we in america are immigrants or the children of immigrants we are one people but the people welded in from many nations and races people who came to america during of last migration from europe to other parts of the world in this migration millions of europeans left their homelands to settle in new countries across the seas almost two thirds of them came to the united states when we became a nation our population number just under four million each symbol here represents half a million people most of our people one of british origin but there were also dutch and many germans as well as french spanish a great many negroes and others the era of the great migration from europe began about eighteen twenty during the following seventeen years immigrants came from western and northern europe in growing numbers the earliest waves brought people from ireland and great britain from germany and nearby countries later this got a navy and is joined the migration from the north and west of europe then in the eighty's from the south and east they came as the migration fever spread deeper into europe during this period two game emigrants from the orient this injury following eighteen twenty saw easy attic migration as chinese and japanese crossed the pacific in considerable numbers  from the orient settled chiefly in our far west the flow of immigration reached its peak between eighty ninety one and one hundred twenty during these years a tremendous movement set in from the countries of southern and eastern europe many still came from the north and west but many more are came from austria hungary poland russia italy and the balkan peninsula but one of the people behind these symbols what their motives and hoax let us turn back to a theme ship agent's office in a european court i have century ago most of those thinking passage to america are the labors of his family go mainly to enrich a landlord or peasants like raise there is hope of a better life in america across the sea and there are those who have known at first hand the political oppression of autocratic governments governments the deal swiftly and roughly with those who dare to champion political liberty and freedom of expression and then there are families like this who have suffered a religious persecution that could drive them from their homes and scorn their right to worship in their own mind for such as these there is the promise of religious freedom in immigration to america these and millions of others like them make up the great migration millions of every nation and calling gone together by their vision of america a vision of land of opportunity and freedom the place the long ocean voyage then immigration gateways like ellis island and examination immigration officials here at the turn of the century almost all europeans ever freely accept undesirables such as criminals or all new laws there is a medical examination to weed out those with serious illnesses and dangerous diseases many are rejected ones in the new land what lies ahead these groups of europeans that before eighteen ninety spread rapidly westberg do settle both on the farms and in the cit by the year nineteen hundred settlements of germans were scattered widely from east to west scandinavians were grouped in the northern middle west and the irish were largely concentrated in the north east today the sons of these immigrants they will calibrate the soil of their fathers made their own on the farming communities and cities bounded by these groups are typically american here there is little trace of the old world though we find these communities still people by the children of these immigrants most of the immigrants that came after eighteen ninety went into the factories and found their homes in the tenements of america's growing cities the crowded slums became america's melting pot growing communities of transplanted peoples living side by side but still diverse in languages and customs as diverse as the sharp signs that marked the immigrant neighborhood these communities pose an urgent question to america good these people of many nations become a part of the american way of life in meeting this problem many agencies played a part in the churches that preserve traditional ties in the midst of new surroundings the newspapers that spoke to the immigrants in languages they the trade unions that taught them to work together they use and other agencies drew into the larger community this dream of new arrivals in nineteen twenty four a law was passed to restrict immigration from countries outside the western hemisphere by this law the number to be admitted to him sport was to be in proportion to the national origin of our this gave the northern and western europe more than eighty percent of the total while southern and eastern europe received less than twenty percent after nineteen twenty four emigration from europe  but immigration from our american labors went on a century of immigration has brought in many people from kind of the and more recently there has been a lively migration from mexico as well as from the caribbean today these people of every nation and race have become americans all the people still alive are what sharing common aspirations and drawn together in their common contribution of the skills and talents that have made america a great nation the school has been a most important influence in the making of america here the meaning of our country its institutions and its culture reaches th children of every community and race and origin here to the latest arrivals from abroad the young and old alike have an opportunity to study the language and history of america these people are preparing for an important step at mission to citizenship here they come to testify to their fitness to become once and for all a part of the united states of america the promise of long ago then the needs of the homeless tempest tossed to me i lift my lamp beside the golden