The King of Mulberry Street + Ellis Island Immigration

The reasons the new wave of immigrants in the late 1800s and early 1900s made the journey to American differed little from those of their predecessors.  Escaping religious, racial and political persecution, or seeking relief from a lack of economic opportunity or famine pushed many immigrants out of their homelands...  

The New Colossus (Emma Lazarus)

Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land;

Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.

“Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!” cries she

With silent lips. “Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!”

Many were pulled to the United States by contact labor agreements offered by recruiting agents (known as padrones to the Italian laborers).  Hungarians, Poles, Slovaks, Bohemians, and Italians came to work in coal mines or steel mills.  Greeks and Russian and Polish Jews preferred the textile mills and needle trades.  Pushcarts were also a business opportunity for immigrants in the big cities.

Railroad companies advertised jobs and free or cheap farmland.  They distributed pamphlets in many languages, bringing agricultural workers from places such as Norway and Sweden to the western farmlands.  The vast majority of immigrants, however, crowded into ever-growing cities, searching for a chance to make a better life for themselves and their families.  

Our spine read for this unit is The King of Mulberry Street

Access more US History units in the American History Novel Studies Bundle!

Includes sixteen unit studies covering American History. Each unit addresses a new topic, spanning the Revolutionary War to Vietnam.  Each unit has introductory text, which will give the student basic background information about the topic at hand.

• There are photographs and illustrations, and we have also included primary documents when available.
• After this text, there are featured videos, which augment the background information and help make the topic more accessible for more visual students.
• You will also find a short list of reading books, including a featured novel that the unit builds upon.
• There are vocabulary words, places, and people to identify.
• Reading comprehension, critical thinking questions, and writing assignments are included.
• We add fun with hands-on activities and extra videos to watch that will bring the era to life.
• Some units also have cooking projects.

These studies are directed toward upper grades students, but some have resources for younger students so that the whole family can work together. Our family has used unit studies as curriculum for many years, and we hope that your family will enjoy these, too!

Product sample:  Paper Son & Angel Island Immigration  & Within These Lines & Japanese Internment

Includes:

• Casualties of War & Vietnam War
• No Promises in the Wind & the Great Depression
• Out of the Dust & the Dust Bowl
• The Watsons Go to Birmingham & Civil Rights
• Dusty Sourdough & Alaska
• The King of Mulberry Street & Ellis Island Immigration
• Paper Son & Angel Island Immigration
• The Red Menace & McCarthyism
• Johnny Tremain & Faces of the American Revolution
• Sounder & Sharecropping
• World War II Code Talkers
• Flashback Four: Hamilton-Burr Duel
• Within These Lines & Japanese Internment Camps
• Flashback Four: Titanic Mission
• Flashback Four: Lincoln Project
• The Diviners / The Great Gatsby & Roaring Twenties