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Giovanni Mancini
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I Arrive in America*
I was forced out of Italy due to financial troubles, poor crops, and high taxes. I finally arrived in America through Ellis Island. I was thoroughly inspected for diseases and can barely speak English, and I don't't have any family or friends in the United States. -
I Get Job as Construction Worker*
Due to the industrialization of New York City, I got a job as a construction worker after the new steel innovations. I started to make money, earning $5.50 per week. But, since I am Italian and did not speak good English, I was discriminated against and given lower wages than the other workers, making only $3 per week. -
Construction Mishap*
When I working on a skyscraper on a cold November morning, rivetting in girders, a loose girder fell on my arm and it broke. I was unable to afford a hospital because of my low wages, and I had to rip up one of my shirts to make a sling for my arm. After a heated debate with my boss, he said that if I can't keep working I'll get fired. -
I get Fired*
After trying to keep up with all the other workers, I couldn't take the pain of my arm and decided to take a rest. Just then, my boss walked over and hit me for resting on the job, and he fired me and took a week's pay out of my pocket. Since I hds no source of income, I was kicked out of my apartment and forced to live on the streets. After wandering around in the Little ITaly section of town, I was taken in by a restaurant-owning young man who gave me a place to work and live. -
I set out for Oregon*
After hearing about the Homestead Act, I decided to save up every penny of money that I earned so I could move out west. I eventually earned enough to buy a horse and a saddle, which I filled up with supplies like food and water. I set out for the Oregon trail with a few other friends who wanted to work on the railroad. The trip took 5 months, and nearly the whole time our food and supplies were low. We finally stopped in Oklahoma, figuring it was a better place to stop due to our low supplies. -
I get land and start a farm*
After arriving in Oklahoma, I was given 160 acres of free land from the Homestead Act, which they gave me for promising to improve the land for five years. I've begun to grow my own crops, including wheat and potatoes, which I hope to collect in this year's harvest. It has been a lifelong dream of mine to own and tend to my own land, as my father did before me. -
My crops get destroyed*
After planting crops for my next harvest, a monstrous stormcloud blew in and it started to dounpour. The rain washed away the seeds of my crops, making it so I wasn't able to colect any food from the harvest that year. I had no source of income, so I had to feed of off what's left of last year's harvest.
