Resources for Teachers and Students

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Resources for Teachers and Students

Symbols of Immigration to America
History of Immigration to the United States
History of the Immigration and Naturalization Service
The Immigration and Naturalization Service Today
Immigration Laws
Coming to America
Becoming Americans
Immigrants: Famous and Not So Famous
Finding Information on One’s Own Immigrant Background

Symbols of Immigration to America

The First Americans

Clovis

Beyond Clovis

Monte Verde (Chile)

Meadowcroft
Map of Possible Arrival Routes

Bering Land Bridge

Statue of Liberty

Emma Lazarus

Poem: The New Colossus (1883)

Ellis Island
History of Ellis Island
Arriving at Ellis Island
Immigrant Ships
Voices of Ellis Island
Images of Ellis Island (Library of Congress)
Angel Island (California)
Quarantine Station
Immigration Station

History of Immigration to the United States

Migration, Emigration and Immigration
The Immigrant Experience (Links, links, and more links)
Immigration in American Memory (Library of Congress)
An Immigrant Nation: United States Regulation of Immigration, 1798 - 1991
Immigration Legislation Since 1790 [summaries]
Historical Articles
Historical Census Statistics on the Foreign-Born Population
in the U.S.: 1850-1990
This Month in Immigration History
Frequently Asked Questions: History
A Guide to Help Researchers
General Web Links of Interest to Historians

History of the Immigration and Naturalization Service

Overview of INS History
Early Immigrant Inspection Along the U.S./Mexican Border
INS Commissioners Since 1891

The Immigration and Naturalization Service Today

This is INS: Overview of Mission, Services and Enforcement Responsibilities
Mission, Strategies and Goals
Congressional Perspectives
    106th Congress
    105th Congress
Core Positions
Where INS Works
      Kinds of Field Offices
      Location of Field Offices
Budget
Statistics
INS Restructuring Proposal
     Congressional Perspectives

Immigration Laws

Immigration and Nationality Act
How Immigration Laws Are Made
How Regulations Are Developed
Four Main Laws Concerning Legal Immigration
Most Recent Immigration Reforms

Coming to America

They Came and Settled a New Continent: First Migrations, First Americans
Earliest Arrivals: The First Americans
    Across the Land Bridge: Beringia
        Arctic Circle: Exploring the Past
        From the Land Called Beringia
        Visiting Beringia: Virtual Tour for Students (PBS)
Dispersal Throughout a Continent
    Native Americans
    New Research: Pacific Northwest
    Upper Missouri River Valley: Knife River Indians
    Lower Mississippi Delta: Mound Builders
    Across the Plains
Later, Others Followed and Made Their Homes: Europeans in America
First Europeans to America
    The Vikings: They Got Here First, But ... Didn't ... Stay
Later European "Discovery" and Exploration of America
    Royal Charge to Christopher Columbus (1492)
    Columbus: Journal of His Voyage (1492)
    Columbus: Report to the King and Queen of Spain (1494)
    Early Explorers (examples)
        King Henry's Charge to John Cabot and Sons (1496)
        The Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca (1542)
        The Voyage of Samuel de Champlain (1604)
First American Settlements: St. Augustine, Jamestown, and Plymouth
    St. Augustine

    Colonial Charters, Grants and Related Documents
    Jamestown (1607)
        The First Virginia Charter (April 10, 1606)
        The Kings' Instructions for the Virginia Colony (1606)
        Founding of Jamestown: Timeline and Events
        Voyage to Virginia (Teacher's Guide) (pdf)
        Colonial Trade patterns (1760)
        African Origins of Virginia Slaves
    The Plymouth Colony
        The New England Charter (1620)
        Voyage of the Mayflower (Chap. 9, Bradford's History)
        Plymouth Colony: 1620 (Study Guide)
            Voyage of the Mayflower (Part 2 of Study Guide)
    Arrivals: Ship Confidence (1638)
Immigrant Experiences: The Willing, the Barely Willing, and the Unwilling
The Willing: The Immigrant Experience
    Selected Immigrant Ship Arrivals in the U.S.
    Port of Entry: Immigration (Library of Congress)
The Barely Willing: The Indentured Servant Experience
    Indentured Servants in America
    Indenture Contract
    Registry of Indentured Servants (example, late 1600s)
    Gottlieb Mittleberger's Journey to Pennsylvania (1750)
    The Plight of the Indentured Servant (Teacher Resources)
The Unwilling: The Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade Experience
    The Wreck of the Henrietta Marie - 1701
        The Henrietta Marie in Perspective
Africans in America: The Terrible Transformation (PBS)
    Introduction
    The African Slave Trade and the Middle Passage
    African Captives Yoked in Pairs
    The Middle Passage
    Plan of a Ship for Transporting Slaves
Slave Narratives (University of Houston)
    Enslavement
    The Middle Passage
    Arrival
Statutes of the U.S. Concerning Slavery (Yale Law School)
U.S. Constitution, Amendment XIII (December 6, 1865)
The Amistad Case (National Archives)
    Argument of John Quincy Adams Before the Supreme Court

Why People Come - Push and Pull Factors:

Push Factors

          Human Rights Violations
                and the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
                and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights
                and the Holocaust
                        Holocaust: Student's Forum

          Refugees and the Need to Flee
                and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees
                         UNHCR Teaching Tools
                and Human Rights
                and the United States
                   US Asylum and Refugee Policy
                          Well-Founded Fear (PBS Website)
                          Role-Play Being an Asylum Officer (PBS Website)
                          Discussion Guides (PBS Website)
                          especially:
                              Facilitator's Guide You will need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view this link.
                              Lesson Plans
                   Refugee Admissions and Resettlement
                   Asylee Kenneth Best [from Monrovia, Liberia, arrived 1995]
                and Images: What is it like to be a refugee?

          Economic Problems and Poverty
               Immigrant Sjoerd Aukes Sipma [from Bornwerd, Netherlands,
                arrived 1846]
               Immigrant Max Gudis [from Tulchin, Russia, arrived 1904]

          Environmental Problems and Natural Disasters
                For example:
                Irish Potato Famine
                    Views of the Famine
                    Immigrant Thomas McElhiney [from Murleg, Ireland, arrived 1869]
                Central Americans after Hurricane Mitch