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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 22 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. What destroyed Ireland's potato crop?
  2. 2. Why did so many people leave Ireland?
  3. 3. What does this text not tell you about Irish immigrants later on?
2.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

Angel Island

An information text written for this worksheet. Angel Island, in San Francisco Bay, opened as an immigration station in 1910. Many of the people who arrived there came from China, Japan and other countries across the Pacific. Because of the Chinese Exclusion Act, Chinese immigrants were held for weeks or months, and some for up to two years. Officers questioned them closely about their families to decide whether they could stay. Some carved poems into the wooden walls about their sadness and their hopes. The poems can still be seen today.

  1. 1. What does this text not tell you about the people held there?
  2. 2. What do the poems on the walls tell us about the people held there?
  3. 3. How was arriving at Angel Island different for Chinese immigrants than arriving at Ellis Island in a few hours?

LessonPrint · D2.Geo.7.3-5 · Set 22 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920

Set 22. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A disease. 2. The potato crop failed, and about one million people died of hunger and disease. 3. It does not tell you how the lives of Irish immigrants changed over time.
  2. 2.1. It does not tell you how many of them were allowed to stay. 2. They felt sadness while they waited, but still had hopes. 3. Chinese immigrants were held for weeks or months and questioned closely.

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