"The New Colossus"
The Statue of Liberty is known as a welcoming symbol greeting the immigrants who arrive in America.
Lady Liberty represents freedom as well as the United States.
The pilgrims did not receive such a welcome when they arrived.
The sonnet "The New Colossus," by Emma Lazarus, is found on the base of the Statue of Liberty.
"Give me your tired, your poor, Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
Read "The New Colossus."
What does the word colossus mean in the title?
The title of the poem is an allusion.
The name alludes to the Colossus of Rhodes, one of the Seven Wonders of the World.
The Statue of Liberty symbolizes the freedom of coming to America to create a new life without religious and ethnic persecution.
The title of Lazarus's poem, "The New Colossus," suggests that immigrants will be welcomed, not driven off.
When the Pilgrims came to America, there was no statue welcoming them although they were part of the "new colossus." They didn't speak the native language; however, in time, English would be known as the native language.
Watch Colonial House (4:38) a reenactment of life in colonial America.
Native American and Pilgrim cultures were different, and even back then, the country was a melting pot of distinctive differences and peculiarities.
How do you think you would have handled yourself in some of those situations that either the Native Americans or the Pilgrims faced?
Listen to or read the story by Corbin Harney, "The Water Song," to identify commonalities such as the need for water and the appreciation for small things in life.