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Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920 is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on how immigrants arrived and how they were treated, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.Geo.7.3-5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 17 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920

D2.Geo.7.3-5

NameDate

Read each text, then answer the questions.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

Irish Immigrants and the Famine

An information text written for this worksheet. From 1845 to 1852 a disease destroyed the potato crop in Ireland, the main food of most poor families. About one million people died of hunger and disease, and more than one million left Ireland, most of them for the United States. Many arrived in Boston and New York with very little money. They dug canals, built railroads and worked as servants in other people's homes. Many Irish immigrants faced prejudice, partly because most were Catholic in a mostly Protestant country.

  1. 1. Why did many Irish immigrants face prejudice?
  2. 2. Why did so many people leave Ireland?
  3. 3. What destroyed Ireland's potato crop?
2.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

Leaving the Mexican Revolution

An information text written for this worksheet. The Mexican Revolution began in 1910 and brought ten years of fighting to Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of people crossed the border into the United States to escape the violence. Many worked on farms, railroads and in mines across the Southwest. They built neighborhoods in cities such as Los Angeles, San Antonio and El Paso. Many Mexican American families in the Southwest had lived there since before the land became part of the United States in the 1840s and 1850s.

  1. 1. Why did so many people cross the border?
  2. 2. Why might newcomers settle in Los Angeles, San Antonio or El Paso?
  3. 3. Why is it wrong to call every Mexican American family in the Southwest an immigrant family?

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.7.3-5 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. Partly because most were Catholic in a mostly Protestant country. 2. The potato crop failed, and about one million people died of hunger and disease. 3. A disease.
  2. 2.1. To escape the violence of the Mexican Revolution. 2. Mexican American neighborhoods and work on farms, railroads and in mines were there. 3. Many had lived there since before the land became part of the United States.

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.Geo.7.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.