Ellis Island and American Nationalism

Ellis Island and American Nationalism

Many people have many different opinions of airports. Some people love going to airports and flying all around the country or the world. Others are afraid of airplanes, fearing that the plane will be hijacked. Others like coming into American airports so that they can start a new life. Some think that Arab immigrants are discriminated against when entering the country, but during the early days of American immigration many more were discriminated against. Ellis Island was corrupted with American Nationalism and the fear of the unknown.

“Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,

With conquering limbs astride from land to land,

Here at our sea-washed, sunset-gates shall stand

A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame

Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name

Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand

Glows world-wide welcome, her mild eyes command

The air-bridged harbor the twin-cities frame.

‘Keep, ancient lands, your storied pomp!’ cries she,

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

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore;

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

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!” (Lazarus, 1883)

These are the words from the poem “The New Colossus” written by Emma Lazarus. This was the welcome the statue brought; ‘come here and be free, have a home, and a hope for your future.’ This is how many people, both within and outside of the United States, saw the Statue of Liberty, as a symbol of freedom. To the immigrants coming to this country, America was first visible to them in the presence of the 305 foot statue. The message of the Statue of Liberty didn’t need any translations into a...

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Bibliography

Allen, Leslie. Liberty: The Statue and the American Dream. Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation, New York 1985

Coan, Peter Morton. Ellis Island Interviews. Facts on File, New York 1997

Corsi, Edward. In the Shadow of Liberty. The Macmillan Company, New York 1935

Lankevich, George J. American Metropolis. New York University Press, New York 1998

Lazarus, Emma. The New Colossus. November 2, 1983.

Weisberger, Bernard A. Statue of Liberty: The First Hundred Years. American Heritage Press, New York 1985

Yans-McLaughlin, Virginia and Lightman, Marjorie. Ellis Island and the Peopling of America. The New Press, New York 1997

Images from cover of Judge Magazine. March 22, 1890. Private Collection, Paris.