how was the journey to america

Spartacus Educational

Journey to america.

In the early 19th century sailing ships took about six weeks to cross the Atlantic. With adverse winds or bad weather the journey could take as long as fourteen weeks. When this happened passengers would often run short of provisions. Sometime captains made extra profits by charging immigrants high prices for food needed to survive the trip.

In 1842 the British government attempted to bring an end to the exploitation of passengers by passing legislation that made it the responsibility of the shipping company to provide adequate food and water on the journey. However, the specified seven pounds a week of provisions was not very generous. Food provided by the shipping companies included bread, biscuits and potatoes. This was usually of poor quality. One government official who inspected provisions in Liverpool in 1850 commented that "the bread is mostly condemned bread ground over with a little fresh flour, sugar and saleratus and rebaked."

Captains were sometimes accused of using rations to control the behaviour of their female passengers. William Mure, the British consul in New Orleans reported that one captain "conducted himself harshly and in a most improper manner to some of the female passengers having held out the inducement of better rations to two who were almost starving in the hope they would accede to his infamous designs." In 1860 the New York Commissioners of Emigration reported that there were "frequent complaints made by female emigrants arriving in New York of ill-treatment and abuse from the captains and other officers." As a result of their investigation Congress passed a law that enabled captains and officers to be sent to prison for committing sexual offences against female passengers. However, there is no evidence that anyone was ever prosecuted under this law.

Travellers often complained about the quality of the water on the journey. The main reason for this was that the water was stored in casks that had not been cleaned properly after carrying substances such as oil, vinegar, turpentine or wine on previous journeys. One immigrant travelling in 1815 described the water as having such "a rancid smell that to be in the same neighbourhood was enough to turn one's stomach".

To maximize their profits shipowners tried to cram as many people as possible on board for the trip. In 1848 the U. S. Congress attempted to improve travelling conditions, by passing the American Passenger Act. This legislation prescribed a legal minimum of space for each passenger and one of its consequences was the building of a a new, larger type of ship called the three-decker. The top two decks carried the immigrants and although they had more space, the journey was still unpleasant. It was very dark in the lower deck and their was also a shortage of fresh air. Whereas those on the upper-deck had to contend with the stench rising constantly from below.

Immigrants suffered many dangers when crossing the Atlantic. This included fires and shipwrecks . In August, 1848, the Ocean Monarch , carrying immigrants from Liverpool to Boston , caught fire and 176 lives were lost. As ships got larger so did the deaths from fires. In September, 1858, an estimated 500 immigrants died after a fire on the steamship Austria . Another 400 died on the William Nelson in July, 1865.

In 1834 seventeen ships shipwrecked in the Gulf of St Lawrence and 731 emigrants lost their lives. In a five year period (1847-52) 43 emigrant ships out of 6,877 failed to reach their destination, resulting in the deaths of 1,043 passengers. In 1854 the steamship City of Glasgow carrying 480 emigrants went missing after leaving Liverpool and was never heard of again.

A major problem for emigrants on board ship was disease . There were serious outbreaks of cholera in 1832, 1848 and 1853. Of the 77 vessels which left Liverpool for New York between 1st August and 31st October, 1853, 46 contained passengers that died of cholera on the journey. The Washington suffered 100 deaths and the Winchester lost 79. All told, 1,328 emigrants died on board these ships on the way to America.

The most common killer was typhus . It was particularly bad when the passengers had been weakened by a poor diet. In 1847, during the Irish Famine, 7,000 people, most of them from Ireland , died of typhus on the way to America. Another 10,000 died soon after arriving in quarantine areas in the United States.

In 1852 shipping companies began using steamships to transport immigrants to America. This included the ships the City of Manchester and the City of Glasgow, that could transport 450 immigrants at a time from Liverpool to New York. The fare of six guineas a head was double that charged by sailing ships. However, it was much faster and by the 1870s the journey across the Atlantic was only taking two weeks.

Italian family arriving in New York in 1905.

Primary Sources

(1) reverend william bell, writing about the quality of the water on a boat sailing from leith to quebec in 1817..

Our water has for some time past been very bad. When it was drawn out of the casks it was no cleaner than that of a dirty kennel after a shower of rain, so that its appearance alone was sufficient to sicken one. Buts its dirty appearance was not its worst quality. It had such a rancid smell that to be in the same neighbourhood was enough to turn one's stomach.

(2) In 1860 the New York Commissioners of Emigration carried out an investigation into the treatment of female passengers on board ship bring immigrants from Europe to the United States.

The frequent complaints made by female emigrants arriving in New York of ill-treatment and abuse from the captains and other officers. caused us to investigate the subject; and from investigation we regret to say that after reaching the high seas the captain frequently selects some unprotected female from among the passengers, induces her to visit his cabin, and when there, abusing his authority as commander, partly by threats, and partly by promises of marriage, accomplishes her ruin, and retains her in his quarters for the rest of the voyage, for the indulgence of his vicious passions and the purposes of prostitution; other officers of the ship often imitate the example of their superior, and when the poor friendless woman, this seduced, arrive at this port, they are thrust upon shore and abandoned to their fate.

(3) Samuel Gompers and his family emigrated to the United States in the summer of 1863.

The Cigarmakers' Society Union of England, whose members were frequently unemployed and suffering, established an emigration fund - that is, instead of paying the members unemployment benefits, a sum of money was granted to help passage from England to the United States. The sum was not large, between five and ten pounds. This was a very practical method which benefited both the emigrants and those who remained by decreasing the number seeking work in their trade. After much discussion and consultation father decided to go to the New World. He had friends in New York City and a brother-in-law who proceeded us by six months to whom father wrote we were coming. There came busy days in which my mother gathered together and packed our household belongings. Father secured passage on the City of London, a sailing vessel which left Chadwick Basin, June 10, 1863, and reached Castle Garden, July 29, 1863, after seven weeks and one day. Our ship was the old type of sailing vessel. We had none of the modern comforts of travel. The sleeping quarters were cramped and we had to had to do our own cooking in the gallery of the boat. Mother had provided salt beef and other preserved meats and fish, dried vegetables, and red pickled cabbage which I remember most vividly. We were all seasick except father, mother the longest of all. Father had to do all the cooking in the meanwhile and take care of the sick. There was a Negro man employed on the boat who was very kind in many ways to help father. Father did not know much about cooking. When we reached New York we landed at the old Castle Garden of lower Manhattan, now the Aquarium, where we were met by relatives and friends. As we were standing in a little group, the Negro who had befriended father on the trip, came off the boat. Father was grateful and as a matter of courtesy, shook hands with him and gave him his blessing. Now it happened that the draft and negro rights were convulsing New York City. Only that very day Negroes had been chased and hanged by mobs. The onlookers, not understanding, grew very much excited over father's shaking hands with this Negro. A crowd gathered round and threatened to hang both father and the Negro to the lamp-post.

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The Mayflower Story

Stories of the Mayflower

The Mayflower set sail on 16th September 1620 from Plymouth, UK, to voyage to America. But its history and story start long before that.

Its passengers were in search of a new life – some seeking religious freedom, others a fresh start in a different land. They would go on to be known as the Pilgrims and influence the future of the United States of America in ways they could never have imagined.

This story isn't just about the Mayflower's passengers though. It's about the people who already lived in America and the enormous effect the arrival of these colonists would have on Native Americans and the land they had called home for centuries.

More than 30 million people can trace their ancestry to the 102 passengers and approximately 30 crew aboard the Mayflower when it landed in Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts, in the harsh winter of 1620.

On board were men, women and children from different walks of life across England and the city of Leiden in Holland.

A significant number were known as Separatists, a group of people who mostly wanted to live a life free from the current Church of England.

Others were on the ship for a multitude of reasons – some anticipated the chance to build a better future for their families and the opportunity of new land, while for others the offer of freedom and adventure was too good to turn down.

Then there were the crew themselves, plus the servants and unaccompanied children sent by their families to be looked after by the adults.

The passengers are often grouped into ‘Saints’ or ‘Strangers’ by historians, alluding to their motivations for the journey. But it’s likely that many ‘Saints’ were skilled tradesmen and many ‘Strangers’ had their own religious reasons for leaving 17 th century England.

The origins of these passengers can be traced across England and in the Netherlands – as illustrated by the interactive map below.

Importantly, the Pilgrims were not the first to land in America, nor did they discover it. There were already established colonies at the time, not least Jamestown – founded in 1607.

But the Mayflower story is renowned for its themes of freedom and humanity – including the relationships first formed between the Native American Wampanoag tribe and the colonists and the first Thanksgiving.

We begin much earlier than 1620, in the villages, towns and cities of England.

The King of England

The decision by Henry VIII to break away from the Roman Catholic Church – principally so he could divorce his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, had far-reaching ramifications.

He created his own church, with its own rules determined by him - called the Church of England. In doing this, Henry was expelled by the Pope and the reformation of the English churches had started.

Many believed that Henry’s new church was still too similar to the Pope’s and wanted even more changes. Some wanted to separate it from other churches by purifying it of all Catholic practices. They became known as the Puritans.

However, others believed that you could not change the church and that the only way to form a new group was to break away entirely. They became known as the Separatists.

The Church dictated all aspects of life – from what you ate to what you wore. To dispute that rule was a dangerous path ending in prosecution. This was especially foreboding for Separatists.

The Separatist leaders

The leading religious Separatists who voyaged to America in 1620 mostly originated from an area where modern-day Nottinghamshire, Yorkshire and Lincolnshire meet.

Regarded as dangerous renegades who rejected fundamental principles of the State and the established Church of England, they worshipped in secret to avoid arrest and persecution.

Among them was William Brewster, who was brought up in the village of Scrooby in north Nottinghamshire.

Inspired by the radical words of Richard Clifton, the rector of nearby All Saints' Church in Babworth , Brewster is believed to have founded a Separatist Church in his family home - the manor house at Scrooby.

Scrooby Manor House

He was fined for non-attendance at St Wilfrid’s Church in Scrooby but was respected as an elder and spiritual guide and played a significant role in the congregation’s later journeys.

Brewster strongly influenced William Bradford from Austerfield, a nearby South Yorkshire village. When the Separatists landed in America, Bradford went on to become a Governor of the Plymouth Colony, serving for more than 30 years.

William Bradford’s journal, Of Plimoth Plantation, records much of what happened to the group, including how they had become so persecuted that they could no longer live peacefully.

Bradford was baptised St Helena's church where the original font can be seen today. Heavily influenced by leading Pilgrim William Brewster, he was a sickly young orphan when they first met, but grew into a passionate religious radical.

A similar group had long been growing in the nearby town of Gainsborough in Lincolnshire, drawing members from surrounding villages. They would also worship clandestinely under the guidance of John Smyth at the Gainsborough Old Hall.

Inside Gainsborough Old Hall

Escaping to Holland

As the authorities intensified their crackdown on the Separatists, the two groups decided to flee England for Holland – seen as a liberal nation where they could live peacefully.

One night in the autumn of 1607, they secretly met a boat on the edge of ‘The Wash’ at Scotia Creek, near Boston in Lincolnshire – some having walked 60 miles.

The monument at Scotia Creek that marks where the Pilgrims tried to make their escape

But the captain of a ship betrayed them and the local militia seized the group and took their money, books and personal possessions. Stripped of their belongings and hope, the group were brought by boat back to Boston and held and tried at the Guildhall, home to the local law court and cells.

They were eventually freed and made a second, successful attempt at fleeing to Holland – this time from the coastal town of Immingham in Lincolnshire.

A new life in Leiden

They settled in the city of Leiden via Amsterdam. Leiden was a city of free-thinkers, relative religious tolerance, and a long tradition of offering shelter to the dispossessed.

They built a life in Leiden, living and working here for 12 years. They built land near the spectacular Pieterskerk church and built houses in what is today known as the Engelse poort (English Alley).

Many worked in the textile industry and similar trades – but it was hard work and a challenging life. William Brewster operated a printing press in what is today known as ‘William Brewster Alley’. Here he produced dissident pamphlets that were smuggled into England for distribution.

William Brewster Alley

Eventually the time in a foreign land took its toll and the group started to plan a journey to a new land to start again.

It’s thought there were several reasons for this – not least that the fear their children were effectively growing up as Dutch children.

They wanted to find a place completely free of limitations where they could build a better economic future. They had been living in small houses with big families – and were becoming poor.

The looming threat of war with Spain also cast a cloud over their future.

From 1617 they planned to leave and eventually settled on Virginia in America.

More than half of the group stayed though and fully integrated into Dutch life. Among them was John Robinson, known as the ‘pastor to the Pilgrims’.

Leiden had a profound influence on the lives of the Pilgrims - even after their departure. The concept of civil marriage was one innovation they took with them.

Planning the voyage to America

Virginia in America was an attractive destination because several colonies had already settled there. However, they also felt that they should not settle too near and end up with a similar environment to which they originally fled.

The Separatists worked with their counterparts in England to fund and organise the journey – which had to make commercial sense.

They negotiated with merchants in London and convinced them that funding their journey would see a return on investment thanks to the goods they would be able to send back to England. They also needed permission to land in Virginia and establish a colony.

A ship called the Speedwell would carry the Leiden group to America while another ship called the Mayflower was hired to take passengers who weren’t necessarily travelling for religious reasons.

The Mayflower would sail from the port of Rotherhithe in London, carrying many there for work in the new land, who simply wanted to build a new life, crew and servants. Rotherhithe was home to many of the crew including the Mayflower's Captain Christopher Jones .

A statue of Christopher Jones found in St Mary's Church in Rotherhithe

Leaving England

The Speedwell set sail from Holland on 22 nd July 1620, after a moving ceremony by the water’s edge.

The plan was to meet the Mayflower in Southampton before heading off together across the Atlantic.

Southampton was a thriving seaport offering all the commercial facilities to provision and equip for the long sea voyage. Many of the buildings and streets familiar to the passengers then still exist.

When the two ships met in the port there were concerns about the Speedwell though, which needed repairs after developing a leak. But on 15th August 1620 the two ships weighed anchor and set sail from Southampton.

The two ships didn’t get very far when the Speedwell began to take on water again. It may have been because she carried too much sail, straining her timbers, or the direct result of sabotage by a reluctant crew.

They changed course for Dartmouth , a port on the south coast of Devon. It took about a week for the port’s skilled craftsmen to make good the damage.

Unfortunately, the second attempt did not go as hoped either. The Mayflower and the Speedwell were 300 miles clear of Land’s End when the smaller ship yet again began leaking badly and could not risk continuing. The two boats turned about for Plymouth .

One last stop

By this time, the cramped, damp and miserable passengers had already spent up to six weeks at sea. With a fair wind and good fortune, they would have hoped to be nearing America by then.

The Speedwell was finally declared unfit for the journey. Some of the Pilgrims dropped out. The remainder crowded onto the Mayflower, which required re-provisioning, despite funds running low.

They left Plymouth on 16 th September 1620, with up to 30 crew and 102 passengers on board. Just under half of them were Separatists, or Saints. They used the name Saints as a way to indicate that they were part of a particular group with a certain set of beliefs.

The Mayflower Steps in Plymouth, built as a memorial to the historic voyage

The rest were known as Strangers, as this is how the Saints viewed all others outside of their group. Many were skilled tradespeople sent by the investors to help build the new colony. Though plenty of the passengers could have probably been defined on either side of this divide.

The passengers

The following passengers were on board the Mayflower:

Isaac and Mary (Norris) Allerton, and children Bartholomew, Remember, and Mary
John Allerton
John and Eleanor Billington, and sons John and Francis.
William and Dorothy (May) Bradford
William and Mary Brewster, and children Love and Wrestling
Richard Britteridge
Peter Browne
William Butten
Robert Carter
John and Katherine (White) Carver
James and Mrs. Chilton, and daughter Mary
Richard Clarke
Francis Cooke and son John
Humility Cooper
John Crackstone and son John
Edward Doty
Francis and Sarah Eaton, and son Samuel
Thomas English
Moses Fletcher
Edward and Mrs. Fuller, and son Samuel
Samuel Fuller
Richard Gardiner
John Goodman
William Holbeck
Stephen and Elizabeth (Fisher) Hopkins and children Constance, Giles and Damaris; son Oceanus was born during the voyage.
John Howland
John Langmore
William Latham
Edward Leister
Edmund Margesson
Christopher and Mary (Prower) Martin
Desire Minter
Ellen, Jasper, Richard, and Mary More
William and Alice Mullins and children Priscilla and Joseph
Degory Priest
Solomon Prower
John and Alice Rigsdale
Thomas Rogers and son Joseph
Henry Samson
George Soule
Myles and Rose Standish
Elias Story
Edward Thompson
Edward and Agnes (Cooper) Tilley
John and Joan (Hurst) Tilley and daughter Elizabeth
Thomas and Mrs. Tinker, and a son
William Trevore
John Turner, and two sons
Richard Warren
William and Susanna (Jackson) White, and son Resolved(son Peregrine was born shipboard in Provincetown Harbor after arrival).
Roger Wilder
Thomas Williams
Edward and Elizabeth (Barker) Winslow
Gilbert Winslow
Dorothy (John Carver's maidservant)

Source: New England Historic Genealogical Society

Sailing the Atlantic

The Mayflower took 66 days to cross the Atlantic – a horrible crossing afflicted by winter storms and long bouts of seasickness – so bad that most could barely stand up during the voyage.

By October, they began encountering a number of Atlantic storms that made the voyage treacherous. It was so bad that the sails often could not be used, instead they simply drifted.

One Stranger was swept overboard and one woman, Elizabeth Hopkins, gave birth to a baby boy, aptly named Oceanus.

The Pilgrims intended to land in Northern Virginia and the Hudson River (today New York) was their intended destination. They had received good reports on this region while in the Netherlands. The Mayflower was almost right on target, missing the Hudson River by just a few degrees.

As they approached land, the crew spotted Cape Cod just as the sun rose on November 9, 1620.

The Pilgrims decided to head south, to the mouth of the Hudson River in New York, where they intended to make their plantation.

But the rough seas nearly shipwrecked the Mayflower and instead they decided to stay and explore Cape Cod rather than risk another journey south. They anchored in what is now Provincetown Harbor. Shortly after, Susannah White gave birth to a son aboard the Mayflower, the first English child born in the colony. He was named Peregrine, derived from the Latin for ‘pilgrim’.

The Mayflower Compact

The colonists knew they had no right to settle in this land they had unintentionally arrived upon and decided to draw up a document that gave them some attempt at legal standing.

An illustration of the signing of the Mayflower Compact

So upon arrival the settlers drew up the Mayflower Compact. Signed by 41 men on board, the compact was an agreement to cooperate for the general good of the colony. They would deal with issues by voting, establish constitutional law and rule by the majority.

The document read:

In the name of God, Amen. We, whose names are underwritten, the loyal subjects of our dread Sovereigne Lord, King James, by the grace of God, of Great Britaine, France and Ireland king, defender of the faith, etc. having undertaken, for the glory of God, and advancement of the Christian faith, and honour of our king and country, a voyage to plant the first colony in the Northerne parts of Virginia, doe by these presents solemnly and mutually in the presence of God and one of another, covenant and combine ourselves together into a civill body politick, for our better ordering and preservation, and furtherance of the ends aforesaid; and by virtue hereof to enacte, constitute, and frame such just and equall laws, ordinances, acts, constitutions and offices, from time to time, as shall be thought most meete and convenient for the generall good of the Colonie unto which we promise all due submission and obedience. In witness whereof we have hereunder subscribed our names at Cape-Codd the 11. of November, in the year of the raigne of our sovereigne lord, King James, of England, France and Ireland, the eighteenth, and of Scotland the fiftie-fourth. Anno Dom. 1620.

Watching from the west

The Pilgrims would spend the next month and a half exploring Cape Cod, while most stayed on board the ship, trying to decide where they would build their plantation.

They searched much of the coastline in this region including the area now known as Plymouth.

The replica Mayflower in Plymouth, Massachusetts today

Watching on were a small group of Native Americans, people for whom this area was already home. The new arrivals tried to follow them but got lost and stuck among some dense thickets. They decided to change course and came across cleared land where corn had been grown and abandoned houses.

They found buried corn, which they took back to the ship, intending to plant it and grow more corn, eventually returning what they had taken. They also found graves.

This village they had stumbled upon was once called Patuxet but had since been deserted following the outbreak of disease.

This was a legacy of what the Native American people had already experienced from European colonists in the 17 th century.

The native inhabitants of the region around Plymouth Colony were the various groups of the Wampanoag people and other tribes, who had lived there for some 10,000 years before the Europeans arrived.

The Great Dying

When the Separatists were living in Leiden in 1616, in the same year a map was published detailing explorations of the Cape Cod area to the Bay of Fundy.

But these names were meaningless to the people who lived in this region, which is thought to have been known as Dawnland.

And to them 1616 was memorable for very different reasons – the outbreak of European diseases that would devastate their communities.

Ships from England had been fishing and trading in North America waters since the beginning of the 16 th century. They would also bring Native Americans back to Europe – some as slaves – often to callously exhibit.

Some were taught English so they could become interpreters in future. In 1614, six years before the Pilgrims arrived, 27 natives were seized by a man called Thomas Hunt.

The majority came from Patuxet, the very abandoned village the Pilgrims would later find, and what is now modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.

One of these was named Tisquantum (also known as Squanto). Hunt tried to sell the natives as slaves in Spain but somehow Tisquantum made his way to England, where he learned some English and was used as an interpreter in future trips to America.

Eventually he found his way back to Patuxet, where tragically he found his family and village had been wiped out by disease brought by European settlers and explorers.

A Wampanoag hut

Between 1616 and 1619 a mysterious disease that would become known as the ‘Great Dying’ ravaged this region, before the Mayflower laid anchor in Cape Cod.

In the winter of 1616-17 an expedition dispatched by Sir Ferdinando Gorges found a region devastated by war and disease, the remaining people so "sore afflicted with the plague, for that the country was in a manner left void of inhabitants."

Two years later another Englishman found “ancient plantations” now completely empty with few inhabitants – and those that had survived were suffering.

So before the Mayflower arrived, this region had greatly suffered from the effects of colonisation.

The first harsh winter

Before settling on what is now Plymouth, the Pilgrims explored other areas of the coast, including an area inhabited by the Nauset people. They saw some figures on the shore who fled when they approached. They explored and found more graves, which they decided not to dig.

They remained ashore overnight and the following morning, they were attacked with arrows. The colonists shot back with guns but could not find them. That would be the last contact until the spring.

On December 25, 1620, the Saints and the Strangers departed the bleak shores of Provincetown and arrived, finally, in what is now Plymouth Bay, Massachusetts, on 26 th December 1620.

They decided this place, once home to the people of Patuxet, would be where they settled and began construction of their first buildings.

But the first winter was cold and many of the passengers stayed on board the Mayflower. The ship became home to the sick and dying, with many succumbing to a mixture of contagious diseases.

Building the colony

The settlement’s first fort and watchtower was built on what is now known as Burial Hill (the area contains the graves of Bradford and other original settlers).

The first common house nearly completed in January, built for general use. Each single man was ordered to join himself to one of the 19 families in order to eliminate the need to build any more houses than absolutely necessary.

The Plimoth Plantation recreation of the village

Each extended family was assigned a plot and they each built their own home and the settlement was mostly built by February.

The first house was built as a hospital. Thirty-one of the company were dead by the end of February, with deaths still rising. Coles Hill became the first cemetery, on a prominence above the beach

Only 47 colonists had survived and at its worst just six or seven were able to feed and care for the rest. In this time, half the Mayflower crew also died.

When his crew began to recover from disease, the Mayflower’s captain Christopher Jones sailed the ship back to England, taking half the time that it did on its outward journey.

The Wampanoag and the Pilgrims

The Pilgrims were settling on land home to the Wampanoag – one of many tribes in the wider region. The Wampanoag had lived here for 10,000 years before they arrived.

Each tribe in New England had their own territory in which to fish, harvest and hunt. The boundaries for hunting were very strict as some areas had large populations.

The Wampanoag people knew how to work with the land and moved between sites to get the best of their harvest. They spent the summer near the shore and the winter in land, amongst the woods.

The Wampanoag worked together - a number of groups united together. A head Sachem managed a Sachem from each of the groups. Within this organisation, family and group links were the most important, connecting them to each other and their territory.

In the years before the Mayflower landed, The Wampanoag had been attacked by neighbouring tribes, losing land along the coast. Then came the Great Dying and the losses were so devastating that the Wampanoag had to reorganise its structure and Sachems had to join together and build new unions.

A historic peace

During March 1621, an English speaking member of the Wamponaog, named Samoset, entered the grounds of the Plymouth colony and introduced himself. He is said to have asked for a beer and spent the night talking with the settlers. Samoset, later, brought another member of his tribe – Tisquantum, whose experience meant his English was much advanced.

Tisquantum taught them to plant corn, which became an important crop, as well as where to fish and hunt beaver.

He introduced them to the Wampanoag chief Ousamequin, chief of the Pokanoket people known as Massasoit, an important moment in developing relations.

The statue of Ousamequin that stands in Plymouth today

The statue of Ousamequin that stands on land he would have once ruled over today

One of the first to greet him was Edward Winslow , originally from Worcestershire. A leader in the Separatist group and a skilful diplomat, Winslow had not only been instrumental in organising the journey to America, but was also one of the men who signed the historic Mayflower Compact.

The Wampanoag were wary of the nearby Narragansett tribe, who had not been affected by the disease epidemics and remained a powerful tribe.

They demanded that the Wampanoag show them honour and tribute. Ousamequin would have known an alliance with these new English colonists might help fend off any attacks from the Narragansett.

In 1621, the Narragansett sent the Plymouth colony a threat of arrows wrapped up in snake skin. William Bradford, who was governor of the colony at the time, filled the snake skin with powder and bullets and sent it back.

The Narragansett knew what this message meant, and would not attack the colony.

Ousamequin and The Pilgrims established an historic peace treaty and the Wampanoag went on to teach them how to hunt, plant crops and how to get the best of their harvest, saving the Pilgrims from starvation.

It is believed that Winslow was even able to help nurse Ousamequin back to health when he fell ill, reportedly using his renowned chicken soup and strengthening their relationship further.

The first Thanksgiving

Success followed and following a bumper harvest in the autumn of 1621, the colonists decided to celebrate with a three-day festival of prayer.

The 53 surviving settlers invited their Native Americans friends to join them for a huge feast in what was to become known as the first Thanksgiving.

One of two first-hand accounts of this celebration was contained in the book Mourt’s Relation, primarily written by Winslow. The book describes in detail what happened from the landing of the Mayflower Pilgrims right through to this celebratory feast.

Winslow’s account states:

“Our corn did prove well, and God be praised, we had a good increase of Indian corn, and our barley indifferent good, but our peas not worth gathering, for we feared they were too late sown. They came up very well, and blossomed, but the sun parched them in the blossom. Our harvest being gotten in, our governor sent four men on fowling, that so we might after a special manner rejoice together, after we had gathered the fruits of our labors; they four in one day killed as much fowl, as with a little help beside, served the company almost a week, at which time amongst other recreations, we exercised our arms, many of the Indians coming amongst us, and amongst the rest their greatest king Massasoit, with some ninety men, whom for three days we entertained and feasted, and they went out and killed five deer, which they brought to the plantation and bestowed on our Governor, and upon the Captain and others. And although it be not always so plentiful, as it was at this time with us, yet by the goodness of God, we are so far from want, that we often wish you partakers of our plenty.”

Today, the US celebrates Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November.

The impact of colonisation

The repressive church rule in England would drive more people to follow the Mayflower to America. Another ship arrived in 1621 and two more in 1623.

In 1630, 1,000 Puritans arrived under Governor John Winthrop under a charter from by the Massachusetts Bay Company. Winthrop soon established Boston as the capital of Massachusetts Bay Colony, and it would soon grow into the biggest colony in the area.

These Puritans wanted to free themselves of the Church of England and ‘purify’ it from Roman Catholic practices.

They arrived under the guise of creating a perfect city – but ended up creating a society just as intolerant. Quakers were persecuted with public hangings and whippings.

Tensions between these colonists and the Native American people rose. The colonists brought more disease to which the Native Americans would have no immunity. Smallpox would ravage communities still recovering from the Great Dying. Violence increased.

By the 1630s, the Native Americans in this region were in the minority in their own lands and wars such as the brutal Pequot War reduced the population significantly.

By 1676 Boston was an economically flourishing town with a population of about 4,000 and had established itself as the dominant force.

King Philip's War

The carefully managed peace that had originated between the Wampanoag and the Plymouth colony was eventually shattered by King Philip’s War in 1675.

When Ousamequin died in 1662 his son and heir Metacom no longer believed in the value of the alliance with the colonists. The collapse of trade agreements and the aggressive expansion of the colonies left relations at breaking point.

Tensions were raised when the colonists demanded the peace agreement should mean the Wampanoag hand over any guns, and hung three of the tribe for murder in 1675.

Metacom - who was known as King Philip by the English - led an uprising of Wampanoag, Nipmuck, Pocumtuck and Narragansett tribes. They came up against the biggest army the c olonial leaders could muster, that fought in coalition with other tribes.

The war is seen as a final attempt to drive out the colonists and lasted 14 months. It is considered the deadliest war in American history.

The colonist army burned villages as they went and by the end of the war, the Wampanoag and their Narragansett allies were almost completely destroyed. Metacom fled to Mount Hope where he was finally killed by the militia.

This war was fought by colonists without support from England or any other European government and is often seen as the moment a new American identity was formed.

The fate of the Plymouth colony

Eventually the likes of Brewster and Winslow went on to found their own communities and the colony began to struggle. The cost of the war did not help and after a colonial governor was appointed to rule over New England in 1692, Plymouth was absorbed into Massachusetts.

The term Pilgrim originated in 1820, when during the 200 th commemoration of the colony’s landing they were referred to as the Pilgrim Fathers in reference to Bradford’s manuscript where he names passengers on the boat from Leiden ‘saints’ and ‘pilgrimes’. The phrase was coined.

Modern Response

The Native American activist group, The United American Indians of New England, continues to raise awareness of racism towards Native Americans and the consequences of colonialism. When the Wampanoag leader, Frank James, was informed that his speech was inappropriate and inflammatory for the annual Thanksgiving ceremony 1970, he refused to read their revised speech.

Supporters followed James to hear him give his original speech on Cole’s Hill, next to the statue of Ousamequin. This became the first National Day of Mourning, which continues today in Plymouth, Massachusetts, on the same day as Thanksgiving.

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JOURNEY TO AMERICA

Escaping the holocaust to freedom/50th anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author.

by Sonia Levitin ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2020

A timely rerelease of a classic, #ownvoices story about a young girl’s journey to freedom.

Lisa and her family need to escape Germany as quickly and as quietly as possible; they are Jewish, and Hitler’s power is growing stronger.

Lisa’s father has already left for America, and soon it will be time for the rest of the family to follow him. Told in the first-person point of view of middle sister Lisa, this is a plot-driven, fast-paced story for middle-grade readers about one Jewish family’s arduous journey to freedom. The language is simple, innocent, and accessible and only briefly alludes to Nazi abominations such as concentration camps and Kristallnacht. This removed approach to horrific historical events allows for the feelings of hope and familial love at the center of the tale to really shine through. This 50th-anniversary edition includes a brand-new afterword by the author that movingly describes her family’s very personal connection to the story and her mother’s tireless efforts to speak out against hate and intolerance after their arrival in the U.S. While it has been in print for many years, it is unfortunately still highly relevant for today’s readers. This book can serve as a gentle introduction to the horrors of the Holocaust, religious oppression, and what it can mean to be a refugee. An outdated term for Romani people that is now considered derogatory remains from the original text and is not addressed in the afterword, striking a jarring note in a modern edition.

Pub Date: July 21, 2020

ISBN: 978-1-5344-6464-3

Page Count: 224

Publisher: Aladdin

Review Posted Online: Aug. 24, 2020

CHILDREN'S SOCIAL THEMES | CHILDREN'S FAMILY | CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION

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by Sonia Levitin & illustrated by Guy Porfirio

by Sonia Levitin

WRECKING BALL

From the diary of a wimpy kid series , vol. 14.

by Jeff Kinney ; illustrated by Jeff Kinney ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 5, 2019

Readers can still rely on this series to bring laughs.

The Heffley family’s house undergoes a disastrous attempt at home improvement.

When Great Aunt Reba dies, she leaves some money to the family. Greg’s mom calls a family meeting to determine what to do with their share, proposing home improvements and then overruling the family’s cartoonish wish lists and instead pushing for an addition to the kitchen. Before bringing in the construction crew, the Heffleys attempt to do minor maintenance and repairs themselves—during which Greg fails at the work in various slapstick scenes. Once the professionals are brought in, the problems keep getting worse: angry neighbors, terrifying problems in walls, and—most serious—civil permitting issues that put the kibosh on what work’s been done. Left with only enough inheritance to patch and repair the exterior of the house—and with the school’s dismal standardized test scores as a final straw—Greg’s mom steers the family toward moving, opening up house-hunting and house-selling storylines (and devastating loyal Rowley, who doesn’t want to lose his best friend). While Greg’s positive about the move, he’s not completely uncaring about Rowley’s action. (And of course, Greg himself is not as unaffected as he wishes.) The gags include effectively placed callbacks to seemingly incidental events (the “stress lizard” brought in on testing day is particularly funny) and a lampoon of after-school-special–style problem books. Just when it seems that the Heffleys really will move, a new sequence of chaotic trouble and property destruction heralds a return to the status quo. Whew.

Pub Date: Nov. 5, 2019

ISBN: 978-1-4197-3903-3

Publisher: Amulet/Abrams

Review Posted Online: Nov. 18, 2019

GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS | CHILDREN'S FAMILY

STEALING HOME

by J. Torres ; illustrated by David Namisato ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 5, 2021

An emotional, much-needed historical graphic novel.

Sandy and his family, Japanese Canadians, experience hatred and incarceration during World War II.

Sandy Saito loves baseball, and the Vancouver Asahi ballplayers are his heroes. But when they lose in the 1941 semifinals, Sandy’s dad calls it a bad omen. Sure enough, in December 1941, Japan bombs Pearl Harbor in the U.S. The Canadian government begins to ban Japanese people from certain areas, moving them to “dormitories” and setting a curfew. Sandy wants to spend time with his father, but as a doctor, his dad is busy, often sneaking out past curfew to work. One night Papa is taken to “where he [is] needed most,” and the family is forced into an internment camp. Life at the camp isn’t easy, and even with some of the Asahi players playing ball there, it just isn’t the same. Trying to understand and find joy again, Sandy struggles with his new reality and relationship with his father. Based on the true experiences of Japanese Canadians and the Vancouver Asahi team, this graphic novel is a glimpse of how their lives were affected by WWII. The end is a bit abrupt, but it’s still an inspiring and sweet look at how baseball helped them through hardship. The illustrations are all in a sepia tone, giving it an antique look and conveying the emotions and struggles. None of the illustrations of their experiences are overly graphic, making it a good introduction to this upsetting topic for middle-grade readers.

Pub Date: Oct. 5, 2021

ISBN: 978-1-5253-0334-0

Page Count: 112

Publisher: Kids Can

Review Posted Online: June 28, 2021

Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 2021

CHILDREN'S HISTORICAL FICTION | GENERAL GRAPHIC NOVELS & COMICS

More by J. Torres

by J. Torres ; illustrated by Sean Dove

by J. Torres ; illustrated by Aurélie Grand

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Christopher Columbus

By: History.com Editors

Updated: August 11, 2023 | Original: November 9, 2009

The explorer Christopher Columbus made four trips across the Atlantic Ocean from Spain: in 1492, 1493, 1498 and 1502. He was determined to find a direct water route west from Europe to Asia, but he never did. Instead, he stumbled upon the Americas. Though he did not “discover” the so-called New World—millions of people already lived there—his journeys marked the beginning of centuries of exploration and colonization of North and South America.

Christopher Columbus and the Age of Discovery

During the 15th and 16th centuries, leaders of several European nations sponsored expeditions abroad in the hope that explorers would find great wealth and vast undiscovered lands. The Portuguese were the earliest participants in this “ Age of Discovery ,” also known as “ Age of Exploration .”

Starting in about 1420, small Portuguese ships known as caravels zipped along the African coast, carrying spices, gold and other goods as well as enslaved people from Asia and Africa to Europe.

Did you know? Christopher Columbus was not the first person to propose that a person could reach Asia by sailing west from Europe. In fact, scholars argue that the idea is almost as old as the idea that the Earth is round. (That is, it dates back to early Rome.)

Other European nations, particularly Spain, were eager to share in the seemingly limitless riches of the “Far East.” By the end of the 15th century, Spain’s “ Reconquista ”—the expulsion of Jews and Muslims out of the kingdom after centuries of war—was complete, and the nation turned its attention to exploration and conquest in other areas of the world.

Early Life and Nationality

Christopher Columbus, the son of a wool merchant, is believed to have been born in Genoa, Italy, in 1451. When he was still a teenager, he got a job on a merchant ship. He remained at sea until 1476, when pirates attacked his ship as it sailed north along the Portuguese coast.

The boat sank, but the young Columbus floated to shore on a scrap of wood and made his way to Lisbon, where he eventually studied mathematics, astronomy, cartography and navigation. He also began to hatch the plan that would change the world forever.

Christopher Columbus' First Voyage

At the end of the 15th century, it was nearly impossible to reach Asia from Europe by land. The route was long and arduous, and encounters with hostile armies were difficult to avoid. Portuguese explorers solved this problem by taking to the sea: They sailed south along the West African coast and around the Cape of Good Hope.

But Columbus had a different idea: Why not sail west across the Atlantic instead of around the massive African continent? The young navigator’s logic was sound, but his math was faulty. He argued (incorrectly) that the circumference of the Earth was much smaller than his contemporaries believed it was; accordingly, he believed that the journey by boat from Europe to Asia should be not only possible, but comparatively easy via an as-yet undiscovered Northwest Passage .

He presented his plan to officials in Portugal and England, but it was not until 1492 that he found a sympathetic audience: the Spanish monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile .

Columbus wanted fame and fortune. Ferdinand and Isabella wanted the same, along with the opportunity to export Catholicism to lands across the globe. (Columbus, a devout Catholic, was equally enthusiastic about this possibility.)

Columbus’ contract with the Spanish rulers promised that he could keep 10 percent of whatever riches he found, along with a noble title and the governorship of any lands he should encounter.

Where Did Columbus' Ships, Niña, Pinta and Santa Maria, Land?

On August 3, 1492, Columbus and his crew set sail from Spain in three ships: the Niña , the Pinta and the Santa Maria . On October 12, the ships made landfall—not in the East Indies, as Columbus assumed, but on one of the Bahamian islands, likely San Salvador.

For months, Columbus sailed from island to island in what we now know as the Caribbean, looking for the “pearls, precious stones, gold, silver, spices, and other objects and merchandise whatsoever” that he had promised to his Spanish patrons, but he did not find much. In January 1493, leaving several dozen men behind in a makeshift settlement on Hispaniola (present-day Haiti and the Dominican Republic), he left for Spain.

He kept a detailed diary during his first voyage. Christopher Columbus’s journal was written between August 3, 1492, and November 6, 1492 and mentions everything from the wildlife he encountered, like dolphins and birds, to the weather to the moods of his crew. More troublingly, it also recorded his initial impressions of the local people and his argument for why they should be enslaved.

“They… brought us parrots and balls of cotton and spears and many other things, which they exchanged for the glass beads and hawks’ bells," he wrote. "They willingly traded everything they owned… They were well-built, with good bodies and handsome features… They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance. They have no iron… They would make fine servants… With fifty men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want.”

Columbus gifted the journal to Isabella upon his return.

Christopher Columbus's Later Voyages

About six months later, in September 1493, Columbus returned to the Americas. He found the Hispaniola settlement destroyed and left his brothers Bartolomeo and Diego Columbus behind to rebuild, along with part of his ships’ crew and hundreds of enslaved indigenous people.

Then he headed west to continue his mostly fruitless search for gold and other goods. His group now included a large number of indigenous people the Europeans had enslaved. In lieu of the material riches he had promised the Spanish monarchs, he sent some 500 enslaved people to Queen Isabella. The queen was horrified—she believed that any people Columbus “discovered” were Spanish subjects who could not be enslaved—and she promptly and sternly returned the explorer’s gift.

In May 1498, Columbus sailed west across the Atlantic for the third time. He visited Trinidad and the South American mainland before returning to the ill-fated Hispaniola settlement, where the colonists had staged a bloody revolt against the Columbus brothers’ mismanagement and brutality. Conditions were so bad that Spanish authorities had to send a new governor to take over.

Meanwhile, the native Taino population, forced to search for gold and to work on plantations, was decimated (within 60 years after Columbus landed, only a few hundred of what may have been 250,000 Taino were left on their island). Christopher Columbus was arrested and returned to Spain in chains.

In 1502, cleared of the most serious charges but stripped of his noble titles, the aging Columbus persuaded the Spanish crown to pay for one last trip across the Atlantic. This time, Columbus made it all the way to Panama—just miles from the Pacific Ocean—where he had to abandon two of his four ships after damage from storms and hostile natives. Empty-handed, the explorer returned to Spain, where he died in 1506.

Legacy of Christopher Columbus

Christopher Columbus did not “discover” the Americas, nor was he even the first European to visit the “New World.” (Viking explorer Leif Erikson had sailed to Greenland and Newfoundland in the 11th century.)

However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. Old World wheat became an American food staple. African coffee and Asian sugar cane became cash crops for Latin America, while American foods like corn, tomatoes and potatoes were introduced into European diets.

Today, Columbus has a controversial legacy —he is remembered as a daring and path-breaking explorer who transformed the New World, yet his actions also unleashed changes that would eventually devastate the native populations he and his fellow explorers encountered.

HISTORY Vault: Columbus the Lost Voyage

Ten years after his 1492 voyage, Columbus, awaiting the gallows on criminal charges in a Caribbean prison, plotted a treacherous final voyage to restore his reputation.

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Journey to America

Escaping the holocaust to freedom/50th anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author.

Anniversary Edition Hardcover
Trade Paperback
Anniversary Edition eBook

Rave and Reviews

About The Book

About the author.

Sonia Levitin, like Lisa Platt, escaped from Germany in the late 1930’s. Among her acclaimed books for young readers are The Mark of Conte and The Return .

Product Details

Publisher: Aladdin (July 21, 2020)
Length: 224 pages
ISBN13: 9781534464636
Grades: 3 - 7
Ages: 8 - 12
Lexile ® 750L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®
Fountas & Pinnell™ U These books have been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System

Browse Related Books

Age 12 and Up
Lexile ® 691 - 790
Children's Fiction > Family > General
Children's Fiction > Historical > Holocaust
Children's Fiction > Emigration & Immigration

Raves and Reviews

“Germany in the early days of the Nazis. Told from the viewpoint of a young Jewish girl and told mostly in dialog…it becomes more than just another journey: it becomes a vivid documentary of insane cruelty and limitless courage that will never be forgotten by anyone who reads it.”

– Publishers Weekly, May 18, 1970

"People being people give Journey to America a special glow."

– Kirkus Reviews, March 20, 1970

“A very moving though never maudlin story with good characterization and a fast pace, this novel will be a definite asset to any collection.”

– School Library Journal, May 1970

“Commendably, neither issues nor ideals intrude on the reader abstractly, but emerge naturally from the human condition portrayed in the story.”

– Booklist, June 1970

Awards and Honors

National Jewish Book Award

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Silver Days (Journey to America Saga #2)

Annie's Promise (Journey to America Saga #3)

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Journey to America

Depicts the migration of European immigrants to America between 1890 and 1920, chronicling their arrival at Ellis Island and their settlements in major areas such as New York, Pennsylvania a... Read all Depicts the migration of European immigrants to America between 1890 and 1920, chronicling their arrival at Ellis Island and their settlements in major areas such as New York, Pennsylvania and Chicago. Depicts the migration of European immigrants to America between 1890 and 1920, chronicling their arrival at Ellis Island and their settlements in major areas such as New York, Pennsylvania and Chicago.

Charles Guggenheim

User reviews

December 5, 1989 (United States)
United States
Guggenheim Productions
See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

Runtime 52 minutes
Black and White

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Journey to America: What's Your Story?

Posted by Dan Sigward on March 23, 2017

Every family in the United States originated from somewhere else. From Native Americans who migrated across a land bridge to North America to immigrants who sailed aboard a steamship to Ellis Island, many chose to come to America. Hundreds of thousands of others were brought here against their will aboard slave ships.

Throughout this history, we have debated who should be allowed to come to live here and who may not. Laws and policies regarding immigration and refugee resettlement are important to debate in any country but just as important is the language and rhetoric we use in these debates. Too often, today’s rhetoric reflects a poor understanding of the history of immigration laws, creating distance between our own families’ narratives and the stories of those coming to America today.

Reflecting on my own family history made me consider an important question: How might better understanding the historical context of our own ancestors’ immigration stories affect how we think about the immigration debate today?

My ancestors emigrated from Alsace-Lorraine (a disputed territory between France and Germany) and Ireland within the second half of the 1800s. The reasons that likely motivated them are not much different than those of newcomers who are at the center of today’s debate. German and Irish Catholics were among the largest immigrant groups in the United States in the latter half of the 19th century. Irish immigrants fled famine, poverty, and lack of employment opportunity. Germans fled similar circumstances in addition to social and political unrest in the aftermath of wars. Today’s immigrants and refugees aren’t nameless, faceless hordes, but human beings seeking safety and prosperity just like my ancestors.

Though I don’t know much about my ancestors’ specific circumstances,, there is one detail I’m certain of: they neither broke nor circumvented any immigration laws by entering the United States, because there were no such laws. It is not that German and Irish immigrants were universally welcomed to the United States; they were subject to plenty of anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiments. But there were no laws preventing them or anyone else from coming to the United States at the time.

For me to claim that my 19th century ancestors were “legal” immigrants in contrast to today’s “illegal,” undocumented immigrants implies that my ancestors made a moral or ethical choice to “wait in line, follow the law, and play by the rules.” That claim puts distance between “us” and “them” by attempting to distinguish my “morally superior” ancestors from today’s “law-breaking” undocumented immigrants.

The first significant immigration law was the 1882 Chinese Exclusion Act, which banned nearly all Chinese immigrants from entering the country. Laws further restricting immigration were enacted in the 1920s in response to the influx of Italians, Eastern Europeans, and Jews in the early 20th century. Soon they began enforcing strict quotas based on national origin, which lasted until 1965. New laws replaced these quotas with preferences based on family relationships, skills, and other factors.

It is impossible for me to know what my ancestors would have chosen to do if faced with restrictions like these designed to keep them out of the United States. Was their desire for safety and opportunity, their longing to live in the United States, so great that they would have sought a way around laws in place to keep them out? Lucky for them, they didn’t have to choose.

This is, perhaps, a question of “ moral luck ,” a topic we explore in the newly revised edition of Holocaust and Human Behavior . Our choices are often constrained by the ways we perceive the options available to us in any particular time, place, and circumstance. Can we praise someone in the past for being virtuously law-abiding when there were no laws conflicting with their goals and no dilemma requiring a moral choice?

My goal is not to minimize the hardships and sacrifices our ancestors endured. To leave behind their home in search of safety, security, and opportunity was no easy endeavor. Whatever policies we decide to implement as a country or society today, we ought to strive to avoid the cruelty that often can result when we think of immigrants as threatening, criminal, or dangerous. Instead, by reflecting on our own stories about how we came to America, we might inject the debate with knowledge, insight, and humility that can help us steer clear of dangerous “us" vs. "them” thinking. This is what I learned from my story. What can you learn from yours? What can your students learn from theirs?

Want to explore the idea of “moral luck” with your students? Check out the reading, “ Moral Luck and Dilemmas of Judgment ,” from our newly revised edition of Holocaust and Human Behavior.

Photo Credit and Caption: The Miriam and Ira D. Wallach Division of Art, Prints and Photographs: Photography Collection, The New York Public Library. "Immigrants seated on long benches, Main Hall, U.S. Immigration Station." New York Public Library Digital Collections. Accessed March 13, 2017. http://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47da-d8d7-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99

Topics: Immigration , Holocaust and Human Behavior , current events , We and They

Written by Dan Sigward

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The Wave of Immigration to America during the 19th Century: A Changing Nation

The wave of immigration to America during the 19th century significantly shaped the nation’s identity and population . During this period, millions of immigrants flocked to the United States in search of better opportunities and escape from poverty, political unrest, and religious persecution .

The Industrial Revolution and economic boom in America during the 19th century attracted immigrants from various parts of the world. Europeans, including Irish, Germans, Italians, and Eastern Europeans, constituted a significant portion of the immigrants. They were joined by Chinese laborers seeking job opportunities, particularly during the California Gold Rush and the construction of the transcontinental railroad.

This influx of immigrants led to a diversification of American culture, language, and traditions . Immigrant communities often settled in neighborhoods where they could maintain their cultural practices and establish support networks. These neighborhoods, known as ethnic enclaves, played a crucial role in preserving their heritage while adapting to their new lives in America .

However, the arrival of immigrants also gave rise to nativist sentiments and anti-immigration movements . Some Americans feared that the large numbers of immigrants would lead to economic strain, cultural clashes, and competition for jobs. This sentiment led to the implementation of restrictive immigration policies, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the Immigration Act of 1891 .

Despite the challenges they faced , many immigrants contributed significantly to the growth and development of America during the 19th century . They played vital roles in industries such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and the building of infrastructure. Additionally, immigrants brought diverse skills, ideas, and cultural richness, enriching the fabric of American society .

The wave of immigration to America during the 19th century had a profound impact on the nation . It transformed the demographics, cultural landscape, and economic development. The experiences of these immigrants, both their struggles and contributions, continue to shape America’s identity as a nation of immigrants.

USCIS News: Visa Bulletin SEPTEMBER 2023 Priority Dates Updates, Green Card Updates, US Immigration

Largest immigrant groups in the us (1850 to 2019), what were the factors that led to immigration to the us during the 19th century.

There were several factors that contributed to immigration to the US during the 19th century.

1. Economic opportunities: The US offered abundant land and natural resources, as well as a growing industrial sector, which attracted immigrants seeking better economic prospects. Many Europeans faced poverty, overcrowding, and limited job opportunities in their home countries, so they saw America as a land of opportunity.

2. Political and religious freedom: The US was known for its democratic ideals, religious tolerance, and freedom of speech. Immigrants escaping political instability, religious persecution, or seeking to escape oppressive governments found refuge in the US.

3. Industrialization and urbanization: The Industrial Revolution led to rapid urbanization and increased demand for labor in cities. Immigrants, particularly from Europe, provided the workforce needed to fuel the industrial growth.

4. Transportation improvements: The advancements in transportation, such as steamships and railroads, made it easier and more affordable for people to travel long distances. This facilitated the migration of many Europeans to the US.

5. Chain migration: Once some individuals settled in the US, they would often encourage and assist their family members and friends to join them. This chain migration created networks that facilitated further immigration.

6. Famine and poverty: In the mid-19th century, Ireland experienced the Great Famine, causing mass starvation and forcing many Irish to leave their homeland. Similarly, economic hardships in regions like Italy, Eastern Europe, and Scandinavia pushed people to seek better lives in the US.

7. Gold Rush: The discovery of gold in California in 1848 sparked a massive wave of migration, known as the Gold Rush. People from all over the world flocked to California in hopes of striking it rich.

Overall, a combination of economic opportunities, political and religious freedom, industrialization, transportation improvements, chain migration, famine, and the Gold Rush played significant roles in driving immigration to the US during the 19th century.

How was immigration to America in the 19th century?

Immigration to America in the 19th century was a significant phenomenon that shaped the history and culture of the United States. During this period, millions of people from various parts of the world migrated to America in search of better economic opportunities, religious freedom, and escape from political upheavals.

Economic factors played a crucial role in driving immigration to America in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution and rapid urbanization in the United States created a demand for cheap labor. Immigrants from Europe, primarily Ireland and Germany, were attracted by the prospect of employment in industries such as manufacturing, mining, and construction.

Political and religious reasons also motivated people to leave their countries and settle in America. The Irish potato famine in the 1840s forced many Irish Catholics to seek refuge in the United States. Similarly, political unrest in Germany during the Revolutions of 1848 spurred a wave of German immigration to America.

The journey to America was often arduous and hazardous. Most immigrants undertook long and treacherous voyages lasting several weeks on overcrowded ships, commonly referred to as “coffin ships.” Conditions onboard were typically unsanitary, with limited food and medical care. Many passengers did not survive the journey due to disease and malnutrition.

Upon arrival , immigrants were processed at ports such as Ellis Island in New York or Castle Garden (later replaced by Ellis Island) where they underwent health and legal inspections. While some immigrants already had plans to settle in specific regions, many others were directed to destinations based on labor needs or family connections.

Immigrants faced various challenges upon their arrival in the United States. Language barriers, cultural differences, and discrimination were common obstacles. However, immigrant communities formed strong bonds and created support networks to help newcomers adapt to their new lives.

The impact of immigration in the 19th century was profound. Immigrants brought their customs, traditions, and languages, enriching American society and influencing its cultural landscape. They contributed to the growth of cities, the development of industries, and the expansion of transportation networks. Immigrants also played a vital role in shaping American politics and society, as they brought diverse perspectives and experiences.

Immigration to America in the 19th century was driven by economic, political, and religious factors. The journey was perilous, but those who made it endured many challenges and made significant contributions to the development of the United States.

What was the impact of immigration on America in the 19th century?

The impact of immigration on America in the 19th century was significant and transformative. During this period, millions of immigrants arrived in the United States from various parts of the world, primarily from Europe. This wave of immigration had several key effects on the country.

Economic impact: Immigrants played a crucial role in fueling America’s industrial revolution by providing a steady supply of labor. They often filled low-paying jobs in industries such as manufacturing, mining, and construction. Immigrants also established small businesses and contributed to the growth of urban areas. Their presence boosted economic growth and helped build America into an industrial powerhouse.

Cultural impact: The influx of immigrants brought diverse traditions, languages, religions, and customs to the United States. This rich tapestry of cultures led to the formation of ethnic neighborhoods and vibrant communities in cities like New York, Chicago, and San Francisco. Immigrants often maintained their native languages and cultural practices, fostering a sense of identity and community while also adding to the multicultural fabric of the nation.

Social impact: Immigration in the 19th century led to social challenges, as native-born Americans grappled with the influx of new arrivals. Anti-immigrant sentiment, known as nativism, emerged as some feared competition for jobs and resources. This led to the establishment of restrictive immigration policies, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882. However, immigrants also faced discrimination and prejudice based on their ethnicity and religion, which negatively impacted their integration into American society.

Demographic impact: Immigration significantly increased the population of the United States during the 19th century. Immigrants settled in cities and helped shape their growth, making urbanization a defining characteristic of this era. Large immigrant populations also had political implications, as they became important voting blocs and influenced local politics in their respective communities.

Overall, the impact of immigration on America in the 19th century was a complex and multifaceted phenomenon. While it contributed to economic growth, cultural diversity, and demographic changes, it also led to social tensions and the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments. Nevertheless, the legacy of this period’s immigration continues to shape the United States today.

What was immigration like in the 19th century?

Immigration in the 19th century was a significant phenomenon that shaped the demographic and cultural landscape of various countries, particularly the United States. The 19th century witnessed waves of mass immigration due to factors such as poverty, political instability , and economic opportunities .

European immigrants were the most dominant group during this period, with large numbers coming from countries such as Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe . They sought refuge from famine, religious persecution, and economic hardships.

New York City became a major port of entry for these immigrants, with Ellis Island serving as the processing center for millions of arrivals. Upon arrival, immigrants faced medical inspections, legal screenings, and verification of their documents .

Challenges awaited immigrants in their new countries. The vast majority settled in urban areas, particularly in industrial centers, where they formed ethnic enclaves and faced difficulties with language barriers and finding employment.

Discrimination and prejudice were prevalent, leading to the formation of organizations and communities that provided support and protection to immigrant groups. These included ethnic neighborhoods, churches, and mutual aid societies .

Chinese immigration also surged in the 19th century, primarily driven by labor demands in the American West. However, anti-Chinese sentiment and legislation, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act, severely restricted Chinese immigration and imposed harsh restrictions on those already living in the United States.

The 19th century witnessed significant waves of immigration that transformed countries like the United States. These immigrants faced numerous challenges, but their contributions shaped the development and diversity of the nations they settled in.

Frequently Asked Questions

What were the primary reasons for immigration to america in the 19th century.

The primary reasons for immigration to America in the 19th century were:

1. Economic opportunities: Many people were drawn to America by the promise of finding work and improving their living conditions. The United States was experiencing rapid industrialization and urbanization during this period, creating jobs in sectors such as manufacturing, mining, and agriculture.

2. Escape from poverty and famine: Europe, particularly Ireland and Germany, experienced economic hardships and famines in the 19th century. Many people sought a better life in America, where they hoped to escape poverty and enjoy greater economic stability.

3. Religious freedom: America was known for its commitment to religious freedom and tolerance. Religious minorities and persecuted individuals from various countries, such as Jews, Catholics, and members of non-conformist Protestant groups, sought refuge in America.

4. Political instability and conflicts: Europe witnessed several political upheavals, including the revolutions of 1848, which led to widespread migration. People fleeing political persecution and seeking stability found America to be an attractive destination.

5. Land availability: The Homestead Act of 1862 provided free land to settlers who were willing to develop and cultivate it. This drew many people to the American West, particularly farmers looking for new opportunities.

6. Transportation advancements: The development of steamship technology made transatlantic travel faster and more affordable, making immigration to America more accessible to a larger number of people.

It is important to note that immigration experiences varied depending on factors such as ethnicity, social class, and country of origin.

How did the influx of immigrants in the 19th century impact American society and economy?

The influx of immigrants in the 19th century had a significant impact on American society and economy. Between 1820 and 1920, millions of immigrants from countries such as Ireland, Germany, Italy, and Eastern Europe arrived on American shores in search of better opportunities and escaping political and economic hardships.

Socially , these new arrivals brought diverse cultural traditions, languages, and religions, which contributed to shaping the multicultural fabric of American society. They established ethnic enclaves in cities, where they formed communities and preserved their customs and languages. This diversity added richness and vitality to American culture, enriching art, music, cuisine, and literature.

Economically , immigrants played a crucial role in the industrialization and rapid growth of the United States. They provided an abundant source of labor for industries such as mining, manufacturing, and construction. Immigrants often took low-paying jobs that native-born Americans were reluctant to accept. Their labor helped fuel the expansion of the railroads, the development of urban infrastructure, and the growth of the agricultural sector.

Along with their labor contributions, immigrants also stimulated economic growth through entrepreneurship. Many immigrants started businesses and created jobs, contributing to the overall prosperity of the nation. For example, German immigrants played a significant role in the development of the brewing industry, while Italian immigrants made substantial contributions to the culinary and fashion industries.

However, the influx of immigrants also created challenges and tensions. Nativist sentiments arose among some native-born Americans who feared competition for jobs and resources. This led to the establishment of restrictive immigration policies and discriminatory practices against certain immigrant groups.

Overall, the inflow of immigrants in the 19th century brought both benefits and challenges to American society and economy. While it enriched the cultural landscape, fueled economic growth, and contributed to the nation’s development, it also sparked social and economic tensions that shaped the ongoing debate on immigration in American society.

What were the experiences and challenges faced by immigrants during their journey to and upon arrival in America in the 19th century?

In the 19th century, immigrants faced numerous experiences and challenges during their journey to and upon arrival in America. Leaving their homelands behind, these individuals embarked on often treacherous voyages across the Atlantic Ocean to seek better opportunities in the United States.

During the journey, immigrants faced harsh conditions, overcrowded ships, and limited access to basic necessities. Many were confined to steerage, the lower and less comfortable decks of the ship, where they endured cramped quarters, poor sanitation, and inadequate food and water supplies. Illnesses, such as cholera and dysentery, easily spread in these unsanitary conditions, leading to high mortality rates.

Upon arrival in America, immigrants encountered various challenges and hardships as they settled into their new lives. Language barriers were among the most significant hurdles. For non-English-speaking immigrants, communication was difficult, making it harder to find employment or establish connections within their communities. Many immigrants also faced discrimination and prejudice, often based on their nationality, ethnicity, or religious beliefs.

Additionally, economic difficulties were pervasive. Immigrants typically arrived with limited financial resources, if any at all. Finding stable employment and securing decent wages were major concerns for many newcomers. Competition for jobs was often fierce, as native Americans were sometimes hostile towards the influx of foreign workers willing to accept lower pay.

Living conditions in urban areas were often crowded and unsanitary. Immigrants frequently settled in overcrowded tenements and slums, lacking proper sanitation, fresh air, and clean water. Poverty and disease were rampant in these areas, exacerbating the challenges faced by immigrant families.

Despite the trials they endured, immigrants played a vital role in shaping the development of America in the 19th century. They contributed to the growth of industries, such as mining, manufacturing, and agriculture, and played a significant role in the expansion of the country’s population and cultural diversity. Over time, they formed close-knit communities, established schools and places of worship, and worked towards preserving their cultural heritage while also assimilating into American society.

However, the experiences and challenges faced by immigrants during this era highlight the resilience and determination of those who sought a better life for themselves and their families. Their contributions continue to shape the fabric of American society today.

Immigration to America in the 19th century played a pivotal role in shaping the nation’s identity and development. The influx of millions of immigrants from various parts of the world transformed the country into a melting pot of cultures, ideas, and opportunities. It was during this time that the United States experienced a dramatic population growth, urbanization, and industrialization. Immigrants sought refuge from economic hardships, political unrest, and religious persecution in their home countries, and America offered them a chance for a better life.

However, this wave of immigration also brought about social and economic challenges. Native-born Americans often viewed immigrants as a threat to their jobs, religion, and way of life. This led to the rise of anti-immigrant sentiments and the implementation of restrictive policies, such as the Chinese Exclusion Act and the Immigration Act of 1882. Despite facing discrimination and hardships, immigrants contributed immensely to the growth of American society, economy, and culture.

Today, the legacy of 19th-century immigration continues to shape the United States. The descendants of these early immigrants have made significant contributions in various fields, including politics, art, science, and business. The rich tapestry of multiculturalism and diversity that emerged during this period remains an integral part of the American identity.

As we reflect on this era of immigration, it is important to recognize the courage, resilience, and determination of those who journeyed to America in search of a better future. The stories of individuals and families who left their homelands to start anew in an unfamiliar land are a testament to the enduring spirit of the human quest for freedom and opportunity.

Overall, immigration to America in the 19th century serves as a reminder of the transformative power that migration has on societies. It teaches us the importance of embracing diversity, fostering inclusivity, and appreciating the contributions of all individuals, regardless of their origins.

To learn more about this topic, we recommend some related articles:

Unveiling the Legacy: Irish Immigration to Philadelphia in the 19th Century

The Untold Reasons Behind Irish Immigration in the 19th Century

Immigration to America in the 19th Century: A Gateway to New Horizons

Exploring 19th Century Immigration to Canada: A Gateway to Opportunity

The Impact of 19th Century German Immigrants: Cultivating a New Home in America

Why Did People Immigrate to America in the 19th Century: Exploring Reasons and Motivations

Jamestown — The First Permanent English Settlement in America

Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Established in 1607, the colonists survived famine, disease, weather, and several conflicts with Native American Indians. Jamestown grew, expanded, and served as the capital of the Virginia Colony from 1607 until 1698.

Captain John Smith. Image Source: Captain John Smith by Tudor Jenks, 1904, Archive.org.

Jamestown Summary

Jamestown was the first permanent settlement established in North America by England. It was started in 1607 by the Virginia Company of London, during the reign of King James I . Jamestown was founded for the purpose of finding gold and silver and establishing a trade route to the Pacific Ocean. Many of the colonists were unprepared for the harsh reality of life in the New World. Their focus on finding gold, and the lack of farming skills contributed to starvation and disease that caused many of them to die during the early days of the settlement.

Captain John Smith took control of Jamestown and enforced a rigorous work schedule, and established a tenuous trade relationship with the Powhatans, the local Native American Indians. However, Smith was forced to return to England. Without his leadership, Jamestown faltered and suffered through a devastating winter known as “The Starving Time.”

In 1610, a new group of settlers and supplies arrived, which helped the settlement recover. Soon after, John Rolfe introduced a new strand of tobacco, which turned into a cash valuable crop. Two years later, Rolfe married Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan, which helped establish peace between the settlement and the Indians. Jamestown continued to grow, which contributed to the settlement’s stability but also reignited tension with the Powhatan.

In 1622, the Indians carried out an attack on the settlements that killed an estimated 25-33% of the population of Virginia. Soon after, Virginia became a Royal Colony. Jamestown was eventually surpassed by New Towne, and the original fort and settlement were burned to the ground during Bacon’s Rebellion in 1676. Jamestown remained the capital of Virginia until 1699 when it was replaced by Williamsburg.

Jamestown Facts

Jamestown, established in 1607, was the first permanent English settlement in North America.
The journey to Virginia began on December 6, 1606, with three ships: the Susan Constant , the Godspeed , and the Discovery .
A total of 104 English men and boys, plus 39 crewmen, arrived in North America to start the settlement, which was named after King James I.
Jamestown served as the capital of the Virginia Colony for more than 80 years.
Captain John Smith is often credited for implementing policies that saved the settlement in its early years.
John Rolfe is credited for introducing a strain of tobacco that colonists were able to grow as a cash crop.
Virginia became a Royal Colony in 1624 when King Charles I revoked the charter of the Virginia Company.
Jamestown was plagued by fires due to its wooden buildings and was burned to the ground in 1676, during Bacon’s Rebellion.
Another fire in 1698 led the colony to relocate the capital to present-day Williamsburg.
Over time, Jamestown faded away and became farmland. Today, it is the Jamestown National Historic Site and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Jamestown Overview

Jamestown — also known as “James City” — was established on May 14, 1607, by the Virginia Company on James Island, a strategic location along the James River. Jamestown was approximately 60 miles from the confluence of the James River and the Chesapeake Bay. The settlement was established by a group of about 104 colonists who were led by Governor Edward Maria Winfield and his Governor’s Council.

The initial expedition was funded by the Virginia Company of London, a joint-stock company, with support from King James I. England wanted to follow in the footsteps of Spain and establish colonies in the New World, which were essential to the nation’s Mercantile System .

King James I of England, Portrait, Critz

The purpose of the expedition was to establish a colony and to find gold and silver deposits, as well as a river route to the Pacific Ocean. The English believed a route to the ocean would allow them to establish trade with the Far East. At that time, Europeans believed the Pacific Ocean was much closer to the east coast of America. They had no idea it was 3,000 miles to the west.

During the first two years, the colonists in Jamestown faced many challenges. They suffered from hunger and illnesses like typhoid and dysentery, caused by drinking contaminated water from the nearby swamp. The colonists also lived with the constant threat of attacks from the local Indian tribes, who were part of the Powhatan Confederacy. Disagreements between leaders of the settlement also caused problems.

After Captain John Smith took on the leadership of the colony, a successful, but tenuous, trade relationship was created with the Powhatans. The Indians traded corn for beads, metal tools, and other objects — including some weapons — from the colonists, who depended on the trade relationship for food. Despite the relationship, skirmishes still broke out between the two groups and deteriorated further after Smith was forced to return to England. Due to famine, and new leadership at Jamestown, the Powhatans stopped trading food, which led to the “Starving Time” in Jamestown.

However, in 1610, a new group of settlers and supplies arrived and helped to turn the settlement’s fortunes around. The introduction of tobacco as a cash crop proved to be a profitable export for Jamestown and a period of peace followed the marriage of colonist John Rolfe to Pocahontas, the daughter of Chief Powhatan.

In 1619, the Virginia Company, under the leadership of Sir Edwin Sandys, made changes to the operation of the colony that established the Headright System and the House of Burgesses. That same year, Dutch traders also arrived in Jamestown, carrying Africans with them.

During the 1620s, Jamestown expanded from the area around the original James Fort into a “New Town” built to the east. Relations with the Powhatans deteriorated after the death of Chief Powhatan, and the Indians attacked Jamestown in 1622, killing 347 colonists. The incident led King James I to revoke the colonial charters and Virginia became a Royal Colony.

In 1676, the fort and settlement were burned to the ground by Nathanial Bacon and his army during Bacon’s Rebellion. Jamestown was rebuilt on a smaller scale and was replaced as the capital of Virginia in 1699 by Williamsburg.

Jamestown History

First virginia charter — april 10, 1606.

On April 10, 1606, King James I granted a charter that created two companies — the Virginia Company of London and the Virginia Company of Plymouth — for the purpose of establishing English colonies along the east coast of North America.

The Virginia Company of London was given rights to the territory in the Mid-Atlantic region. Meanwhile, the Plymouth Company was given rights to present-day New England and established Popham Colony .

Jamestown and Popham were successors to the Lost Colony of Roanoke Island which was established in 1587 but disappeared by 1590.

Jamestown Expedition of 1606

The Virginia Company sent an expedition, consisting of three ships, to the Chesapeake Bay, under the command of Captain Christopher Newport. The ships were the Susan Constant , Godspeed , and Discovery . Together, they carried 104 men and boys. The group included 40 soldiers, 35 “gentlemen,” artisans, and laborers. The ships set sail from England on December 20, 1606, and arrived in the Mid-Atlantic Region in April 1607.

Jamestown Established — May 14, 1607

Newport had instructions from the Virginia Company to find a suitable place to establish a settlement that was uninhabited by Indians, provided protection from Spanish attacks, and had water deep enough for English ships to anchor.

The ships sailed 50-60 miles north on a river they called the James River. On May 13, they chose the site — a low, marshy peninsula — and they went ashore on May 14. They named it “James Towne.” Both the river and the settlement were named after King James I.

The spot the colonists chose to settle appeared to be uninhabited but was within the hunting and fishing grounds of some tribes in the Powhatan Confederacy. However, the Indians did not build homes or mark the territory, which was an unfamiliar practice to the English colonists. As a result, the colonists believed the area was uninhabited.

Jamestown’s President and Council Revealed

All three ships in the fleet carried a sealed box, containing documents from the Virginia Company that identified which settlers were to serve as the President and President’s Council. Once the site for Jamestown was chosen, the boxes were opened, and the documents were read.

The first President of the new Virginia colony was identified as Edward Maria Winfield, and the six members of the President’s Council were:

Bartholomew Gosnold
Christopher Newport
John Martin
John Ratcliffe
George Kendall

Captain John Smith was a surprise to the other colonists. He was a former mercenary who had been accused of insubordination aboard the ship by several other company members and imprisoned for part of the journey to Virginia.

Newport Reaches the Fall Line

Soon after the colonists were settled in, Captain Newport took some of his men and explored the rivers in the area. He traveled as far as the Fall Line, near present-day Richmond, Virginia. The Fall Line is a natural boundary that marks the transition from the Tidewater Region to the Piedmont Region.

Construction of Fort James

The presence of the colonists created conflict with the Powhatan Tribes, and they attacked the crude houses at Jamestown. After the settlement was attacked in May, the colonists were convinced they needed to build a fort for protection, which became the focal point of Jamestown.

On June 15, they completed the construction of a 3-sided fort with towers on each point. The towers were built to be large enough that they could hold several cannons. Inside the fort, the settlers built some new houses live in. Outside the fort, they started to clear land and plant crops. Unfortunately, the area was plagued by drought at the time, and the colonists had a difficult time growing crops.

Newport Returns to England

On June 22, after he believed the colonists were safe, Captain Newport left for England to get more supplies for the new settlement.

Relationship with the Powhatans

The Powhatan Confederacy was large and powerful and consisted of many tribes, who spoke an Algonquian dialect.

The Confederacy was led by a single chief, Wahunsonacock, who was also referred to as The Powhatan or Chief Powhatan.
The Powhatan territory covered most of the present-day area of Tidewater Virginia.
It went from the Potomac in the north to the Carolinas in the south, from the Chesapeake Bay inland to the west of what is now Richmond.
It is estimated the Powhatan Confederacy was the largest Indian Confederation in the history of North America.

Chief Powhatan tried to establish friendly relations with the colonists by sending food, which they accepted — and then expected. Since the Powhatans were providing food, there was little incentive for the colonists to worry about their own crops. Instead, they focused on their search for precious metals and exploration of the area.

Disease Ravages Jamestown

Not long after Newport left for England, the colonists were plagued by:

Contaminated Drinking Water — Unfortunately, the location they chose for Jamestown was too close to the ocean, so the salt water mixed with the fresh water in the James River, making it unhealthy to drink.
Mosquitoes — The stagnant water was a perfect place for mosquitoes to thrive.
Extreme Heat — The hot summer caused a significant amount of their food to spoil.

During the fall and winter, many of the colonists came down with “the bloody flux” — dysentery — which spread because of the lack of clean water and unsanitary conditions. By the following spring, only 35-40 of the colonists were still alive.

John Smith’s Expedition

Many of the colonists, especially the well-to-do gentlemen, did not care for Smith, and he was sent out to look for food and explore the area. Smith worked carefully to improve the relationship with the Powhatans, and to present Jamestown as a strong, fortified settlement that could defend itself.

Smith and his men traded with the Indians for provisions.
He learned about the area and made an effort to learn the ways of the Powhatans, including their language.
The Indians told Smith stories of a western sea and of mountains and gold.

Early on, Smith visited Indian villages, only to find they had been instructed by Chief Powhatan not to trade with the English. Desperate for food, Smith resorted to intimidation. If the villagers refused to trade, he would burn one of their buildings and threaten to burn the rest. Although it led to the Indians giving him some food, it also led Chief Powhatan to pursue him and try to kill him.

John Smith Captured and the Legend of Pocahontas

In December 1607, Smith was captured by the Powhatans and held captive. According to Smith, they intended to kill him, but Chief Powhatan’s daughter, Pocahontas, threw her arms around Smith and begged her father to spare him — which he did. Smith was released and returned to Jamestown. Whether or not this actually took place is the subject of debate, and is likely a story concocted by Smith.

Jamestown, Pocahontas Saves John Smith, Illustration

Crisis in Jamestown

When Smith returned to Jamestown, he found the settlement on the verge of collapse. Newport had not returned with supplies, and some of the colonists wanted to sail back to England on the ship Discovery . Smith threatened to shoot anyone that tried to leave and the colonists responded by arresting him.

Newport Returns — The First Supply

Newport returned to Jamestown on January 1, 1608, with supplies — and more colonists. Although one of the ships in the expedition was lost in a storm, Newport’s return to Jamestown calmed the situation with Smith, who was set free.

Newport also delivered a message from the Virginia Company, informing the colonists the company was not pleased they had not found gold, silver — or anything the company could make a profit from. The colonists were instructed to renew their focus on finding a way to make the settlement profitable.

Fort James Burns

Unfortunately, soon after Newport returned, a fire broke out in the fort, causing it to burn down, destroying all the food and supplies. By then Chief Powhatan was on good terms with Smith and he sent food and re-opened trade with Jamestown. Around that time, Smith realized the Indians were being generous, but were also expecting the colonists to pay more for the food they needed.

Gold Found Near Jamestown

Under Newport’s direction — and the renewed motivation to make a profit — the colonists spent a significant amount of time searching for gold. However, the focus on finding gold created friction between Smith and Newport for various reasons:

Defenses at the fort were neglected.
Exploration of the region stopped.
Crops were neglected.
Newport’s sailors were using up food, water, and supplies.

While Newport searched for gold, he started trading generously with the Indians. He even traded swords to them, which Smith was opposed to.

Although Newport’s intentions were good, it created a situation that was unsustainable. Smith knew that once Newport returned to England, the Indians would still expect Jamestown to trade weapons and metal tools to them — and the settlement would have none to trade, which would cause issues with the Indians.

Eventually, some of the colonists found what looked to them like flakes of gold running through some streams. They also dug up dirt that was filled with the same flakes. It was all packed up and loaded onto Newport’s ships and taken back to England — where Newport found out it was nothing more than pyrite — “Fool’s Gold.”

Nelson’s Lost Ship Arrives

The ship that was lost during the First Supply sailed up the James River in April, under the command of Captain Thomas Nelson. When Nelson’s ship was separated from Newport’s, he sailed south, delaying his arrival in Jamestown. Nelson delivered supplies and more colonists before loading a supply of cedar and returning to England.

John Ratcliffe’s House

During the summer of 1608, Smith was away from Jamestown, searching for food. President John Ratcliffe put the colonists to work building a home for him outside of the fort. This kept the colonists from working on vital tasks, such as growing crops.

John Smith Takes Control of Jamestown

By September 1608, the colonists were desperate. The lack of food, illness, and trouble with the Indians was intensified by leadership issues and internal conflicts. Smith returned from his expedition, and although he was suffering from a stingray attack, the colonists voted to remove Ratcliff and put Smith in charge.

Smith took firm control, implemented strict discipline, and organized efforts to plant crops and construct proper houses and buildings. Smith’s motto, “Work or starve”, required each colonist to spend at least four hours each day farming in order to ensure the survival of the colony.

Jamestown prospered, self-sufficiency increased, and the death rate fell. Smith’s success convinced the Virginia Company to eventually give more authority to the Governor.

However, Smith also had to deal with the high expectations Newport had created with the Indians. He was forced to adjust terms so it was more favorable for Jamestown. This led to the Indians stealing things like weapons and metal tools from Jamestown. Instead of retaliating with violence, as Governor Ralph Lane did at the Lost Colony on Roanoke Island, Smith simply strengthened the defenses of Jamestown and had men keep a lookout for potential thieves.

Jamestown, Trading with Indians, Painting, King

Newport Returns — The Second Supply

Newport returned in October 1608 to find Smith in charge and everything in Jamestown in order. Newport’s expedition was large and included four ships and more than 100 new colonists — including women and children. Among the group were:

Thomas Forrest and Margaret Foxe, the first married English couple in North America.
Anne Burras, who was a maid to Mistress Forest. Anne became the first Englishwoman to marry in North America when she married colonist John Layton.

Second Virginia Charter — May 23, 1609

Upset over the progress — and lack of profit — the investors in the Virginia Company asked for a new charter to allow them to sell additional shares in the company. The charter was granted by King James I and expanded the borders of the Virginia Colony. It is often referred to as a “sea to sea” charter because it extended the western border to the Pacific Ocean. The Second Charter also gave the Virginia Company the authority to make its own laws, as long as they did not violate existing English laws.

The Third Supply — The Sea Venture is Delayed

A supply ship called the Sea Venture , under the command of Sir George Somers, sailed to Jamestown as part of a flee that carried the “Third Supply.” The ship carried the new charter, along with Sir Thomas Gates — the new Governor of the colony — William Strachey, and John Rolfe. During the journey, the ship ran into a storm and was blown off course. It was severely damaged and ended up on the island of Bermuda — which Gates and Somers claimed for England.

When the ship arrived, Somers safely ran it aground, allowing the passengers to be safely transported to shore, where they remained for 10 months. Many believe the account Gates wrote about the voyage of the Sea Venture and his time on the island served as the inspiration for William Shakespeare’s play The Tempest .

The First Anglo-Powhatan War Begins

The area was still suffering from drought, which led Chief Powhatan to withhold food from Jamestown again, contributing to the First Anglo-Powhatan War . The colonists responded by taking food at gunpoint and the Indians retaliated by killing livestock and burning crops, making the food situation even worse in Jamestown.

John Smith is Injured and Returns to England

Smith was injured in a gunpowder explosion and returned to England in October 1609. Without his leadership, the colony fell back into the habit of depending too much on the Powhatans for food.

The Starving Time

Without Smith’s leadership, the colonists living in Jamestown suffered through a long, harsh winter that has become known as “The Starving Time.” Due to threats of Indian attacks, the colonists rarely left the fort and many who did were attacked and killed. By early 1610, most of the settlers died — only 60 survived the winter — out of approximately 500. Some survived by leaving Jamestown and moving to Point Comfort, near present-day Hampton, Virginia.

Over the course of the winter, many died from starvation and disease. Some were desperate and hungry enough to eat animals, including pets, and shoe leather. George Percy, the President in John Smith’s absence, wrote “And now famine beginning to look ghastly and pale in every face that nothing was spared to maintain life and to do those things which seem incredible, as to dig up dead corpses out of graves and to eat them.”

Thomas Gates Arrives in Jamestown

After the Sea Venture landed on Bermuda, Somers and his men built two smaller boats — Deliverance and Patience . On May 10, 1610, the two ships left Bermuda and started the journey to Jamestown. Two men were left on the island to maintain England’s claim on Bermuda.

Within two weeks, the ships reached Point Comfort, where they found George Percy, who informed Gates the situation in Jamestown was perilous. The ships continued on to Jamestown and arrived there on May 24.

The settlement and fort appeared to be abandoned and were in disrepair. Someone rang a bell to see if anyone would respond. To the shock of Gates and Somers, starving, malnourished survivors emerged from the dilapidated buildings. Eventually, Gates decided the only thing he could do was abandon Jamestown, put everyone on ships, and return to England.

Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martiall

The same day Gates arrived in Jamestown — May 24, 1610 — he issued orders known as the “Lawes Divine, Morall, and Martiall.” The orders were the first set of English laws in the New World and defined how members, employees, and servants associated with the Virginia Company were required to conduct themselves.

Lord De La Warr Arrives in Jamestown

While the ships of the Third Supply were marooned on Bermuda, the Virginia Company appointed Thomas West, Lord De La Warr, as Governor. The company outfitted him with a small fleet, supplies, and colonists, and sent him to Jamestown.

As West and his fleet sailed past Point Comfort, Gates and his ships were sailing toward them. West stopped Gates and ordered him to return to Jamestown.

When West settled in at Jamestown, he was intent on ensuring the survival of Jamestown. He put the colonists to work, much like Smith had done before.

Jamestown Attacks Paspahegh

Unfortunately, Governor West was unable to successfully deal with the Indians. He sent a message to Powhatan, asking him to return prisoners and stolen goods. Powhatan refused and Delaware organized an attack on the village known as Paspahegh. George Percy led the nighttime raid. The Englishmen burned the village to the ground and brutally murdered some of the inhabitants, including women and children.

West and Somers Leave Jamestown

West and Somers were not in Jamestown for long. Somers sailed to Bermuda to capture wild pigs and for the settlement to use for food. Unfortunately, while he was there, he died. Meanwhile, West became ill and was forced to return to England.

Although West remained Governor of Jamestown until 1619, several men served in his place as Acting Governor or Lieutenant Governor, including Sir Thomas Gates, George Percy, Sir Thomas Dale, Sir George Yeardley, and Sir Samuel Argall.

Dale was responsible for expanding the Laws Divine, as they applied to soldiers, which is often seen as imposing martial law throughout Virginia.

Third Charter of Virginia — March 12, 1612

On March 12, 1612, King James granted the Virginia Company of London a third charter, which extended the boundaries of the colony to include Bermuda. A new joint stock company was created to fund the colonization of Bermuda, which was known as the Somers Isles at the time. The company was called the Somers Isles Company and was led by Sir Thomas Smythe.

John Rolfe Plants Tobacco in Jamestown

In 1612, John Rolfe, one of many shipwrecked on Bermuda, acquired some tobacco seeds while he was on a trip to the Caribbean. He took them back to Jamestown, planted them, and they produced a sweet version of tobacco that became popular in England. From then on, tobacco was a vital cash crop that allowed Jamestown to find the stability it needed.

The Peace of Pocahontas

In 1613, Sir Samuel Argall kidnapped Pocahontas and took her to Jamestown. Governor Dale tried to trade her back to her father, Chief Powhatan, for prisoners and items the Indians had stolen prior to the Starving Time.

However, when Dale went to meet with Chief Powhatan, he was not in his village. Further, Pocahontas announced she wanted to stay with the English in Jamestown. Pocahontas was kept in the settlement at Henricus. While she was there, she was instructed in Christianity and met John Rolfe. She was also baptized as a Christian and took the name, Rebecca.

In 1614, Rolfe married Pocahontas, and it helped establish a period of peace between Jamestown and the Indians, ending the time of the First Anglo-Powhatan War.

Jamestown, Wedding of Rolfe and Pocahontas, Illustration

New Towne and New Settlements

As the colony grew, so did the need for a larger and more secure settlement. In 1619, a new settlement was built east of the original James Fort, called New Towne. Along with New Towne, settlements were established along the banks of the James River, including Bermuda Hundred.

Pocahontas Visits England

In the summer of 1616, John Rolfe, Pocahontas, their son, and a group of Powhatan warriors visited England They stayed until 1617 and John Smith visited her. Unfortunately, as the group prepared to return to England, Pocahontas became ill and died. She was buried in England and their son, Thomas, remained there. Rolfe returned to Virginia and his tobacco crops. The following year, Powhatan died and was succeeded by his brother, Opechancanough, who did not care for the English. The Peace of Pocahontas was coming to an end.

Great Charter of Virginia — November 18, 1618

Despite the popularity of tobacco, the Virginia Company was still in debt, so it decided to create a way to encourage people to pay to emigrate from England to Virginia. Two officers of the company, Sir Thomas Smythe and Sir Edwin Sandys, drafted a set of instructions for the new Governor, Sir George Yeardley, who replaced Thomas West. The instructions, which are known as the “Great Charter of Virginia,” established the Headright System and authorized the election of a General Assembly — the House of Burgesses.

Headright System

The Headright System provided incentives for landowners to pay for people to emigrate to Virginia. Basically, a landowner was given land for each immigrant they paid for. As more people moved to Jamestown, the landowners increased the amount of land they owned, and the lower class expanded. Initially, the immigrants were indentured servants. Once they completed their contracts, they were free to remain in Jamestown and were given a small amount of property, although it was usually poor, undeveloped land west of Jamestown.

House of Burgesses

The Great Charter instructed Yeardley “to establish one equal and uniform government over all Virginia” and provide “just laws for the happy guiding and governing of the people there inhabiting.” The new General Assembly was the first representative assembly in English North America and held its first meeting — with the Governor and his Council — in the Jamestown church on July 30, 1619. The men elected by each district were called “Burgesses,” hence the name “House of Burgesses.”

Captured Africans Arrive in Jamestown

Not long after the first meeting of the House of Burgesses, John Rolfe recorded the arrival of a Dutch ship. The incident is significant because the ship carried approximately 20 Africans who were purchased by Jamestown landowners from the Dutch, to work on their plantations.

According to some accounts, there were already 30 Africans working in Jamestown as indentured servants. However, the Africans that were purchased from the Dutch are often considered to be the first slaves in the Province of Virginia.

Because the landowners were paying to bring people into the colony, they were compensated with land. However, unlike indentured servants, slaves were not freed and were unable to acquire land. While the population increased, so did slavery, and so did the plantations of the wealthy landowners — or the “Wealthy Planters” as they are typically referred to.

English Women Arrive in Jamestown

Another major event in the growth and development of Jamestown took place in 1619. That year, the Virginia Company recruited approximately 90 women and sent them to Virginia. For the most part, their purpose was to find husbands and start families, which is widely believed to have contributed to the growth and stability of the colony.

Powhatan Attack of 1622

After Chief Powhatan died, he was succeeded by his brother, Opechancanough. As the Virginians expanded their plantations, they used up more land, angering Opechancanough, who decided to coordinate an attack on Virginia settlements on March 22, 1622.

On that day, warriors from the Powhatan Confederacy attacked plantations and settlements, killing nearly 350 of the 1,200 colonists. The attack marked the beginning of the Second Anglo-Powhatan War .

People living in and around Jamestown were warned about the impending attack by an Indian boy who was living with the family of Richard Pace. The boy warned the Pace family, who took refuge, and then Pace warned Jamestown. The town prepared its defenses and was able to prevent the planned attack.

King James I Revokes the Virginia Company Charter

In 1623, the Privy Council opened an investigation into the affairs of Sandys and the Virginia Company. The next year, Nathaniel Butler, who had been the Governor of Bermuda, published a pamphlet that was critical of how the government of Virginia operated. A commission was sent to Virginia to assess the situation.

On May 24, 1624, King James I revoked the Virginia Company’s charter and Virginia became a Royal Colony, under the direct control of the monarch. Sir Francis Wyatt was appointed as the first Royal Governor of Virginia and served until 1626. Wyatt was followed by Sir George Yeardley (1626–1627) and Francis West (1627–1629). West was the brother of Thomas West, Lord De La Warr.

The Second Anglo-Powhatan War Ends

The shift in colonial rule did not alter relations with the Indians, and the Second Anglo-Powhatan War continued until 1632 when the Powhatans were forced to concede. Afterward, the colonists expanded their settlements along the James River and throughout the region. Within two years, the colonists completed a palisade — a fence made from wooden stakes — that stretched for six miles across the Virginia Peninsula. The palisade was intended to act as a barrier to keep Indians from moving down the Peninsula to attack the settlements, including Jamestown.

Following the Second Anglo-Powhatan War, Virginia was governed by a series of men who were often in trouble with the law or caught up in political intrigue.

Sir John Harvey was impeached by the Council of Virginia — his own Governor’s Council — and removed from office. Harvey went to England and plead his case to King Charles I, arguing there was a conspiracy to change the colony’s charter. Harvey was restored to office and served as Governor from 1637 to 1639.
Sir John West served as Acting Governor after Harvey was ousted. When Harvey returned, West was recalled to England where he was questioned for his role in the supposed conspiracy to change the colonial charter. West was the third West brother, following Thomas and Francis, to spend time serving as Governor.
Sir George Reade served as Acting Governor when Harvey was in England. Reade appears to have been able to avoid controversy and is most well-known as being the great-great-grandfather of George Washington.

Sir William Berkely Arrives in Jamestown

Sir Francis Wyatt was appointed as Governor for a second time in 1639. He served until 1632 when he was replaced by Sir William Berkeley. Berkeley served as Governor from 1642 to 1652 and then again from 1660 until 1677. He was also one of the Lords Proprietors of the Province of Carolina.

According to most accounts, Berkeley was talented, with an interest in science. He believed trade with the Indians was important to Virginia’s success and he also believed the colony needed to diversify its economic system so it did not depend entirely on tobacco. However, Berkeley manipulated the political system so it favored the wealthy upper class, and he insisted on enforcing the Navigation Acts, which ultimately led to his downfall.

Third Anglo-Powhatan War and Treaty of 1646

Once again, Opechancanough planned another coordinated attack against the English settlements, due to encroachment on Powhatan lands. The surprise attacks were carried out on April 18, 1644, ending in the deaths of roughly 350-400 of the 8,000 colonists living in Virginia, and starting the Third Anglo-Powhatan War .

In 1646, Opechancanough, who was likely over 90 years old at the time, was captured and held prisoner in Jamestown. While he was there, a guard shot him from behind, killing him. His death led to the end of the war — and the Powhatan Confederacy.

His successor, Necotowance, signed the Treaty of 1646, which made all tribes in the Powhatan Confederacy tributaries to the King of England. Per the treaty, each tribe was given land, essentially a reservation, and was required to pay tribute — an annual fee — to the Governor.

Further, Indians and Virginians were prohibited from crossing into each other’s territory unless they had a pass issued from the forts on the border.

Jamestown and the English Civil War

During the English Civil War, Governor Berkeley remained loyal to the Stuarts, as did most Virginians, who were members of the Church of England. Virginia’s loyalty to the Stuarts and the “Cavaliers” is what earned it the nicknames “Cavalier State” and “Old Dominion.”

When King Charles I was dethroned and executed, Oliver Cromwell and Puritans took control of England and replaced Berkeley with Richard Bennett (1652–1655), who was followed by Edward Digges (1655–1656), and then Samuel Mathews (1656–1660).

King Charles II ascended the throne in 1660 in an event known as the “Restoration of the Stuart Monarchy.” The new King restored Berekeley as Governor of Virginia, in part as a way to thank him for his loyalty to the monarchy.

Bacon’s Rebellion

Bacon’s Rebellion was a violent uprising led by Nathaniel Bacon that took place in colonial Virginia in 1676 and 1677. The rebellion was the result of a political dispute between Governor Berkeley and Virginia colonists, led by landowner Bacon, over how to deal with attacks from remnants of the Powhatan Tribes on the frontier.

Many of the colonists that banded together under Bacon were former indentured servants — black and white — who lived on small farms that were unable to compete with the larger plantations. Naturally, they resented the political system that benefitted the upper class. When the Indian attacks started, Berkeley refused to attack the Indians, fearing it would disrupt the lucrative trade that he and his political allies benefitted from.

It was the first rebellion in the colonies where colonists took up arms against English government officials. On September 14, 1676, Bacon and his army burned Jamestown to the ground and Berkeley was forced to flee.

Near the end of the conflict, Bacon died and English troops were sent to restore peace. As a result of the rebellion, the Virginia House of Burgesses outlawed indentured servitude, which contributed to an increase in the use of enslaved Africans in Virginia.

After Bacon died, Berkeley and the Indians signed the Treaty of 1677, which restored peace. However, Berkeley was recalled to England, where he died on July 9, 1677.

The Jamestown Fire of 1698

When the city was rebuilt, it was on a smaller scale. In the following years, it was less of a hub of business and more of an administrative center for the colony’s politicians.

Jamestown remained the capital of Virginia until the statehouse and prison, located on the western end of the island, burned to the ground in 1698, in a fire started by a prisoner. Although the buildings were lost, a significant number of the public records were saved.

Influential men like James Page of Middle Plantation — present-day Williamsburg — successfully lobbied to have the capital moved there. In 1699, Middle Plantation succeeded Jamestown as the capital of Virginia.

People continued to live on the island and in the area, but it transformed from a town to farmland. By the mid-1700s, the land became part of two plantations, owned by the Travis and Ambler families.

Afterward, Jamestown faded away, and the land was eventually purchased by the owners of surrounding plantations.

Jamestown Today

Today, Jamestown National Historic Site is located on the James River. Nearby is Historic Jamestowne, a living-history museum that includes a reconstructed Fort James and a small representation of a Powhatan village.

Jamestown Significance

Jamestown Settlement was important to the history of the United States because it was the first successful English settlement in the New World.

Jamestown AP US History (APUSH) Study Guide

Use the following links and videos to study Jamestown, the 13 Original Colonies , and the Southern Colonies for the AP US History Exam. Also, be sure to look at our Guide to the AP US History Exam .

Jamestown APUSH Definition

Jamestown refers to the first successful permanent English settlement in North America. It was established on May 14, 1607, in present-day Virginia. The settlement was sponsored by the Virginia Company, a joint-stock company that sought to profit from the colonization of the New World. Although Jamestown struggled at first, the introduction of tobacco as a cash crop helped stabilize the colony. Jamestown is often seen as the beginning of the English presence in North America and the beginning of the 13 Original Colonies.

Jamestown APUSH Video — The English Colonies in America

This video from The Daily Bellringer provides an overview of the early days of the English Colonies in America, including the Jamestown Settlement, and is an excellent resource for students studying for the AP US History Exam.

Jamestown Pictures

These paintings from the National Park Service depict life in Jamestown through the years.

Jamestown, Voyage to Virginia, Painting, King

Written by Randal Rust

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Journey to America: Celebrating Inspiring Immigrants Who Became Brilliant Scientists, Game-Changing Activists & Amazing Entertainers Hardcover – July 5, 2022

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Science: Kalpana Chawla (astronaut), I. M. Pei (architect), Chien-Shiung Wu (particle physicist), and Albert Einstein (theoretical physicist)
Entertainment: Tan France (fashion designer), Camila Cabello (singer-songwriter), M. Night Shyamalan (filmmaker), Natalie Portman (actress), Rihanna (singer), and Dikembe Mutombo (basketball player)
Politics: Ilhan Omar (congresswoman), Arnold Schwarzenegger (former governor of California), and Alexander Hamilton (founding father)
Business: Indra Nooyi (former PepsiCo CEO), Sergey Brin (Google co-founder)
Children of immigrants: America Ferrara (actress), Walt Disney (founder of The Walt Disney Company), Michelle Kwan (figure skater), Kamala Harris (U.S. vice president), and Barack Obama (former U.S. president)
Reading age 6 - 10 years
Print length 96 pages
Language English
Grade level 1 - 5
Dimensions 6.8 x 0.65 x 9.25 inches
Publisher becker&mayer! kids
Publication date July 5, 2022
ISBN-10 0760371229
ISBN-13 978-0760371220
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Maliha Abidi is a Pakistani-American artist and author living between London and Los Angeles. Born and raised in Karachi, Pakistan, she migrated to California, United States at the age of 14. As a South Asian immigrant, her experiences play a huge role in her work. Her art focuses on advocating for social justice including women’s rights, girls’ education and mental health. Using bright and bold colors, Maliha hopes to get people interested in complex issues that impact our societies. As Maliha says, “Come for the art, stay for the cause.” She is also the founder and creator of @WomenriseNFT. A Web 3.0 initiative with the focus on women’s rights and girls’ education through using art as a tool for advocacy. Maliha’s work includes illustrations, animations, NFT art and illustrated books. In her spare time, she loves to travel, read books, go bicycling and explore new blends of coffee.

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Publisher ‏ : ‎ becker&mayer! kids (July 5, 2022)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 96 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0760371229
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0760371220
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 6 - 10 years
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 1 - 5
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.9 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.8 x 0.65 x 9.25 inches
#198 in Children's Books on Immigration (Books)
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Journey to America

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The Journey to America: An Immigrant’s Story

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Being called a melting pot country, a story of an immigrant’s journey towards the American Dream is quite common. We normally see them in the malls, at our schools, work places, diners and restaurants. And although they are omnipresent in our midst, it is very rare that we pay attention to them. Rarely do we give thought to the kind of life they had before they came to America and the reason behind their decision to leave home and opt for a life as a foreigner in another country. I must admit that I have very seldom, if at all, paid any attention to these immigrants or aliens, as we sometimes call them. But that changed when I met Francisco, an immigrant from El Salvador.

Francisco is a waiter in a diner I frequent a few blocks from where I live. I have often seen him engaged in small talks with loyal customers. From the first time I saw him, I thought that he had a way with people – customers seemed to like talking to him and he didn’t mind spending a few seconds for chitchats. He had dark brown hair, with streaks of white hair – which I assume are by-products of his age. He is in his mid forties already, tall and lanky and with eyes that could be very engaging when in a conversation with him. For me, he was the epitome of congeniality so when this project came up, I knew he would be the one I would interview.

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Hence, on a windy Tuesday afternoon after class, I trooped to the diner where Francisco worked and braced myself on a conversation with him. I came to interview him for a class assignment but I left that diner with a whole lot more than what I bargained for. What I got from Francisco on that day was more than just a class requirement. I took home some of the greatest life lessons I could ever have.

In the beginning, it had the makings of a normal small talk between a guy serving burger and milkshakes and his customer. It started with “Here you go, kid. Hope you like ‘em hot,” and then I ask him if he had the time for a small conversation with me – told him I was interested in his life story and how he came to live in America.

He looked at me strangely at first but then started showing a hint of a smile. He took a quick look at his watch and observed me for a moment. After explaining what the interview was all about and why I needed it, he took his time to think about it. I told him it was okay if he didn’t feel comfortable about sharing his story. Just when I thought I had to find another subject for this class assignment, he told me that he gets off in an hour and if it was okay for me to wait. I told him I’d wait – so there I sat, lingering on my burgers and fries and milkshakes, thinking of the many things I can ask him.

After an hour, Francisco sat in front of me, with a coffee in tow and asked me what I needed to know. “Your life and how you got here,” I answered quite broadly. And he smiled again – that now familiar smile. He responded, “Well, my life can be considered a struggle for some. But for me, I just think of it as one long journey towards the fulfillment of a dream. I normally get by with that thought.”

He then started giving me a brief background of his country, El Salvador which rise to economic security was halted with the onslaught of civil wars. He noted though that although there is no longer any conflict of war in the country, employment continued to decrease and more and more people had to leave and seek greener pastures. One of them was Francisco.

“It was quite simple really. I left my country because my family needed the money. I did not know anyone in America, I had no idea what life was in America, I barely spoke the language –but a choice had to be made. I left because my family had to live and survive,” he explained rather matter-of-factly. So I asked him if his move to the US was out of economic necessity.

He replied, “In El Salvador, delinquency has increased and employment has decreased as a result of the civil wars. Because of this I became one of the thousands of Salvadorans who day by day decide to travel to the United States to the so-called ‘American dream’, eager to get ahead in my country and have a better future trip from Soyapango in San Salvador toward Tecún Umán, Guatemala.”

I asked him to describe his birthplace, Soyapango. He started by saying that it was not a good place to start raising children but since he has lived there all his life, it was still home to him. He described it as a “mix of poor working class and extremely poor people with a high level of gang violence in amongst, and surrounding, the neighborhood.”

He explained that if the kids from the church enter the plaza in town, they will be killed by the gang that claims that territory because the kids are from a rival gang’s territory. It doesn’t matter that the kids do not belong to the gang who claims the territory where the church sits, just being from that area is enough.

I asked him if there was anything positive that he remembers from his hometown. He smiled and nodded his head. “You are right. It is not all darkness in that neighborhood. It is a very vibrant place with vibrant hard working people. People who have been through a lot and have an incredible resiliency about them. The neighborhood is made up of mostly refugees and ex-guerillas from the war. Due to this it seems, the government tends to neglect the area, except after the spats of violence and basic things such as reliable water service and utility service are spotty. The neighborhood is not that far from rural El Salvador, so we see cows wander in from time to time and eat at the piles of garbage that tend to accumulate along the street and from the church you can see the hillsides lined with rows of corn. It is a close community where even the thieves and drug addicts seem to be known by people, and in a way, accepted as part of the community. Tiendas dot the street and you can get fresh tortillas at a little store across the street from the church and pupusas at a little stall further down the street. It’s a very rough area, but full of life.”

And then he adds what I think has a twinge of pain in it, “…and I do miss the place.” A statement which, needless to say, broke my heart. I then asked him what his life was in his hometown –what his job was like, and if he had a family.

Francisco told me that he was a math teacher in the third grade and that he loved his profession very much. Although the neighborhood he served was not the one he was hoping for, he saw himself as a tool to help children get better lives and leave the gangster world they have grown used to.

He smiled at me when he said, “The people at my neighborhood always said I had a gift. A gift of relating to people. I don’t know if that is true but one thing I can say is this: I love people. Regardless of what I have seen in this world, I believe in the innate goodness of every human being.”

At this point, Francisco also told me that he has daughters –2 of them and a beautiful wife. After some time, they were able to join him here in the United States but the years apart were very difficult. Those years were wrought with tears and sacrifices.

“No regrets, though,” says Francisco. “We are all here in America now and living the life we envisioned to have. All the things we had gone through were all part of the process.”

He admitted that he didn’t really want to leave his family behind, saying that no fool would ever leave his home unless it was a matter of life and death. But he had no choice. It was either sink or swim – and he opted for the latter. I asked him to recall how his trip to the United States was and he looked at me as if to ask me if I was ready for life’s brutal truth.

“It was not an easy journey,” he began and paused. A long pause. I asked him to expound on it and he nodded his head, as if thinking if he should go ahead and spare naïve, little me the horrors of his journey.

“When I arrived at the Casa del Migrante in Guatemala, I was warned of the difficulty of crossing over to Mexico. He added that it was in Casa del Migrante where he shared conversations about ordinary things with other migrants “who told me the places where it was best to cross, where the Immigration check points were.”

It was at that point, Francisco said, when he decided to cross to the other side of Guatemala toward Mexico. “Crossed the River Suchiate in an inner tube. I remember that they said they would charge me ten Mexican pesos. Good, I said, that’s fine. What I didn’t know was that on the other side, the same man of the rafts would assault us with a pistol and take the little we had brought. I was left without a nickel.”

I asked him to stop for a moment – more so for me than for him. I had to have time to take it all in. I couldn’t understand how someone can do such a thing to a fellow human being and I said that aloud. He smiled at me and said, “Well, that is life, my friend. I’m glad that my money and possessions was all he took from me. At least I had my life and was able to continue with the journey.”

With that response, I couldn’t help but tell him how much I admired his resilience and the way he viewed the negative incident he just shared with me. He then said, “Americans have pampered lives. They think they have problems but they really don’t – at least not as serious as the ones being experienced by people who live in third world countries like me. You Americans don’t realize how lucky you are to live in a country where you can be free to do what you like, speak what you like and basically act how you like. Not everyone is as lucky as you are.”

We stopped for a moment. I guess he was allowing me to digest what he just told me. As for me, I must admit that I have had a lot of complaints about how my life was going. What Francisco just told me made me realize that compared to him, all I had were little inconveniences, not problems.

After some time, I asked Francisco to continue with his narrative. After hearing this much, I just had to hear the end – of how he finally came to America.

He responded, “We continued until we boarded the freight train, which the immigrants call the iron beast. In the train station of Ciudad Hidalgo I asked others who were there waiting for the train, ‘Hey, compa’, what’s happening? When does the train leave?’ They told me, laughing, the train has no hour or day. You just have to wait until night. Fortunately, we began to see movement in the train that would leave for Tapachula and then Tonalá, Chiapas, at approximately 2:00 a.m. In the early morning, the train left and with it hundred of migrants. I didn’t know where they all came from. They came out from all sides like ants. We came about fifteen in each car. When I looked out on the sides of the train, I felt like it was a carnival of people.”

He paused as if to sense if I was ready for what he was going to reveal next. I nodded slowly, as if not sure myself if I wanted to hear the next part. I asked him to go and almost haltingly, he continued with his story.

“When we came close to Tapachula on this stretch, the assailants started to come out, from train car to car, assaulting the people. And if you don’t give them anything, they throw you off the train. I saw many people thrown off the train and saw the men put their hands all over the women and even rape them…” and then he stopped and looked at me in the eye. He then told me something I will never forget for as long as I live.

“When one sees these things, one feels impotent in not being able to do anything, since they are up to 30 gangsters and delinquents. The only thing one can do is ask God to protect us. Upon arriving in Tonalá after a couple of army check points, we had to go and ask for food, a taquito, since we no longer had any money-all was robbed. After a while the shame of begging left me.”

On hindsight, I realized how stupid I must have looked to him after he said that. I did not know how to respond because firstly, is there a way to properly comment on a story such as the one he just shared with me? Secondly, if I agreed on what he just said, he might assume that I had seen the same thing myself before –and that was as far as the truth as anything else. I had never seen such horror in my life nor would I ever hope to. In fact, I can not even begin to comprehend what he went through on that train.

He shrugged his shoulders and continued, “I was the first to get off the train to ask for food in the towns after Tonalá. I continued on the train to Arriaga, then to Ixtepec, Oaxaca. After I arrived there, the train didn’t leave for three days. That is where I, with other companions, decided to walk. We walked for two and a half days to Matías Romero. On this path we went through moun-tains, where we slept with the coyotes surrounding us. They were very hungry, as we were ourselves. A Honduran woman whom we will call Sandra told me: Either the coyotes will eat us or I will eat the coyotes. I assume she said that because she was so hungry. She was a little plump, so she suffered more.”

He said that as soon as they arrived at this particular town, the “preventive” police came out, the ones they call “cuico.” Francisco recalled how the police stopped them and told them to “share some” to Immigration. “Since we had no money, my Honduran friend was the one who paid for us with her body,” he said.

At that point, I began to have an idea of how gruesome Francisco’s journey to America has been. To witness all that evil and continue with life is something that definitely is worth raving about. I asked him how his rest of the journey was and he continued.

“From then on, there were no check points until Veracruz. We went through various towns. I will never forget one of these towns, with such beautiful people. When the train was arriving, all the people came out with bottles of water and bags of food and gave them to us on the train. What good people.

“Upon arriving at Orizaba, we went to the Casa del Migrante. There I got to know other Salvadorans, from the Port of La Libertad, and one said to me, ‘Hey, you know the way.’ Look,” I said, “I don’t know the way, but this train goes North, and everyone goes there.” In the end, we became compadres and went on together. We only knew that this train would take us to Mexico City.”

“We got on the train enthusiastically, not knowing what was awaiting us. Upon arriving in Tlaxcala, there was an Immigration and army check point and we all jumped off the train. I jumped off and then I saw my friend, the guy from the Port of La Libertad, who was walking along the side of the train, and he didn’t jump. Then he jumped and when he fell, the wheels of the train cut his two feet. When we picked him up he cried out, “My feet! The train took them off!”

“Seeing this, I went running to a telephone to call the ambulance. The press arrived first. We did not want the press. At this moment we needed an ambulance to help my friend. When the police and the ambulance arrived, the others left and told me, “Let’s go, because Immigration will come.”

Francisco told me then that he opted to take his chances with immigration for as long as he is able to help his compadre. Eventually, the police and the ambulance took Francisco’s friend to the hospital to recuperate. Fortunately, everything turned out okay.

After this harrowing accident, Francisco admitted that he became afraid of traveling on a train. “I decided for bus or car-whatever ride was good. Then, arriving in the State of Mexico at a place called Huehuetoca, I decided to work to put together money to continue my journey. I worked approximately six months and earned $5,000 Mexican pesos. I said, with this I can make it to the North.”

“When I arrived in San Luis Potosí to board another train that would take me to the Northern border, I met other Salvadorans waiting for the train. The private police hired by the train came out and asked us for money, but we didn’t have any. They beat us and let us continue on our way. We got on the train and in two days we arrived at the Casa del Migrante in Nuevo Laredo. There, talking with other migrants, I got to know another Honduran who told me that he was ready to walk to the other side. And I told him I was ready as well.”

At that point, Francisco told me that the two of them had decided to make the walk the following day. “We found our way to the Rio Grande and looked over the possibilities of crossing to the other side,” he noted.

Francisco added that upon arriving at the bank of the river, they saw about ten people crossing, and he told his friend to “go down lower.” They then took off their clothes and crossed. “In Laredo, Texas, we walked for a day until we got to where the freight train leaves. I decided to board, but my Honduran friend did not. He said, I prefer to walk.”

He paused and smiled. “And this is how I came to be in America.”

At this point, I had looked at him with different eyes. Now, he is more than just a waiter to me. He is a survivor and a damn good one at that. I doubt if I could go through what he just told me and live to tell about it.

As I had earlier mentioned, I had begun this conversation only because I had a requirement to fulfill in class. But after an hour of talking to Francisco, his story changed me. It changed the way I view immigrants in America. I had always thought them to be parasites – living off America’s wealth.

I never realized the kind of sacrifice they had to go through in order to get here. Most of the things I take for granted are sacred for them. Among these is freedom to live a normal life on a daily basis.

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How Will the New and Old Toyota 4Runners Stack Up?

A photo collage of the current Toyota 4Runner below the all-new model gives us clues about the model soon to arrive.

new and old toyota 4runners with liftgate facing the camera

The latest teaser for the all-new 2025 Toyota 4Runner shows a limited peek of the rear window, the roof, and the upper part of the liftgate.
A photo collage comparing the current and new 4Runners shows that the softer, smoother shape of the previous model has given way to lots of crimps and creases in the sheetmetal.
While the old model placed the 4Runner name just below the Toyota brand logo, the new model handles the rear badging quite differently

And this latest teaser shows a limited peek of the rear window, the roof, and the upper part of the liftgate. Through the wonders of Photoshop, we've stacked this teaser image on top of the identical shot of the 2023 Toyota 4Runner—the 40th anniversary edition painted black but with red, orange, and yellow striping on the side.

This photo collage shows that the softer, smoother shape of the previous 4Runner has given way to lots of crimps and creases in the sheetmetal, while the more upright greenhouse suggests the new 4Runner will have more head and shoulder room.

And it was just days ago that Toyota released a different view of the liftgate for the all-new 4Runner. Are they trying to tell us the back end got a lot of attention from the design studio? Note how the old taillamps protruded from the side, while the new 4Runner has rear lights that blend in better with the overall form.

While the old model placed the 4Runner name just below the Toyota brand logo, the new model handles the rear badging quite differently: The Toyota name is embossed on what appears to be a big, chunky grabhandle for the upper part of the liftgate while the 4Runner name appears along the lower edge of the liftgate, as seen in the earlier teaser.

The outgoing 4Runner launched looooong ago—in 2009—and yet it sold more than 119,000 units in 2023 in the US. Number one in this midsize SUV segment is the Jeep Grand Cherokee (245,000 units in 2023) and Ford Explorer (187,000 deliveries).

Have you been waiting to buy a new sixth-generation Toyota 4Runner? Please comment below.

Tom joined Autoweek in 2022 after nearly 25 years as an editor at WardsAuto, and 10 years as a daily newspaper reporter before that. He’s been in metro Detroit all his life. His personal cars have been downright practical, and he’s happy paying them off and enjoying several years of debt-free motoring. The craziness of COVID drove him to buy a 1953 Packard Patrician, in honor of his grandfather, who worked at the Packard plant until production ceased in the mid-1950s.

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Donald Trump’s journey from ‘American Carnage’ to ‘Biden Border Bloodbath’

Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. President Donald Trump speaks at a campaign rally in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on April 2, 2024.

In this article:

David’s view

The View From IMMIGRATION ADVOCATES

Donald Trump arrived in Grand Rapids shortly after 2 p.m. today, sitting at a table covered in photos of the dead. All of them, he explained, had been killed by “illegals” — all of them were victims of a “Biden Border Bloodbath,” the crisis he was there to talk about. The word had completed its unusual journey, from an off-the-cuff remark to a campaign talking point.

“They tried to use that term incorrectly on me two weeks ago,” Trump said at his next stop, flanked by local sheriffs and political supporters behind a sign: STOP BIDEN’S BORDER BLOODBATH. “Joe Biden has brought the carnage, chaos, and killing from all over the world and dumped it straight into our backyards.”

Trump had warned of a “bloodbath for the country” if he lost the election on March 16, at a rally in Dayton, Ohio, while discussing trade policies around automobiles. Democrats seized on the line immediately, the Biden campaign insisting that the “bloodbath” riff, ostensibly about the economic damage from a second Biden term, was Trump “doubl[ing] down on his threats of political violence.”

But the Trump campaign saw an opportunity. Forty-eight hours after the speech, it released a video about “Biden’s Border Bloodbath,” compiling horror stories from local news — “immigrants face sexual battery charges,” “fatal car crash by an illegal immigrant” — and adding movie trailer music.

“When you read local headlines every day about Americans being raped, assaulted, and killed by illegals, and when you meet the grieving families of those who were brutally murdered by illegals, like Laken Riley’s, bloodbath is a very appropriate word to describe what’s going on,” Trump spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told Semafor.

In the days following the first bloodbath reference, multiple Republican members of Congress used the same language to highlight crime connected to migrants. “Dead Americans. Dead migrants. Biden’s border bloodbath,” posted Texas Rep. Chip Roy, one of the few GOP members of the House who backed Gov. Ron DeSantis over Trump in the primary.

Pro-Trump media like OANN quickly adopted the slogan, too. And on Tuesday, in sync with the Trump trip, the Republican National Committee launched a “Biden Bloodbath” microsite, collecting stories of “illegal alien crime” across the country.

According to the Trump campaign, if re-elected this year, the former president would bring back the Victims of Immigration Crime Engagement office (VOICE), a tip line where Americans could report offenses by people who might be deportable, which Biden had closed down.

The Democratic response was a shudder.

“It’s shameful that the former president would use our community in mourning as the backdrop for his political theater,” said Michigan Rep. Hillary Scholten, an immigration attorney elected to represent Grand Rapids in 2022, in a statement.

Trump has been warning about migrant crime and telling gruesome murder stories since he entered the 2016 presidential campaign. What’s new this year, as seen in the “bloodbath” messaging reboot, is the confidence that doing this will cost him nothing with non-white voters. To understate things a bit: Democrats are skeptical.

“I believe that this rhetoric deeply offends a lot more people than they think,” said Julián Castro, a 2020 presidential challenger to Biden who now leads the Latino Community Foundation. “It’s going to turn off a lot of folks who believe that we should be better than that as a country.”

The Democratic theory is that the truth will out: that violent crime is falling , and that immigrants commit fewer crimes than American citizens. Trump mangles data to make it sound worse, telling reporters in Grand Rapids that crime in Venezuela had fallen “67% from what it was a year and a half ago,” implying that the country had solved its domestic problems by exporting them to the Rio Grande. (Venezuelan crime is down 67% from what it was in 2016 , not 2022, according to the Venezuelan Violence Observatory.)

Democrats talk about Trump like they have since he launched his first campaign with a warning about illegal immigrants “bringing drugs” and “bringing crime” across the border — as a racist exploiting human suffering to win votes. In “Change,” an ad the Biden campaign put into rotation late last month, Democrats went after Trump for the 2015 launch speech and his December comment on illegal immigrants “poisoning the blood” of the country.

“What the hell is he talking about?” Biden says in the ad. “The reason we’re as good as we are is because we’re the most diverse country in the world.”

But in 2016, Trump won just 21% of non-white voters; in 2020, after doing exactly what he said he’d do about illegal immigration, he won 26%. He is running better than that right now with Black, Latino, and Asian voters in polls, with no evidence of a backlash for the way he talks about immigration.

That’s popularized his approach across the GOP. In New Hampshire, former Sen. Kelly Ayotte has run for governor with a relentless focus on migration to Massachusetts, a “sanctuary state” that has been taking arrivals from Texas. “Illegal immigrants are overwhelming these communities, severely draining local resources, driving crime, and destroying once-great American cities,” Ayotte wrote last month, adopting the language of a president she’d once rejected as a “matter of principle.”

In Texas, ground zero for Republicans moving right on immigration and winning handily, Rep. Tony Gonzales was forced into a runoff after local conservatives protested his vote for a gun control bill and his squeamishness about detaining asylum-seekers in jails. He had transformed his own rhetoric about immigration, but too late to satisfy MAGA conservatives.

“Never forget that Tony Gonzales called the Chip Roy legislation to secure the border UNCHRISTIAN,” Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz posted on X last week , after rallying with the congressman’s runoff opponent Brandon Herrera. (Roy had written the asylum-seeker bill, which Gonzales ended up supporting after it was amended.) “Tony is an amnesty Republican.”

Trump’s approach hasn’t changed, but the party has. In 2015, Trump’s campaign began working with the Texas-based Remembrance Project to connect with “angel families” — people whose sons or daughters were killed by people in the country illegally. Other Republicans were wary of being seen as tarring immigrants with such a broad brush. Some thought it was offensive .

Trump’s presidency, and his improved performance with non-white voters, quieted any internal opposition to the strategy. “Biden’s Border Bloodbath” is now basic Republican messaging.

“The migrants, in many cases, are murderers and drug dealers,” Trump told podcaster Justin Barclay on Monday, previewing the Michigan trip in language that echoed his 2015 speech. Citing TV reports he’d watched, Trump said foreign leaders were emptying out their jails to send criminals to the United States — a longtime fact-free accusation which made sense for them, if true.

“I’d do the same thing,” Trump explained. “I’d empty out every prison, I’d empty out every mental institution, and that’s what the countries are doing.”

Vanessa Cárdenas, the executive director of the pro-immigration reform group America’s Voice, said voters might have “collective amnesia” about what immigration policy under Trump was like. While she thought the Senate’s bipartisan immigration bill “missed the mark” by not including pathways to citizenship, Republicans who sunk it had shown that they didn’t care about public safety.

“Trump kind of opened up the floodgates in 2016, but he’s now full-on anti-immigrant,” she said. “Eight years ago it would have been unheard of for a politician to speak in the dehumanizing way he speaks about immigrants. The entire GOP is amplifying this narrative of invasion and great replacement.”

Castro, who in 2020 ran on decriminalizing illegal border crossings, said that “the Overton window has moved to the right under Trump,” and “too many Democrats have been afraid of pushing back on the immigration issue” under Biden by telling a positive story about immigration while enforcing the law.

“There’s been very little of that from the President and the administration over these last few years,” said Castro. “That was a mistake. Basically, we’ve been put in a corner. That kind of dynamic does not build up in one day, or one week, or one month, or even one year. It builds up over time in politics. And that’s what we’re watching now.”

In The Associated Press, Will Weissert and Jill Colvin look at how Trump’s immigration messaging “appears to be resonating with key elements of the Democratic coalition that Biden will need to win over this November.”
In their Politix podcast, Matthew Yglesias and Brian Beutler argue over whether Democrats should have picked a fight over “bloodbath,” or whether they’re better off ignoring Trump’s rhetoric in favor of his conservative tax policies.
In the Detroit News, Chad Livengood explains how Michigan Republicans, coming off a difficult year, are “banking on immigrant crime as the issue that will motivate so-called security moms this fall to come back to the GOP.”

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Beyoncé walks onstage to accept the innovator award during the iHeartRadio music awards last week in Los Angeles.

Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter review – takes country music by its plaid collar and sets it on fire

(Parkwood/Columbia) The Texan superstar’s eighth album is a thrilling 27-track journey through and beyond America’s roots music, and it feels like a genuine feast

E ver since Beyoncé – to quote the lady herself – “changed the game with that digital drop” via her self-titled fifth album , released without warning in 2013, she’s become the fixed point around which popular culture oscillates. Bandwidth-swallowing think pieces, detailed decoding of every lyric, plus an increasingly vexed right-wing America have kept her name on everyone’s lips. She wasn’t exactly a cult concern before, but the last decade has seen her move beyond mere superstar status, aided by 2016’s internet sleuth-facilitating infidelity opus Lemonade and 2022’s liberated, post-lockdown dance party, Renaissance .

That last album was billed teasingly as Act I, and now arrives the second part of a mooted trilogy. While Renaissance , with its celebration of the oft-ignored influence of Black queer dance pioneers, facilitated a healthy amount of debate, you could cobble together a hefty book on the discourse that’s already swirling around Cowboy Carter . Inspired by a less than welcome reaction to the Texan’s performance of her country single Daddy Lessons at the 2016 Country Music Awards – where she was dismissed as a “pop artist”, seemingly code for “Black woman” – it’s an album that takes country music by its plaid shirt collar, holds up its (mainly) male, pale and stale status to the light and sets it on fire.

Thrilling opener Ameriican Requiem – a slow-burn, country-rock opera – references that CMA controversy directly (“Used to say I spoke too country / And the rejection came, said I wasn’t country ’nough”), before making broader statements on who gets to call themselves a “true American” (“A pretty house that we never settled in”). It is followed by a cover of the Beatles’ folk-y Blackbird (here retitled Blackbiird, a consistent motif used throughout the album to denote it being Act II), a song that was inspired by the experiences of nine teenage Black girls attending an all-white school in post-segregation 1957, featuring vocals from upcoming Black country singers Brittney Spencer, Reyna Roberts, Tanner Adell and Tiera Kennedy. It’s an opening salvo ripe for music scholars to unpick.

But Cowboy Carter is never just one thing. Nor does its scholarly detail weigh it down. Just as it uses country music as a backdrop to explore other genres, it also utilises anger and injustice as shades of a bigger picture. There’s fun to be had via the playful, thigh-slapping single Texas Hold ’Em , which makes more sense preceded by an introduction from a stoned Willie Nelson. The unhinged Ya Ya is a freewheelin’ sprint through social and economic disparity that channels the electifying spirit of Tina Turner, and samples Nancy Sinatra and the Beach Boys.

While Beyoncé’s take on Jolene by Dolly Parton (or Dolly P as she’s recast here) loses some of the original’s desperation by morphing into a glint-eyed warning, it’s still a hoot to hear her spit lines like “Jolene, I know I’m a queen, Jolene / I’m still a Creole banjee bitch from Louisiane.” Daughter is a deliciously camp revenge fantasy that suddenly breaks into – and this is one of Beyoncé’s many vocal flexes on the album – a snatch of the 18th-century aria Caro Mio Ben, sung in Italian.

By swapping the tightly packed synth and drum programming of Renaissance for live instrumentation (including percussion made from the click-clack of Beyoncé’s nails), Cowboy Carter has a looser, baggier feel than its predecessor. The excellent, loved-up Bodyguard unspools like a lost Fleetwood Mac classic, all rippling 70s soft-rock melodies, while the sweet Protector , dedicated to her daughter Rumi Carter, sounds like it was knocked out around a campfire. II Most Wanted , meanwhile, finds Beyoncé and pop-country maven Miley Cyrus trading odes to their ride or dies as if sharing the same mic.

If this all sounds decidedly mid-paced, Cowboy Carter isn’t solely about rustic shuffles. Spaghettii , which features Linda Martell , the first Black country star to perform on the Grand Ole Opry stage, is a trap-infused head knocker; II Hands II Heaven rides a soft electronic pulse and samples Underworld; while the finger-pointing Tyrant fuses fiddle filigrees with rib-rattling bass, perfect for a sweat-soaked dosey doe at Club Renaissance.

Cowboy Carter ’s scope and scale can be overwhelming, as can its 27-track runtime – the shorter interludes-as-songs cause a dip in excitement midway through – but there’s something about its construction that pleads with you to consume it as a whole; a journey not just through, and beyond, American roots music, but through various moods, shades and emotions that coalesce as a celebration. It feels like a feast at a time when pop is offering up scraps. As she mentioned herself when announcing the album to a mix of anger, intrigue and confusion: “This ain’t a country album. This is a ‘Beyoncé’ album.” It’s also her fourth classic in a row.

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Journey to America

Escaping the holocaust to freedom/50th anniversary edition with a new afterword from the author.

Anniversary Edition Hardcover

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Rave and Reviews

About The Book

About the author.

Sonia Levitin, like Lisa Platt, escaped from Germany in the late 1930’s. Among her acclaimed books for young readers are The Mark of Conte and The Return .

Product Details

Publisher: Aladdin (July 21, 2020)
Length: 224 pages
ISBN13: 9781534464636
Grades: 3 - 7
Ages: 8 - 12
Lexile ® 750L The Lexile reading levels have been certified by the Lexile developer, MetaMetrics®
Fountas & Pinnell™ U These books have been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System

Browse Related Books

Age 12 and Up
Lexile ® 691 - 790
Children's Fiction > Family > General
Children's Fiction > Historical > Holocaust
Children's Fiction > Emigration & Immigration

Raves and Reviews

– Publishers Weekly, May 18, 1970

"People being people give Journey to America a special glow."

– Kirkus Reviews, March 20, 1970

“A very moving though never maudlin story with good characterization and a fast pace, this novel will be a definite asset to any collection.”

– School Library Journal, May 1970

“Commendably, neither issues nor ideals intrude on the reader abstractly, but emerge naturally from the human condition portrayed in the story.”

– Booklist, June 1970

Awards and Honors

National Jewish Book Award

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IMAGES

This map shows the routes of the Pioneer Trails by which the American
09-Christopher Columbus' Fourth Voyage
The incredible story of the Mayflower: the ship that shaped America
The Trade Route That Transported African Slaves To Americas
The Four Voyages of Christopher Columbus
US History: Pilgrims

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The Jewish Journey America Promotional Clip HD
The Viking's Mysterious Journey: America's Discovery
Oli's self media journey, America tourism materials.#cat #chatgpt #america #aicat #travel
America's Got Talent 2023 WINNER'S JOURNEY: Adrian & Hurricane Make The PERFECT DOUBLE ACT!
America (USA) nah aaien!! 🤔| Watch this video
@AGT Open Arms- Journey

COMMENTS

Journey to America
Of the 77 vessels which left Liverpool for New York between 1st August and 31st October, 1853, 46 contained passengers that died of cholera on the journey. The Washington suffered 100 deaths and the Winchester lost 79. All told, 1,328 emigrants died on board these ships on the way to America. The most common killer was typhus.
Journey to America (Journey to America, #1) by Sonia Levitin
Journey to America is an adventurous, breathtaking, intense, novel. This book is recommended for boys and girls from ages 10-13. It is al little bit about the holocaust so knowing about the Holocaust will come in handy. This book is a fantastic book that will keep the reader on their toes. Overall, this book is phenomenal and is highly recommended.
The day the historic journey to America began
The day the historic journey to America began. It is one of the most well known dates in history - on 16 September 1620, a group of men, women and children departed Plymouth aboard the Mayflower for a new life in America. But for many of its influential passengers the historic voyage actually began several weeks before - on July 22, 1620, from ...
The Mayflower Story
The Mayflower set sail on 16th September 1620 from Plymouth, UK, to voyage to America. But its history and story start long before that. Its passengers were in search of a new life - some seeking religious freedom, others a fresh start in a different land. They would go on to be known as the Pilgrims and influence the future of the United ...
JOURNEY TO AMERICA
JOURNEY TO AMERICA ESCAPING THE HOLOCAUST TO FREEDOM/50TH ANNIVERSARY EDITION WITH A NEW AFTERWORD FROM THE AUTHOR. by Sonia Levitin ‧ RELEASE DATE: July 21, 2020 A timely rerelease of a classic, #ownvoices story about a young girl's journey to freedom.
Journey to America Paperback
Journey to America. Paperback - Illustrated, April 30, 1987. In 1938, Lisa Platt and her family know something dangerous is happening in Germany. Lately, there have been more and more restrictions for Jews: yellow stars they have to wear, schools they cannot attend, things they are forbidden to do.
Christopher Columbus
However, his journey kicked off centuries of exploration and exploitation on the American continents. The Columbian Exchange transferred people, animals, food and disease across cultures. Old ...
Journey to America
Escaping the Holocaust to Freedom/50th Anniversary Edition with a New Afterword from the Author. By Sonia Levitin. Anniversary Edition Trade Paperback. LIST PRICE $7.99.
Journey to America
Journey to America. It's 1938, and terrible things are happening in Germany. Jews are being hounded with no laws: you must a wear a yellow star on your clothing; you cannot attend this school; you cannot go here...or there. The Nazis are in charge. Lisa Platt lives with her parents and two sisters. She doesn't fully know what is happening, but ...
Journey to America Series by Sonia Levitin
Book 1. Journey to America. by Sonia Levitin. 3.90 · 742 Ratings · 67 Reviews · published 1970 · 20 editions. It was 1938, and something terrible was happening …. Want to Read. Rate it:
Journey to America: Escaping the Holocaust to Freedom/50th Anniversary
-- Publishers Weekly ― May 18, 1970 "People being people give Journey to America a special glow." -- Kirkus Reviews ― March 20, 1970 "A very moving though never maudlin story with good characterization and a fast pace, this novel will be a definite asset to any collection."
Journey to America : Levitin, Sonia, 1934- : Free Download, Borrow, and
Journey to America by Levitin, Sonia, 1934-; Robinson, Charles, 1931- illus. Publication date 1970 Topics Jews, World War, 1939-1945, Jews, World War, 1939-1945 Publisher New York, Atheneum Collection printdisabled; internetarchivebooks; americana Contributor Internet Archive Language English.
Journey to America Book Series
Journey to America. Authors: Sonia Levitin. Related Series: Tales of Young Americans. The Journey to America book series by Sonia Levitin includes books Journey to America, Silver Days, and Annie's Promise. See the complete Journey to America series book list in order, box sets or omnibus editions, and companion titles.
Journey to America : Charles Guggenheim, David G McCullough, WGBH
A tribute to the over 12 million men, women and children who made the torturous journey from the old world to the new between 1890 and 1920. From the time these pilgrims left their homeland, they were beset by thieves, extortionists, and stopped by authorities at border crossings.
Journey to America (1989)
Journey to America: Directed by Charles Guggenheim. Depicts the migration of European immigrants to America between 1890 and 1920, chronicling their arrival at Ellis Island and their settlements in major areas such as New York, Pennsylvania and Chicago.
Journey to America: What's Your Story?
From Native Americans who migrated across a land bridge to North America to immigrants who sailed aboard a steamship to Ellis Island, many chose to come to America. Hundreds of thousands of others were brought here against their will aboard slave ships. Throughout this history, we have debated who should be allowed to come to live here and who ...
19th Century US IMMIGRATION
The journey to America was often arduous and hazardous. Most immigrants undertook long and treacherous voyages lasting several weeks on overcrowded ships, commonly referred to as "coffin ships." Conditions onboard were typically unsanitary, with limited food and medical care. Many passengers did not survive the journey due to disease and ...
Jamestown, Summary, Facts, Significance, APUSH, Virginia
Jamestown was the first permanent English settlement in North America. Established in 1607, the colonists survived famine, disease, weather, and several conflicts with Native American Indians. Jamestown grew, expanded, and served as the capital of the Virginia Colony from 1607 until 1698. ... During the journey, the ship ran into a storm and ...
Journey to America Series by Clare Pastore
by Clare Pastore. 4.22 · 65 Ratings · 8 Reviews · published 2002 · 3 editions. After her Cambodian mother is murdered by the Khme…. Want to Read. Rate it: Journey of America 1: Fiona (JOURNEY TO AMERICA), Aniela Kaminski's Story: A Voyage from Poland During World War II (Journey to America #2), and Journey...
Journey to America: Celebrating Inspiring Immigrants Who Became
A timely, beautiful exploration of America's rich history of diversity, Journey to America profiles 20 immigrants and children of immigrants who have affected the nation's culture or business. From showstopping entertainers to game-changing activists to brilliant scientists, these first- and second-generation Americans show the determination and innovation that has shaped the country we ...
Journey to America : Levitin, Sonia, 1934- : Free Download, Borrow, and
Journey to America by Levitin, Sonia, 1934-Publication date 1987 Topics World War (1939-1945), Jews, World War, 1939-1945, Refugees, World War, 1939-1945, Jews, Refugees Publisher New York : Scholastic Collection printdisabled; internetarchivebooks Contributor Internet Archive Language
The Journey to America: An Immigrant's Story
The Journey to America: An Immigrant's Story. Essay's Score: C. Being called a melting pot country, a story of an immigrant's journey towards the American Dream is quite common. We normally see them in the malls, at our schools, work places, diners and restaurants. And although they are omnipresent in our midst, it is very rare that we pay ...
'American Idol' 2024: Who Made It Through to the Top 24
Song: Not Shown. Roman Collins. Disney/Eric McCandless. Roman Collins, 24. Long Beach, CA. Car Cleaner. Song: "Come Together" by The Beatles. Katy Perry, Lionel Richie and Luke Bryan made ...
Venezuelan Migrant Depicts His Journey to Chicago in Series of
One of the men, 31-year-old Yeison Perez, has now created a series of paintings describing his journey to America. His artwork will be on display this weekend at the church. Thanks to our sponsors: View all sponsors. Perez made the dangerous journey from Venezuela last year. It's a journey he said still haunts him.
How Will the New and Old Toyota 4Runner SUVs Stack Up?
Toyota. The latest teaser for the all-new 2025 Toyota 4Runner shows a limited peek of the rear window, the roof, and the upper part of the liftgate. A photo collage comparing the current and new ...
Donald Trump's journey from 'American Carnage' to 'Biden Border
The word had completed its unusual journey, from an off-the-cuff remark to a campaign talking point. "They tried to use that term incorrectly on me two weeks ago," Trump said at his next stop, flanked by local sheriffs and political supporters behind a sign: STOP BIDEN'S BORDER BLOODBATH. "Joe Biden has brought the carnage, chaos, and ...
Mexico vs Jamaica tickets in Houston: Cost, cheapest price to watch
Mexico kicks off its 2024 Copa America journey against a foe it knows very well. El Tri opens Copa America in the U.S. with a match against Jamaica at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas.
Beyoncé: Cowboy Carter review
The Texan superstar's eighth album is a thrilling 27-track journey through and beyond America's roots music, and it feels like a genuine feast. Michael Cragg. Sat 6 Apr 2024 09.00 EDT.
Journey to America
Your First Name. Birth Month. Zip Code. State. Journey to America by Sonia Levitin - A beautifully repackaged 50th anniversary edition of Sonia Levitin's powerful classic story about a young Jewish girl f...
The 'Michael Jordan of Field Hockey' Wanted to Try Out for the Olympics
Erin Matson's stellar résumé should make her a shoo-in for the U.S. roster in Paris. But the sport's governing body won't allow her to attend the Olympic trials.

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Primary Sources

(2) In 1860 the New York Commissioners of Emigration carried out an investigation into the treatment of female passengers on board ship bring immigrants from Europe to the United States.

(3) Samuel Gompers and his family emigrated to the United States in the summer of 1863.

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The Mayflower Story

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Christopher Columbus

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Journey to America

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Journey to America

Journey to America (Journey to America Saga #1)

Silver Days (Journey to America Saga #2)

Annie's Promise (Journey to America Saga #3)

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Journey to America: What's Your Story?

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The Wave of Immigration to America during the 19th Century: A Changing Nation

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Jamestown — The First Permanent English Settlement in America

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