An even greater lure, however, came in the form of personal communications from friends and relatives who had already immigrated. Their letters back to the old country, known as America letters, might be published in newspapers or read aloud in public places. Sometimes the letters overstated the facts. Europeans came to think of the United States as the "land of milk and honey" and a place where the "streets are paved with gold." America letters helped persuade many people to immigrate to the United States.
Improvements in Transportation Make Immigration Easier After the Civil War, most European immigrants crossed the Atlantic by steamship, a techno-logical advance over sailing ships. What had once been a three-month voyage now took just two weeks. Some passengers could afford cabins in the more comfortable upper decks of the ship. But most had to settle for steerage, the open area below the main deck.
In steerage, hundreds of strangers were thrown together in huge rooms, where they slept in rough metal bunks. The rolling of the ship often made them ill. Seasickness, spoiled food, and filthy toilets combined to create an awful stench. During the day, steerage passengers crowded onto the main deck for fresh air.