Sixth Grade
Worksheets
How Immigrants Lived
Imagine moving to a new country. You know no one in this country. You have no job. You have no place to live. You don't even speak the same language as the people who live there. You might feel very lonely. You might even be frightened.
Now, imagine that you find people from your home country who are also coming to the new country. Would you feel more comfortable around them? Would you feel safer if you all found a place to live close to each other? If you can imagine these things, then you will know how immigrants have felt for years when they arrived in the United States.
As more and more immigrants arrived on American shores, areas formed that held large numbers of people from one race or nationality. These areas were called ghettos. The term ghetto comes from Venice, Italy. Members of the Jewish faith were forced to live in one area of Venice in the early 1500's. This area came to be known as the Venetian Ghetto. The idea of isolating Jews spread through Europe and northern Africa.
