Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets The 1890's

Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1 The 1890's

---

Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1
Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	4.64

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		determined, ruling, tempest-tossed, toiling, working-class, statehood, neon, seekers, russian, starvation, wretched, mid-1800s, grueling, landlord, finding, best
	content words:		Russian Jews, Countless German, In America, Native Americans, Homestead Act, California Gold Rush, South America, New York, Lady Liberty, Many American

---

Print Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1

Print Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1  (font options, pick words for additional puzzles, and more)

Quickly Print

Quickly print reading comprehension

Proofreading Activity

Print a proofreading activity

---

Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1 By Toni Lee Robinson

---

¹     During the 1800s, it seemed that many people around the world shared a dream. They wanted to live in America. They came by the millions to U.S. shores. It was as if there were a huge sign over the nation flashing the word "OPEN" in bright neon letters. Why did people come? For most, it was a longing for freedom and the hope of a better life.
 
²     Some people were driven from their homes by acts of nature. Drought or some other disaster had brought hardship. In the mid-1800s, Ireland's potato crops failed. A million and a half Irish people died of hunger. Millions of others fled to escape starvation. Many of them came to America.
 
³     Some were harassed because of their religion. Russian Jews were one of the groups that suffered this treatment. Jews and others were looking for a place they could worship as they saw fit. America, they knew, was based on this freedom.
 
⁴     In many countries, people's lives were determined by which group they were born into. The ruling classes were made up of rich and powerful families. This group made all the rules and had all the rights. The common people were stuck at the bottom of the ladder. Many peasants and working-class families were barely more than slaves. Countless German, Italian, and English people were examples of this plight. These families were desperate for hope and a future. They looked to the U.S. as a place to make a better life.
 
⁵     In America, they had heard, things were different. The U.S. had a president chosen by the people - not a king. A person didn't have to be part of a rich family to have the right to be free. In America, it was said, anyone could have a good life. Best of all, the U.S. was a big, sprawling country. Its huge frontier was being tamed. There was lots and lots of land.

Paragraphs 6 to 11:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1

Leave your feedback on Yearning to Breathe Free: Immigration in the 1890s, Part 1   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

The 1890's

The 1890's

---

United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

---

United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

---

50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

---

Document Based Activities

Document Based Activities

Copyright © 2025 edHelper