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Moving to America
My name is Giuliana Santoro and I am from Abrozzo, Italy. I decided to move to America because I wanted a better life than what I had in the past. I had lived in poverty my whole life where there were no jobs available to get enough money to pay off debts. America had more freedom, lots of jobs that paid higher wages, and they would accept any of my religious beliefs. -
Finding Shelter
After completing all of the immigration processes and steps to be able to live in America, I had to find somewhere to live. Back when I lived In Italy, my family was very poor and we didn't have many of the needs that America had to survive. When I got to America, many places were not available to stay at and the only house I could find was an old hotel-style house down an ally. This particular house was known as a dangerous, filthy and unhealthy place. This was exactly what I did not want. -
Moving In
Moving into a new home was hard for me. There were so many people, some of them were not nice. I lived in Room 154 and in the room next to mine was an old, loud, angry women . She didn't like anybody around her. In another room there was the meanest man I had ever met. He was very unpleasant, strong and vocal to women. A few days after I had moved in, the man kicked open my door in the middle of the night and started to beat me until I gave him all of my money. -
Moving In
I did not know how to react to this behavior because I had never encountered this in Italy. I continued to live here until I found something better. -
First Job
I had immigrated to America to find a job. It was hard for me to find one because I didn't know my way around town. The first job I had in America was selling goods from rolling carts. I did not like this job because the cart was so heavy and it was difficult for me to push it. I always feared that all the money I made could be stolen. Working reminded me of my home and how much I missed it. -
Moving West
The beginning of my journey in America didn't start out so good. After awhile, I decided to move west. I liked how the west was all about free land, a better life and freedom to believe in any religion. On my journey to the west, I traveled mostly on trains and sometimes on canal boats. Transportation was not dependable because you didn't know if the train had seats available or if there were enough canals. Overall, my jouney had been smooth. -
Getting Sick in West
When I arrived in the west I was very ill. In the west I did not have access to medicine easily. I was seen by a doctor at a hospital that could not find me medicine. I had to wait for a long time but I eventually got some. -
Becoming a Missionary
A main reason why I had moved west was to become part of Missionary groups. The west accepted allowed freedom of religious thoughts and beliefs. When I was in the west I had traveled to an Indian Reservation to educate young kids about religion. I wanted to teach everyone and let kids learn about God. Being a missionary was very special for me and made my life better. -
Beginning of My New Life
The Homestead Act of 1862 helped me get a lot of land for a cheap price. This act made it possible for me to have 160 free acres of land, which I kept for five years. I had lived in the west for this time and collected money from working on a farm. Turning my land into a farm, I was able to save enough money to return back to my town in Italy and help the people with what I brought back.
