Question

Read Edward Corsi’s quotation from the book Immigrant Kids by Russell Freedman.

Edward Corsi, who later became United States Commissioner of Immigration, was a ten-year-old Italian immigrant when he sailed into New York harbor in 1907:

"The officers of the ship . . . went striding up and down the decks shouting orders and directions and driving the immigrants before them. Scowling and gesturing, they pushed and pulled the passengers, herding us into separate groups as though we were animals. A few moments later we came to our dock, and the long journey was over."

How does this quotation add credibility to Freedman’s statement that the immigrant voyages were not pleasant?

It is from an actual immigrant who experienced rough treatment by the ship’s workers.
It is from an actual sailor who herded the immigrants like animals on the decks.
It is from an actual writer who wrote about a fictional family immigrating to the United States.
It is from an actual historian who studied the immigration experience at Ellis Island.

Answer 1

The quotation from Edward Corsi adds credibility to Freedman’s statement that the immigrant voyages were not pleasant because it is from an actual immigrant who experienced rough treatment by the ship’s workers. Corsi's firsthand account of the officers shouting orders and directions, and treating the immigrants like animals, provides evidence that the immigrant journey was not a comfortable or pleasant experience for many who made the journey.