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Liberty Island and Ellis Island in the bay of New York, with the skyscrapers behind: a strong symbol of freedom for a lot of Americans and for people all over the world.

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Ellis Island's first person: Annie Moore.

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Ellis Island's first person: Annie Moore.

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On January, 1st, 1892, young Irish girl Annie Moore was the first person to come to Ellis Island (the new centre for European immigrants).

She arrived with her two brothers from Ireland to meet her family in New York.

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Most immigrants passed the Ellis Island tests. In America, life was not always better than in Europe. But unlike in Europe, your dream could be true if you worked hard. You had the possibility to "make it".

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On Ellis Island, you can look for the name of your family member who moved from Europe  to America on the "Wall of Honor"

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Ellis Island closed in 1954. More than 12 million people went through it between 1892 and 1954. It is now a national museum. About 40 % of today's Americans had one member of their family who went through Ellis Island.

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Basic questions were asked to immigrants (identity ? job and family in the new country ? political opinions ? reasons for coming ? speak a little English ? etc).

A difficult language exam for the Italians, Russians or Polish, but very easy for the Irish or English !

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After a long and uncomfortable crossing of about 3 weeks, immigrants  were all so happy when they saw the Statue of Liberty ! Here in America, a new life was possible !

If they hadn't fled (= escaped) Europe, they would probably have died in a war or revolution, or of poverty. Yes, the American Dream was here, possible, with a bright future !

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All people were obliged to wait long hours in Ellis Island Great Hall. It was long, tiring, with all languages of Europe spoken, children crying ...

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Immigrants were much  afraid of this test: US officials looked in your eyes. They could detect a disease America didn't want.

If you had had this disease, you would have taken the first ship back to Europe !

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In 1892, the US governement decided to build a centre to process all immigrants from Europe. America wanted to get "good" immigrants, not anarchist or mad people !

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Immigrants got off at Ellis Island with very few bags and no US money ! The Dream was near ! But there were two tests to take before becoming American ...

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With the train, more immigrants had the possibility to go west. Gold had been found in California in 1848 ! The "Conquest of the West" was born.

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The English began to be interested in America (1619: the Pilgrim Fathers built "Plymoth colony"). English settlers came from Britain and created 13 different colonies.

The British left Europe and settled in the new colony: they grew tobacco or cotton (in the southern colonies).

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The origins: a continent with many different peoples, tribes, cultures, etc.

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The origins: a continent with many different peoples, tribes, cultures, etc.

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Native American tribes have been living on the wide American continent for a long time. They have common ancestors who moved from Siberia ages ago.

But slowly at first (the 13 original colonies) and then en masse from the east came strange people:  a different skin colour and a bizarre habit of taking land.

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The 19th century: en masse migration from Europe to the USA.

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The 19th century: en masse migration from Europe to the USA.

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Europe in the 19th century was no good place to live and gave no future. Famines, poverty, revolution, wars or diseases used to be very common. If they had stayed in Europe, many people would have had a very bad life.

Eurepean immigrants were attracted by the "American Dream". In the new country, they could make their dream come true. So, people moved en masse from Europe to the USA. The Indians could not resist this invasion and were wiped out or were pushed to reservations.