Ellis Island
The large and fairly quick expansion of industry and business within the United States in the late 19th century along with the early 20th century led to many pull factors to bring in immigrants from all over the world. “Old” immigrants from Ireland and England, along with Prussia at that time, began to move to the US due to overall factors within their countries that led them to want to move. These factors included the Catholic-Protestant wars within the United Kingdom, as well as the land shortages within England. This massive movement of immigrants from countries in Europe went through, of course, Ellis Island. To immigrants, Ellis Island was the gateway to a new life and new opportunities. The process at Ellis Island (one part shown above) was more or less an efficient way of taking in immigrants but keeping out immigrants that may be harmful to the economy or the health of the United States. Immigrants were moved in mass numbers through the process at Ellis Island and had to pass medical inspections as well as literacy tests. The main significance of Ellis Island was its overall role in the movement of immigrants into the US, and these immigrants led to the growth of the main urban centers in the United States.