American passenger regulations were more stringent than their British counterparts, and American ships were better built and run than those in the trade between British North America and Great Britain. This meant that the fare to New York was higher than to Quebec. Poor emigrants had little choice, but those who were better off sailed to New York. In 1855, for example, over 3,000 of the emigrants who landed at New York gave Upper Canada as their destination. In this sketch, from Harper's Weekly, June 26, 1858, immigrants disembark at New York from a steamship which had brought them to the quay from their sailing ship after they had passed medical examinations by the port authorities.
