Sketch:

Nathalie, Farouk, Thomas.

‘Good morning America! Hello and welcome to a new episode of “History:
truth or myth?”, where I, James Smith, unravel mysteries and give the truth
to you, the people. On the last episode, we discussed with former scientist Bob
Lazar different conspiracy theories about Area 51 and why it’s overprotected
by the American government. Today, however, we will be considering
President Trump’s decision to deport immigrants back to their countries of
origin.

We define the term “immigrant” as someone who comes to live permanently

in a foreign country. However, everyone knows the first origin of Americans is
in fact the British people who discovered the continent in the first place. That
being said, even the first “Americans” are considered immigrants based on its
definition earlier. In addition to that, huge waves of immigration coming from
Europe or Asia have crashed the U.S., especially in the 18 and 1900s, making
most Americans right now from European or Asian origin.

Starting with the immigration to the U.S. through Ellis Island, our first subject
of the day is French immigration, which we will be discussing with the French
historian François Corbin (prononce ca en Fr), our first guest for today.’

*THOMAS ENTERS THE SCENE*

‘Mr. Corbin, you have studied the French immigration to the U.S. thoroughly.
Can you tell us when it started?”

‘It first started in the 17th century, with the expulsion of the Hugenot
Protestants. It continued during the two world wars and rose up mostly in the
early 1900s. People immigrated for different reasons: poverty, war, and
mostly in order to find jobs, since jobs in the U.S. were better and paid more.’

‘It is said that the conditions in which the immigrants travelled were terrible,
is it true?’
‘Yes, actually, many immigrants even died during their journey. Of the people
who made it to Ellis Island alive, a huge number had to be sent back for
medical reasons. We’re talking about third class travelers, of course. Higher-
class people travelled in first or second class, where they had all the
accommodations and necessities they needed. These people arrived to the U.S.
with no problems whatsoever, and entered the country through New York,
without any sort of examination. However, third-class travelers had to be
medically examined rigorously for any sort of disease. They traveled in
horrible conditions, always ran out of food, had no way of showering, and no
medication, which is why a lot of them caught diseases from other passengers
very easily. Some families even had to be separated or sent back because of
one sick family member.’

‘Wow, these people really suffered, why did they go through all these
difficulties just to get to the U.S.?’

‘They all wanted to achieve the American Dream. Living conditions in America
were way better, people were paid a higher salary, and there were more job
opportunities. They escaped the war, prosecution and poverty, and aimed for
a better life, which they got: most of these immigrants became very rich
compared to their families left in their countries of origin.’

‘Was the number of French immigrants big?’

‘It was huge. In fact, statistics show that currently, people of French origin
occupy a somewhat important percentage of the American population. For
example, 10.3% of citizens living in California, and 9.7% of the ones living in
Louisiana are from French origins. Let’s not forget that some of them occupy
important political positions, such as the governor of Louisiana, Alexander
Mouton. In addition, a lot of celebrities who are famous in America have
French origins, like Elvis Presley or Megan Fox.’

‘Interesting, you learn something new every day, am I right?”

*awkward laughs*
‘Now, let’s see if the historical facts of the French immigration tally with
(=match) its historical memories. In order to find out, let’s welcome our
second guest, Jessica Miller, a young teenager from New York who will either
agree with or oppose to what Mr. François Corbin said.’

*Nath enters the scene*

‘Mrs. Miller, what have you brought for us today?’

‘My amazing existence!!!!!!’ (lol jk you guys)

‘A journal that my great great grandmother, Bridget Dumapoozi, had. She was
French; she traveled to the U.S. around the early 1900s, and wrote about her
journey in this diary.’

‘Did she talk about the traveling conditions?’

‘Yes. She was actually an upper-class woman in France, which is why she was
supposed to travel in first class. However, she travelled in third-class with
passengers who were of a very inferior social status than her. She writes in
her diary about how terrible the conditions in which she travelled in were,
and compared them to the conditions she would’ve travelled in if she was in
first class. She shows the big contrast between both situations and uses very
strong adjectives to describe the passengers with her that showed how much
she hated being with them, such as ‘uncultured and pungent individuals’.’

‘Why didn’t she travel in first class?’

‘Well, actually, she wasn’t the first person in the family to immigrate to the U.S.
According to her diary, her sister, Beatrice, went before her. She was younger
than her, and her family had sent her first because they wanted her to marry a
rich man then send them enough money for them to join her. Having spent all
of their money to send her in first class, and because she ended up falling in
love with a modest man and marrying him, the family didn’t have enough
money to send my great great grandmother in first class.’

‘Wow, they must’ve hated Beatrice.’

*awkward laughs again*

‘What else did Bridget Dumapoozi write about the journey?’

‘Other than the different contagious diseases people would get on board, like
tuberculosis or typhoid fever, and the unsanitary and germ-infested ships, she
wrote about how the American culture affected immigrants from the moment
they arrived. When they got to Ellis Island, all the passengers had to go to the
registration hall after being medically examined, where they had their official
names registered. She says that a lot of people had their names modified or
sometimes completely changed.’

‘The myth of the Americanization of names. Does she give details about it?’

‘First of all, she mentions that her original name was actually Brigitte Duterte
de la Montagne de Pouzy. She says that the government officials on Ellis Island
sometimes forced immigrants to change their original names. The
Americanization of immigrants’ family names was done to assimilate these
people into the American culture. But not all names were changed by force; a
lot were changed due to the difference between English and other languages
in the pronunciation of certain letters. Just like my great great grandmother,
who changed her name herself at the registration hall.’

‘What can you say about this, Mr. Corbin?’

‘Well, this myth was always shared and discussed by historians. But there
were never any historical records that proved it, since officials only kept one
kind of official papers; the records that had the list of passengers processed
after each examination.’

‘Mrs. Miller, what was your great great grandmother’s first impression when
she arrived to the U.S.?’

‘Despite the fact that she hated her traveling conditions, she was very excited
to be in America. Her friends in France had told her how beautiful the country
was and how busy it is, especially in New York. So when she got there, she was
really impressed by the city and she says that it was completely different than
the village she came from. She described the tall buildings, the people, the
crowded streets, she loved everything,’
‘Did she regret her choice of going to the U.S.?’

‘Not at all. She immediately started working and maintained a well payed job
until she got married to another rich man, who turned out to also be a French
immigrant. She had a fortune and lived a great life here. She wrote in her diary
that even though she hated the way she travelled, she would do it all again in a
heartbeat.’

‘We can say then that both sides agree on most aspects regarding the French
immigration: what historian Corbin studied and what he claims to be true are
in fact proven by the journal that Mrs. Miller found from an actual French
immigrant. Unless they were rich, most passengers travelled in difficult and
unsanitary conditions and a lot of them even died on the way. They all wanted
a better life and all the ones who survived achieved the American dream. The
Americanization of names is a myth that’s talked about but not proven. A big
percentage of the American population right now has French origins.

Thank you Mr. François Corbin and Mrs. Jessica Miller for being our first
guests for today. Keep watching, because after the break, we’ll be discussing
the Irish immigration to the U.S.’