Chapter 86: Chapter 83: Immigration

June 1st, 1786
New York City, New York, the United States of America

"Next!"

Johnny Linehan went into the designated room nervously. He had seen a few others like himself enter the room and not return, so he was afraid that he made the wrong choice when he decided to immigrate to the United States. He was from Dublin, a son of a poor merchant, that decided to travel across the seas to search for better fortunes in a new land. From the sparse rumors he heard about America, he knew that it was a "land of opportunity and religious freedom" and to a Catholic like himself, that was all he needed. However, he still worried about his future as the people that entered the room before him were all Irish like himself. But they weren't just "Irish," they were Catholic Irish. Many of the people on the ship he sailed in were from Leinster and Muster, regions that were known to be predominantly Catholic. And he did know that many Americans were Protestants or followed other religious beliefs. He had heard rumors that there weren't that many Catholics in the United States. To him, it was a bit suspicious that they were isolating all the recent arrivals from the Catholic parts of Ireland into a private room, with none of them returning afterward. He knew that his previous assumptions were possibly wrong, as news about the new republic was often suppressed in Britain. Even so, he silently prayed that the United States would offer him a place to stay despite his Catholic beliefs and that the nation was accepting of Catholics, even if there weren't many of them in the nation.

The inside of the room was brightly lit from a nearby window and a woman was sitting behind a desk with some papers in her hand. Linehan was confused about what to do next, and only moved to sit in the seat in front of the woman after she gestured to him. The woman was a middle-aged blonde with a serious look on her face, which did nothing to calm his nerves. In fact, it shocked him that a woman was going to be interrogating him.

"Your papers, sir?"

Linehan nearly tripped over himself as he handed the papers a man had handed to him at the docks. He filled it out briefly while waiting for his turn in the room and it was a detailed description of his name, his place of origin, and a few other personal information.

The woman looked at the papers in her hand and spoke, "Mr. Johnathan Linehan?"

"Yes?" The man replied nervously.

"I see that you are from Dublin, Ireland. Is that correct?"

The Irishman nodded silently.

"And your reason for coming to the United States is for a better career opportunity?"

That question was met with another nod.

"How long will you be staying here?"

"I'm not sure."

"Where will you be staying?"

"Here, in New York City I suppose."

"I see that you listed your former occupation as a merchant. Can you elaborate on that a bit please?"

"My father and I ran a small store in Dublin and we traded foodstuffs for goods." He was barely eighteen, so he had only a little bit of experience as a "merchant."

"I see." The woman answered monotonously, bristling his nerves, "Do you have any relatives, friends, or contacts in the United States that could potentially vouch for the statements listed?"

Linehan shook his head. He didn't know that it was a requirement!

"No worries. There are plenty of people in your situation; starting off in a foreign land without any contacts. I'll just note that down so that I can have that for reference later on. Now, what religious denomination do you follow?"

The man felt his heart stop. Should he lie about this? Was this a test? He clutched his hands firmly and decided to answer truthfully because while he was afraid of the consequences, he wasn't going to abandon his faith so easily. His father would have been ashamed if he decided to lie and abandon his faith in order to enter America. And he couldn't do that, as his father helped pay for his voyage here, "I'm Catholic, ma'am."

She scribbled a few notes onto the papers that Linehan gave her earlier, "Do you have anything you would like to declare, such as the possession of illegal contraband or goods"

"No." And it was the truth, he was patted down by a soldier on the docks and only had about five British pounds in his pocket.

"Do you swear that you will obey all American laws and acknowledge that you will suffer the consequences if you break any of them?"

"Yes."

"Well then, welcome to the United States than Mr. Linehan," The woman handed some papers back to the man and shook his hand, "Show those papers to the man outside and he'll help you get started on your stay in America. Make sure to read everything on that booklet on the top, as it will contain valuable information about places you can settle, our laws, and so on. If you have any questions, the United States Department of Internal Administration building will be on the intersection of Broadway Street and New Street."

"Broadway Street and New Street, I understand. Thank you."

Linehan felt relieved as he walked out the door on the opposite end from where he came from and came face to face with New York City. The city was alive and bustling, filled with people walking on the streets. He saw a lot of different types of people: white women, black men, and a few of those Indians too. He spotted a small booth which was occupied by a lonely looking man and walked up to it, suspecting that this was the "man outside" the lady before was talking about, "Hello."

"Your papers?"

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The man from Dublin felt much more positive than before due to his fears disappearing and handed the man his papers. It seemed like the United States had a lot of paperwork and bureaucracy with the number of government workers he was seeing. The man glanced at his papers for a few moments and looked back at him, "Do you have any foreign currencies with you?"

"A few British pounds."

"Well you can trade them in here and we'll give you American dollars, which is the currency of the nation. Would you like to do that today? It's not required, but recommended."

Linehan shrugged and coughed up his money. The man took it and replaced the British coins with American ones. The American coins were lighter and looked much different than the British ones, "The current exchange rate for five pounds is ten dollars. As such, here are fifteen eagles, five quarters, four nickels, and five pennies. I see that you're a former merchant. If you want to find a job working in a business, I suggest you head over to Wall Street. It's a huge street that covers several blocks down that way, you can't miss it. Welcome to the United States."

And with that, he was on his way into this foreign country called "America." He decided to follow the man's advice and walked towards "Wall Street." After a few minutes of walking, and plenty of staring, he found "Wall Street." The street was certainly busy and was spacious, but it had a number of businesses on the street. While walking down the street, he found a printing shop called the "New York Times" that was selling newspapers and bought the newest edition for half a cent. He walked to a nearby inn, got himself comfortable, and decided to read more about the country before making any final decisions.

"President Kim declares "pandemic" in Stateburg after Yellow Fever Outbreak, Implements controversial and tyrannical measures to "contain the disease," The headline for the newspapers screamed.

President Kim? Tyrannical? Pandemic? All of these things were new to him, so he decided to read his booklet while reading the newspaper for support. He soon discovered that the President was the democratically elected leader of the country. Apparently, these elections were every four years for the presidency, two years for the "House" (like the House of Commons in Parliament) and six years for the Senate (the House of Lords). Any citizens above the age of twenty-five for men, or thirty-five for women, were allowed to vote. That fact shocked him when he discovered that gaining citizenship was straightforward and easy, and the fact that a lot of people had a say in the workings of the government was foreign to him. The fact that the newspaper was criticizing the president for his "overresponse" to the outbreak of a disease in "Stateburg" (wherever that was) was also surprising, though he read in the booklet that the United States guaranteed freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of religion (the last part was the part that relieved him the most). After he read about weekly political town halls, the construction of national universities for people of all color and beliefs, and the weekly "Presidential Meet and Greet" (which anyone, even the poorest people, could meet with the leader of the nation), his head was spinning. The nation was strange. The United States celebrated the common people, placed them in power, and the nation was running fine. Laws were made to prevent discrimination on race, origin, or belief. The government was open and transparent and provided welfare for the people. The nation accepted immigrants, refused to place restrictions on them, and offered plenty of opportunities for them to achieve success.

Just what was this nation? It seemed a bit too good to be true.

He walked out onto the streets and decided to talk to a stranger, just any stranger to see if anything the booklet and the newspapers stating were true. He decided to speak to a Negro, which both terrified him and excited him as he never spoke with a black man before. After all, if the booklets were telling lies, then the Negros or the Indians would point them out first, right? He tapped an unsuspecting Negro's shoulder working in a shop and gave him a hesitant smile, "Hello."

"Welcome to the Wall Street Clothing Store! The name is Samuel. What can I get for you today?" The Negro replied with enthusiasm. He was well-dressed and had a foreign accent while speaking English, but he seemed fairly well-cultured.

"I'm not here to buy any clothes sadly, though maybe later," Linehan stated, "I just wanted to ask, are any of these things in this booklet true?"

"Well let me see!" He took the book and read the first few pages, nodding his head in agreement in time he flipped a page, "Don't see anything wrong with this booklet, certainly handy. You new to the States?"

"The States?"

"Yep! The United States of America, so people have a few nicknames for the nation. Like "America" or "Yankeeland," or "States." I'm assuming you're new then?"

"Just got here a few hours ago actually," Linehan confessed.

"Well, you're certainly going to be surprised at all the things you find in the States. Our nation is very different than those pompous monarchies back in Europe. Everything in that book is true. Didn't see anything wrong in there."

Linehan looked hesitant, "Well, does that mean you can vote also?"

"Oh yes, sir! Voted in the last election I did. Turned twenty-five just in time to vote for the president. Voted for President Kim, a good man he is! Liberator of slaves, man of the commons. Great man. And don't even get me started on the funny things he does like the Presidential Roasts! Absolutely hysterical! Apparently, the man looks like he's enjoying himself when the people are cracking insults and jokes at him!"

"Er... What race is he exactly? I've never heard the last name "Kim" before."

"He's Korean, some small nation next to China all the way in that far away land of Asia,"

"A Chinaman?" Linehan asked incredulously.

"Something of the sorts, but we try not to look at people's race too much when we're judging them here. See look, I even own a shop myself!" Samuel sniffed the air dangerously, "Except for a few of those damn racist slavers down in Virginia. They can burn in hell."

"This is a lot to take in..." The Irishman said as he looked at the heavens to see what to do.

"Tell you what, you're probably looking for a job aren't you? Well, I'm actually looking for an assistant to help me out with running some errands and helping organize my inventory. If you're interested, I could give a decent pay so you can get some money before setting off elsewhere. I'll even buy you a free dinner every other day and we can go drinking together at the local pub. That is if you don't mind working for a Negro like myself."

"No, no," Linehan replied mutedly, "I'm interested."

Samuel gave a sharp grin, "Well then Mr..."

"Linehan."

"Mr. Linehan, we'll be getting off fine together!"

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