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The Start
On January 31 1864, I Angelo Rossi left my family in Italy to move to America. I left because my brother and father had a terrible illness. My mother told me leave and get a better life for my self. -
Period: to
Immigration Timeline: Angelo Rossi
My story of immigration -
Ellis Island
After about 4 weeks of sailing in steerage I finally got to see America. It was a sight to see. I was very nervous because i did'nt speak much english and i did'nt have much money. We landed and then we filed out. We had to go through several medical test. I saw some people get white chalk marks on there clothes. I did not and they let go through. Then I went to another booth. They asked me several questions, most i could understand. After that they told to this ferry. It took me about 2 hours. -
A rough time
About five minutes after I got of the boat I ran into trouble. I was so excited to finally be in America that I ran of the ferry and into the streets. The next thing I knew to Irish men ran up to me and started punching me. I tried to fight back but I was overwhelmed. Nobody tried to help, not even the police. After they stole all my money I told them in my best english that it was all the money I had. The man replied in a thick Irish accent. He said, " Well now it's all the money i've got". -
Sweatshop
After getting mugged I started working in a sweatshop to get my money back. I lived in a small apartment. There was no electricty and running water. The streets were covered with trash. People were sick and the other apartments were dcreamed very close together. It was all that I could afford from the wages I made in the sweatshops. -
Working on the railroad
After working in the aweatshop for about a year and a half i decided to take a job working on the railroad to get out of New York. -
Black Codes
While working on the railroad I met a man named Jim. He was african-american and a former slave. He became my only friend. It was hard for the first month because I was as far I knew the only Italian and I still did'nt know very good english. I thought I had it bad but then I leanrned about the black codes. Jim told me that he was saving up enough money to go to the west to get away from the black codes. He said he was free but not really. He told me that the black codeds restricted him. -
The railroad job is finished
On May tenth we finished the transcontinental railroad. It was a very happy day but there were not many railroad jobs around so I would be out of a job. -
Chance to head west
My friend Jim tells me to come with him to the west to get a better life and to get a job. I agree to go with him and then we get supplies and head out in about four days. -
We finally make it to the west
Me and my friend finally make it to the West. We went to the Oregon Territory for work. We both decided to save up and buy some land for farminmg. I had the option to take a job as a logger or a miner. I was thinking of being a miner until I talked to a miner and he told wages were low and conditions were poor. I took the logging job. -
I die
At the ageof 26 I die. While cutting down logs one fell on me and killed me. I did'nt hear the shouts from the other loggers because all I could think about is how close I was to gettting to having enough to buy some land.
