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Coming to America
Hi, my name is Nollaig Gormlaith, I am Irish, my dad died and now I want to move to America to get free land and a new life. When my dad died I couln't afford to pay the bills on the house we were living in. The government was going to take my house away from me and I needed to make more money and continue living there, or I could move somewhere else. I decided to move to America so that I could leave my dad in peace and I could start a new life. Right now I am on a ferry coming to America. -
Going through the immigration process
I got off the ferry to find myself in America for the first time in my life. I am so excited to be here and to know that I am living here for the rest of my life. I arrived at Ellis Island which is in New York and I have to go through the immigration process so I can live here and so that I can move on with my journey. When it was my turn to go through the process, I started to stress out and to get nervous because the people were going very fast and they were very strict and harsh. -
Finding a place to live
I wanted to move to America so that I could live a better life but that means that I had to find a place to live. I went searching for a very long time because a lot of the houses were already filled with immigrants. A problem I had was knowing what people were saying because they were speaking English. I finally found a place that I could live in but I could only afford to stay in a place that I would share with five other Irish immigrants. I only had the money that I had brought with me. -
Finding a job
I was living in a room with five other people and I had only brought the money that I had from Ireland, so I needed to find a job so that I could keep paying bills and rent. Also, I wanted to get a job so that I could have money in the future if something ever comes up. I went looking for a job for quite a long time and finally I found a job at a textile company where I would be making shirts. -
Moving west to get free land
The Homestead Act was passed in 1862 and it said that anyone could get free land in the west as long as they lived there for five years. I thought that it would be a great move so I could get free land for myself. I wanted to save as much money as possible for the future. I also thought that moving west would be another great way to continue my life in America. -
Finding a new job in the west
After moving west to find free land, there was a problem, I had to start making money again. My old job was too far away to keep working there after moving. I was in the group with miners, ranchers, and cowhands when I moved to the west. I started working as more a farmer instead of a rancher because the group still needed a couple. The job was a pretty good pay and it worked with having free land.
