The Voyage
In the early 1840s, life in Western Europe became a daily struggle when the potato crops
they sustained themselves on began to fail. Farmers lost their livestock’s grazing pastures as
landowners closed their once communal fields. During this time, in Ireland alone, over a million
people died. Men and entire families made the harrowing decision to board boats for America
with little to no idea what was in store for them. The mental toll this would have taken on
families would have been immeasurable. Before the steamboat became a common mode of sea
, travel, Irish emigrants would have set sail on ships that would take more than a month to reach
their destination (Anbinder, 2002). Life on these ships would have been cramped, with hundreds
of passengers. At the end of an arduous journey, they would have landed in a place like Ellis
Island or, before that, Castle Garden to be processed and sent on their way to establish a new life.
A New Start
One of the biggest driving forces of immigration to America was the promise of work. In 1840,
America was still a new country. “There were canals to be dug, railroads to be built, minerals to
be mined, forests to be cut, farmlands and prairies to be cultivated, and industrial plants to be
Life as an American Immigrant
College of Education, Grand Canyon University
HIS 144: US History Themes
2
Life as an American Immigrant
Imagine leaving everything and everyone you have ever known, packing all your
possessions, and boarding a boat bound for a land you have never seen. This experience is what
the immigrants leaving Europe to come to America had at the turn of the 20th century. Men,
women, and their families uprooted their lives, hoping for something better. Coming to the New
World, these immigrants faced both familiar and new mental, social, and physical challenges.
This journal entry discusses what life would have been like leaving their homes, settling in a new
land, and establishing a life for themselves as American Immigrants.
The Voyage
In the early 1840s, life in Western Europe became a daily struggle when the potato crops
they sustained themselves on began to fail. Farmers lost their livestock’s grazing pastures as
landowners closed their once communal fields. During this time, in Ireland alone, over a million
people died. Men and entire families made the harrowing decision to board boats for America
with little to no idea what was in store for them. The mental toll this would have taken on
families would have been immeasurable. Before the steamboat became a common mode of sea
, travel, Irish emigrants would have set sail on ships that would take more than a month to reach
their destination (Anbinder, 2002). Life on these ships would have been cramped, with hundreds
of passengers. At the end of an arduous journey, they would have landed in a place like Ellis
Island or, before that, Castle Garden to be processed and sent on their way to establish a new life.
A New Start
One of the biggest driving forces of immigration to America was the promise of work. In 1840,
America was still a new country. “There were canals to be dug, railroads to be built, minerals to
be mined, forests to be cut, farmlands and prairies to be cultivated, and industrial plants to be
