-
Period: to
Immigration and Westward Expansion
-
Arrival In America
I'm Andrew Kelley and I left Ireland on a journey to America. Today is the day I arrived in America and went through the tough process for immigrants on Ellis Island. I left my country because of a potato famine, making life miserable. Ireland was not growing much, and it was too boring for me. -
Finding a Place to Stay
Getting to America was easy compared to finding somewhere to settle down until I could really find a home. The best I could find was an old building where there were rooms for rent. Even though this was hard, I was excited to come to America becuase many there was a modern culture that was still growing and open to many possibilities. Also, there were many jobs and easy ways to get some money. -
Working on the Railroad
My first real job was helping build the Union Pacic Railroad where I earned enough moneu for a strong horse to travel with. With a way to travel, I was drawn to the west out of my taste for adventure. There was new land to claim and people to meet and grow with. -
Heading West
I had to leave the east because it was becoming too crowded with so many immigrants arriving for reasons similar to mine. Also, the east was an older and developed area of America, and there was not many new things happening. During my travels, I met a young maiden who was headed west like me. -
Started a Farm
My new wife and I had been very successful in a new western town we had both settled in, so we decided to start our own farm on some land put up for claim in California. That is where we used our hard earned money to build a great, hard-working farm where we prospered. The small community we lived near was very lively and we found ourselves mostly associated with other immigrants. -
The Immigration Act of 1882
Tbe act cuased new immigrants to pay an extra 50 cent tax for their arrival in America which affected my community. Since less people arrived in the west, our community's gowth started to slow and that meant I earned less money, making life harder. -
Winter
Winter was hard for our fastly-growing community. Despite our success, the fast approching winter had wiped out lots of our crop and livestock. Much of our money had been spent on additions and repairs to our farm, so not much was left to help us survuve the cold.
