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Immigration and Westward Expanison
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Coming to America
I am Catty Oflanagan. I'm a 35 year old woman who used to live in Ireland. I came to America becuase my land and house was taken away when I couldn't pay the required amount of taxes. With no place left to go in Ireland I decided I might as well try to live in America. Many people who used to live in my village had already left for America and I thought I should try going their too. -
Finding a home in America
I have finally arrived in America. There are many people like me, immigrates, everywhere you look. Everywhere you look people are trying to find a place to call home. I took me a while but I finally found a place in a small apartment. It took me a good day to find it, which was pretty quick compared to some people I have met here. -
Work
I have started to work at a clothing factory in the states. It offers fair amount of money which I will save to go to the west. I learned about the West because that is what everyone talks about here. They say that thanks to the Homestead Act the government is giving away land for free. That is, the land is yours if you stay on it and make the land better for five years. I have always wanted my own land and this would be a great way to get it. The problem is saving enough to get there. -
Wagon Train
After a long time of svaing penny after penny I finally have enough money to go out west. I have joined a group of people who are all heading out west. Each of us have our own wagon and together we form one of the famous wagon trains. -
West here We Come
Mnay people gather and celebrate finally getting out west. Many people like me are astounded by how much land there is compared to Europe. With so little land over there it makes perfect sense to want to come to the states because you can have so much for so little. At this celebration I started to talk with some other farmers about which crops are best and how to tell if the soil is good enough or not. -
Land
I have finally gotten my land. I got 160 acres of good farming land. After all of the hard work and struggle to get here I finally have my land. When I first go my land some random men came riding down the hill on hourses. They demanded my land and when I wouldn't give it to them they decided to set fire to the open land. Luckly some other people where riding by so they helped me put it out with water from of stream. -
First Winter
During my first winter out West I had lots of trouble. The little shack that was built for me to live in wasn't warm enough at all. The rain and snow started to come through all of the walls making it extremely difficult to stay warm and dry during the winter.
