New York City Tourism in a Blink

By: David Piacitelli
Manhattan became known as "the isle of joy". Many Europeans sold all they had and even went into debt

to pay for their passage to America. Some were denied entry and faced deportation. The decision whether to stay or return with loved ones was both emotional and traumatic. The rewards for coming to America

was great but also the risks were great.

The harbor was crowded with ships. Passengers waited to disembark as they drew nearer to the city's

skyline. They became awe-struck at the view of large skyscrapers and the sight of Lady Liberty. As they

stood on the docks they would be tagged with identification numbers. They were observed for signs of

sickness or infirmity, or mental illness. If they displayed any of these symptoms they were marked with a letter with chalk on his or her back. Through the confusion and shuffling and the different languages they

moved through a maze of passageways. A battery of medical and legal examinations were conducted by doctors with buttonhooks. They would snap back their eyelids to check for trachoma, a disease common

in southern and eastern Europe. Those who had it got an "E" chalked on their backs and would be sent

back.

About eight in ten survived and passed to the final ordeal of the examination with an immigration inspector. After all questions were answered with an interpreter their names were checked off the ship's manifest. When they got their landing cards they would go to the currency booth to exchange their foreign money into U.S. dollars. The Americans were handed over to the travel agent or the railroad men if traveling far. Many who could not speak English sought the help of an aid society.

The immigrants changed from a foreigner into an American citizen after filing naturalization papers, memorizing a few basics of American government, taking a verbal exam, and finally appearing before a

judge to take the oath. Many obstacles of learning a new language and culture were enormous for the

new citizens. Because of the different languages they gathered in sections of fast growing cities. This gave

rise to the ethnic neighborhoods like the Jewish quarter on New York City's East Side. German and French

religious refugees found freedom in the heartland and Midwest such as Pennsylvania. Many Scandinavians came to Minnesota and Wisconsin. New York, Boston and other East Coast cities grew dramatically. Chicago, St. Louis, and Omaha also grew. Eight million people came to the U.S. between 1870 and 1924. Detroit, Philadelphia and Newark are where a lot of the new citizens settled.

Many immigrants were happy to find work and citizenship in the new country. Equal opportunity gave everybody great promise to better themselves. They went from cheap labor to educated and successful individuals.

We decided to build a website on something we both liked(FOOD). This is a recipe website with meals we make that our families made as we were growing up. They are healthy meals for your family and great for a tight budget. We try to make shopping fun and it takes the edge off on living on a budget. I hope you enjoy it.

Pam and Dave http://www.easybudgetfriendlyrecipes.com