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moving to america
I lived in Ireland for about 23 years and was doing fine. But in the past few years I had less freedom and a lot harder of a life. I was fired from my job so I had very little money when I was going to America. It was a crazy trip going to America and I was so excited when I saw Ellis for the first time. I was really nervous that I would not be allowed in America but I got in on June 8, 1860. I was poor because I did not have a job so the first thing I did was look for a job. -
Period: to
immigratoin and westward expansion
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first job in america *
When I went to America I looked for a job right away because I did not have much money and wanted to buy a house or somewhere to live. I got a job working in a shoemaking factory and was really happy. I was making a lot more money than I was in Ireland. When I was working for about half a year I got enough money to buy my own house. In Ireland I had an old house that was really small but I found a house just big enough for me. I was gettineating lots of money from my job I was eating good. -
wife got sick and died *
When I had a job I thought that I was going to do really good in America it all changed when my wife got Cholera. She got it by the contaminated water on the ships that brought us to America. When she got sick I had to spend lots of money trying to get her better. I had spent a lot of money I had saved up and now I was almost broke. When she died I had to work double time to try to pay off my house. It got really hard for me. I felt a lot more lonely and was sad for a long time. -
going to california *
I was doing really well where I was living in New York but I was getting board of it. I was going to go to California to mine for gold. Most people already left for California to go get gold during 1846 to 1855 but I was going to go late. I wanted to work outside and somewhere else. I had to quit my job so I did not have any way to get more money. I took the long trip by myself and bought all the things I needed. I knew money was going to be an issues but I went anyways. -
becoming poor *
When I went to go look for gold in California I did not know what to expect. I spent the rest of my money from the shoemaking job on equipment to mine with. I had my land and I started to mine. I started out ok and was able to make some money but then it got worse. I was finding less and less gold every day. All the money I spent on it I had lost. I was going to look for a new job but I thought it might be hard because of the Homestead Act of 1862 there were so many people that had moved west. -
getting a new job
Because I had lost my job I was really poor and I had to look for a new one. I wanted to work outside so I looked for a job on a ranch. I found a job on a ranch and was really happy I got it. I had to work a lot to pay off the money I owed other people for their mining equipment. After a little bit I was back to normal and was able to buy my own land and started to make it a place for me to grow and sell different crops.
