The one emotion common to all the immigrants was hope. They had found that in their homelands in Easter Europe, they were not wanted or not safe. The situation was rough; industry was dangerous for workers and the political unrest only compounded the matter. The situation was desperate. While they were in their homelands, America was a beacon of hope. America offered them another, a better way to live. The immigrants brought this hope closer to a reality by saving up all their money, giving up all their possessions to pay for the transatlantic trip to America, the land of their dreams.
The ride across the ocean brought another familiar feeling to the immigrants, despair. Travelling steerage, they were forced to live in sub-human conditions for a week up to a month. Many immigrants suffered horrible hardships like no toilets, cramped living quarters, stale air and lack of food; often onl held to their goal by hope. Conditions were unbearable; there were many who wished that she ship would sink, if only to end their misery. This despair turned to joy when they reached Ellis Island.
This joy, in turn, lasted for a short time, then was replaced. Reaching Ellis Island, the immigrants were faced with much uncertainty and confusion. They were strangers in a strange land. The immigrants wondered what would happen to them. They didn't speak the language. Immigration officials asked them questions, questions they couldn't answer. Frustration was common, as was fear: fear that they might not pass all the medical tests, fear that theyy might answer a question wrong and be sent back to the lands they were so desperate to flee.
The number of people sent back, however, was relatively small. Those who were granted entrance faced many new trials and challenges.
Set free on the streets of New York City, the immigrants were total strangers, surrounded by millions of people but utterly alone. The fortunate had friends or family or jobs waiting for them, if not in New York, then elsewhere in the States. The others were left to their own means. Though they had come for a new life, they weren't ready for the reality that confronted them. They became homesick. They sought familiarity, and many found it within the cities, or rather, in the ethnic nieghborhoods within the cities. In these neighborhoods, they found their familiarity: they spoke the same language, they could communicate with one another, they had an identity and weren't just more faces in the crowd.
Still, this was not the end for them. They still had to find jobs, and find ways to save money. They faced many pressures. Because of the economic system of the time, it was difficult at best for an immigrant to make a decent living. Whole families had to work. This was hard on them, especially the children, who hardly had a chance to be children. The immigrants tried their hardest not to fall into despair. Determination kept many going.
The situation faced by many immigrants was not an easy one. Besides physical hardships, they had many psychological and emotional troubles to deal with. Still, hope kept many of them going, and these people helped to build the nation that today is the United States of America.