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Immigration Timespan
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Homestead Act of 1862
The Homestead Act of 1862 was a law passed by the U.S Congress and signed by Abraham Lincoln. It provided the transfer of 160 acres of unoccupied public land to each person with a payment after five years of resident. This impacted my experience in the West because without this act I would have never been able to get my land and start my life over again. -
Push Factors for Immigration
A yellow fever epidemic in the late 1800s killed 9,000 Italian immigrants in Brazil so the Italian government temporarily banned immigration to that country. At the same time, a political crisis overcame Argentina and Paraguay, discouraging immigrants for entering those countries. -
Pull Factors for Immigration
There were better jobs in America and people could start their own businesses.Also, there was fertile land in America that was much better than in Italy. Another reason to go to American was that you could get land to farm on in order to grow crops. -
Push Factors for Immigration (Continued)
There were many economic setbacks, like plant lice destroying acres of vineyards and placing a high price on Italian wine that was too expensive for Frenchman to purchase, combined with a serious cholera epidemic that left the southern Italian peasants barely able to survive. When a severe crop failure in 1897 led to riots in Sicily, Puglia, and Calabria, raids on bakeries and grain elevators followed in Naples which made the people living their want to leave their villages and go to America. -
Boat Ride Over
On the boat ride over to Ellis Island, I was first stopped in quarantine for possibly being ill, but was let through the next day. On the legal inspection part I was let through because I had a husband waiting for me in America, but my best friend, Maria Colella, did not and had to go back to Italy. -
Lorenzo Saves the Day
When I first stepped foot off the boat into America, I put my bag down for one minute and someone came up and took it. I lost everything that I had and was left with nothing. After I was robbed from my bag, I saw a man take down the guy and start coming over to me with my bag. At first, I did not know who it was , but then I realized it was my husband, Lorenzo Vanzetti. -
Direction Help
In my first couple hours that I was in America, I tried to ask for directions to the nearest houses. I could not speak English and the person I was asking only spoke English. This went on for over an hour before a nice lady came up and pointing in the correct direction. -
Push Factors for Moving West
It was crowded in New York near Ellis Island and there were not many houses with available space.Also, there were too many people near Ellis Island and not enough jobs. Many people were unemployed so they didn’t have enough money to get the essentials they needed.The population on Ellis Island grew so much that there was not enough food for everyone. -
Pull Factors for Moving West
There was fertile land in California so many northern Italian immigrants settled there and could open successful wineries and citrus farms.If you chose to move west, you could get land becuase there was land available. You would be able to grow crops, build a house, and start a new life. -
Working in Factories
For the first couple months that I was in the west, we lived in the city. We worked with very low wages so it took us a while to get enough money to be able to buy land. -
Getting Land and Horses
After we had enough money we bought our own land and got two horses. When I first got on mine, I was immediately bucked off, but as the days went on I got better at riding my horse. -
House Burns Down
We built our own house on our land and it was a nice, 4-room house. When we were just starting to put furniture in it, a candle set the house on fire. I cried as I watched it burn to the ground while my husband stared in horror. -
Rebuilt Everything
After a couple months everything was rebuilt and back to normal. My husband and I worked in our field on the land and sold the crops we made to make a living. Life is much better here in the west than it was in Italy and New York.
