Irish Immigrants In Early America

Before the notorious potato famine, many Irish were moving across the Atlantic to America in hopes of a more prosperous, uncomplicated and trouble-free lifestyle. Irish emigrants looked at America to offer a higher standard of living through high wages and low commodity costs. With the myths of an easily attainable lifestyle existing in America, it is no wonder why later; there were so many potato famine-era immigrants that they established the basis for the significant Irish population and ethnicity in the United States. The emphasis in the last proposition, however, is on the word myth. Many of those fleeing Ireland may or may not have believed that America would offer a prosperous and uncomplicated lifestyle. But most did believe that America offered a better life than that which they were subjected to in their home country.

With the British suppressing Irish citizens and their Catholic religion, a move to America seemed to be the answer to a better life. Irish began relocating in America in search of "the land of abundance". Many referred to the states as the "golden door."

The traveling Irish faced hardships as bad if not worse as they made their way to America. They traveled on ships across the Atlantic under horrendous conditions for an extensive period of time. The ship experience was so horrid that some referred to the ships as coffin ships. Moreover, the land of abundance isn't exactly what the Irish encountered when they disembarked. They were often so poor due to the potato famine that they had no choice but to settle at their port of entry to the states. There, the Irish lived in homes that "reflected both proximity to Irish workplaces and poverty . . . Along the canal corridor and near the docks one found the che...

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... slowly begin to live more controllably and prejudice would threaten their lifestyle less and less each decade. However many generations to follow would know the Irish as the poor, disease-stricken, alcoholic and unruly and sub culture. The Irish who immigrated to America may have never seen the America that the myths had spoken of, but future generations could be able to describe America as the golden gate. It is important to understand that the Irish transition to American life was perhaps a strategy for survival rather than a quest for a prosperous future. Given the horrid struggle that Irish faced in their own country, a move to the United States was a very strategic tactic that would affect the Irish for generations to come and so there weren't many options for a people as poor and disregarded as the Irish.

**All Citations from class text The Social Fabric**