A land of immigrants
The original people of the USA are the Native Americans, who were nearly exterminated by the white
settlers. Except for them, all American people are immigrants or descendants of immigrants.
In pairs, talk about the charts,
comparing the situations in 1970
and 2007.
Can you think of any reasons which
might have brought about the
change shown?
Listen to a recording about Ellis Island and find out:
why it was called the ‘gateway
to the American Dream’
where the main groups of
immigrants came from
what happened to them at Ellis
Island
where most of the immigrants
settled down
what problems they had to
face in the new land
why the US was called ‘the
great melting pot’
To get an impression of what life for an immigrant was like, watch one of the following 10-minute
video clips taking notes:
-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQV11UQ8a0o or
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bS76WQ8D5-k