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Life in Ireland
I am Fergus Curren. I have been living in Ireland for all my life but now face the problem of debt, being jobless, and the fact that my brother is ill due to starvation. My brother, Curtis, and I barely survive on our low food supplies. Because of this, we are starving and Curtis may not live. I can't afford enough food for the both of us with the debt we already have so to avoid this, we hope to immigrate towards America to get the rumored "free land" and begin a new farm with good crop soil -
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Immigrating to America
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Immigrating to America
After much thought on this delicate situation, Curtis and I have come up with the conclusion that it is neccesary to immigrate towards America. We had to make our decision quickly, there will be a boat heading towards America docking shortly. I will have to sell what little we have to get onto the boat. We are bringing our clothing, small rations of food, and what's left of our mother’s old jewelry, hopefully being able to sell them. in America to start our new life. -
Arrival in Ellis Island
After arriving into Ellis Island, we were faced with Curtis getting through the medical inspection. The inspector checked on Curtis but did not realize that he is starving and not well, he then moved Curtis along as he checked other immigrants. As we got out of the large group of immigrants and into the streets, we are immediately shoved and called out by men who seemed to not like any of the Irish immigrants. We find shelter in a cheap room after selling the valuables we brought with us. -
Discrimination Toward Irish
Curtis is not doing well but I have made enough money off of our mother's jewelry. Because of his condition, he now just stays in our room until I arrive from job hunting. I was faced with people with horrible insults because I was Irish. The job offerings are not accepting me because of my origin. Without a job, Curtis and I won't be able to afford food and we'll be just as we were in Ireland. Luckily, I have received an offer to become a tailor's assistant, but the pay is very minimal. -
Moving West
We have heard about a new act being passed- The Homestead Act. This will give Curtis and I a chance to get the land we came for. With the money that has been saved since my first day of work, we are buying a small wagon with horse. We have found other Irish immigrants that are tired of being discriminated. We all have hopes to get rid of our cheap jobs, get free land, and getting out of the negativity towards the Irish. Curtis and I dreamed of getting part of the great farm land that is promised -
The Other Immigrants
Through our travels in the West with the other Irish immigrants, we instantly began to notice that these people were very similar to use. Over half of the party told us that they left Ireland to get new jobs and to start a new life. Some of the other immigrants stated that they were leaving Ireland to escape prosecution. We are relying on each other for food, water, and supplies as we make our difficult journey. -
The Homestead Act
The trip to the west was filled with many challenges, at times we ran out of food. Curtis has miraculously began getting well but we still were faced with other problems. One of which, a group of the Irish immigrants ran off with some of our saved rations, we could do nothing to stop the thief. When we got towards encampments in the west, we immediately went to apply for the Homestead Act. We are accepted and we are entitled with 160 acres of land as long as we care for and improve the land. -
Life in America
Curtis and I now run 160 acres of lands that was given to us and grow crops with the amazing farm soil. Life has greatly improved since we lived in Ireland with debt, starvation, and sickness. Curtis and I have finally established what we wanted- to be free from our debts, to get our farm land, and to not be discriminated for being Irish -
The Hardships of the West
Cutis and I have lived on this land for a long time now, but we are having some trouble. Although we have crops and are debtless, the farmland has to experience heavy snows in winter and great floods in spring. With this cycle, water is difficult to obtain, wood has also been sparse on the land. Even with these conditions, it still beats living in Ireland.
