America has been called a melting pot, because it is a mixture of so many different races of people, and when they come to America they all become American. People immigrated to America for many different reasons, but several of the main reasons were: freedom from religious persecution, to own their own land, because of famine in their own country and for the opportunity to start a new life. Almost all immigrants from Europe had to come through Ellis Island in New York City. From there, they spread out around the country. Immigrants from Asia came through Angel Island in San Francisco. You can also visit the Scholastic site for additional information about immigration.

My favorite Ellis Island immigration site will allow you to complete a simulated journey from Europe to your new home in New York City. You can choose your identity and then complete the journey and learn about the life of an immigrant along the way.

This graph shows where immigrants to America came from at the turn of the century. The light green section in the middle shows the years 1880-1930. You may also notice that immigration has again been steadily rising (the far right side of the chart represents the year 2000). Also notice most of the immigrants from this time period came from Europe. To learn more about this graph click here.