Immigrant Experience Lesson Notes

•         Immigrants primarily from Great Britain, U.S, or some other European countries

•         Attracted by widespread advertising campaigns

•         Wooed with promises of cheap, fertile land, close to towns and markets

-Optimistic pictures of life in Canada

•         First step for an emigrant is to travel to the port of departure

•         Done by foot, cart, train, or river boat

•         This normally took a very long time

•         Queenstown was the main port of emigration for the Irish

•         About 3 million Irish left Ireland through this port

•         Emigrants had to wait to depart for either several days, weeks, moths, or even years

•         Before the 1850s, came from Europe on sail ships

•         Later on, ships with paddles and steam engines decreased the length

•         Length of crossings varied due to winds, tides, and other factors

•         Average trip was 8 weeks; could vary from 20 to 24 weeks

•         Steerage – below deck, where cargo is usually stored

•         Brutal conditions: no light, passengers packed in tightly, had to provide their own bedding, filthy, disease-ridden, water seeped through, one toilet for every 100 passengers

•         Turn to page 24 of Textbook

•         French and British ships made passengers cook their own meals

•         German ships provided meals for their steerage passengers

•         Sunday: salt meat, meal pudding, and prunes

•         Monday: salt bacon, pea soup, and potatoes

•         Tuesday: salt meat, rice, and prunes

•         Wednesday: smoked bacon, sauerkraut, and potatoes

•         Thursday: salt meat, potatoes, and bean soup

•         Friday: herring, meal, and prunes

•         Saturday: salt bacon, pea soup, and potatoes

•         Passengers were vaccinated mid-ocean

•         Try to eliminate diseases such as cholera, plague, small pox, or typhoid

•         On arrival, ships were inspected for sick passengers

•         They would be sent to a quarantine hospital to recover

•         Once they passed quarantine, they were taken to shore for a new life…

•         At the docks, they were besieged by scam artists and thieves who robbed luggage and sold phony tickets to the west 

•         Laws were put in place to protect the immigrants from scams

•         Every ship was forced to have a manifest (information of passengers)

•         Immigrants were checked-in upon arrival (i.e. name, medical exam, customs)

•         Services: provided currency exchange, purchase railroad tickets, find luggage, assistance

•         Many immigrants had letters waiting for them with money

•         Major problem: many immigrants had the wrong or insufficient information to move forward with their journey

•         Some places had immigration centers for accommodation