A Nation of Nations

Pair up and find out what your partner knows about the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island.

The arrival of Europeans on the North American continent in 1492 marked the beginning of a nation of immigrants. Today, only 1% of the US population are in fact Native Americans, now living on reservations.

The other 99% come from people who arrived after 1492, building the America we now know, the nation of nations. For centuries, people have left their home country at different times and for different reasons in search of a better life in the USA. In general, people left because of hardship: for example, a shortage of food, space, or money or the inability to practice their religion. Some also had to flee from persecution, discrimination and even war. The exception were people from the African continent who did not leave voluntarily and were forced into slavery. However, most immigrants left their home country for the USA with the hope of starting over. In doing so, they created a new nation, consisting of people and cultures from all over the world, united by the dream of a better future.

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"Remember, remember always, that all of us, and you and I especially, are descended from immigrants and revolutionists." Franklin D. Roosevelt (1938) marked markerte hardship motgang shortage mangel flee flykte When? 1492–1776 1776–1865 1865–1945 1945–Who? Spain England France Netherlands Africa (mostly western and later central) Germany Great Britain Scandinavia Ireland Scotland Italy Poland Russia (Jewish) Czech Republic Greece

14 Study the text, quote and timeline table and use them to write five sentences about the USA as a nation of immigrants. 15 In groups, have each person choose one ethnic culture to study, for instance,

African American, Mexican American,

Italian American, or Norwegian

American. Find six key facts about that culture and share them in groups. 16 Use your facts from task 15 to create a question about the culture of the group you chose. Individually, on a piece of paper, write your question on one side and the answer on the other. Find a partner and take turns asking your question and explaining the answer if necessary. Find a new partner and continue to swap questions. Mexico China India 17 A typical Norwegian American Pakistan expression is “Uff-da”. Try to find other Korea expressions in English that originated Vietnam in other languages. Make a poster with Cuba images and expressions.

persecution forfølgelse/forfølging exception unntak voluntarily frivillig forced tvunget/tvingaVurderingseksemplar immigrants innvandrere/innvandrarar