Arriving in America, 1845 to 1920
D2.Geo.7.3-5
Read each text, 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. When did the Mexican Revolution begin?
- 2. What does this text not tell you about the newcomers?
- 3. Why did so many people cross the border?
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. Why were Chinese immigrants held for so long?
- 2. Where is Angel Island?
- 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 25 · free to copy for classroom use