About This Lesson
There is a well-known saying that the United States is a country of immigrants. The Grade 2 Core Knowledge History and Geography unit Immigration and Citizenship looks at the influx of people coming to America from the 1800s to the present day—at who they were and why they came, and what happened to them once they got here. Students look at the reasons people left their home countries—such as the potato famine in Ireland, or the persecution of Jewish people in Russia—to their lives in American cities or on farms.
Students meet Andrew Carnegie, and see how some immigrants became wildly successful. Finally, they take a look at the process of becoming an American citizen, and the rights and responsibilities that come with citizenship.
