Journey to America Story of the Irish in Antebellum America HS101 - US History to 1877 When many think of the times of immigration, they tend to recall the Irish Immigration and with it comes the potato famine of the 1840s' however, they forget that immigrants from the Emerald Isle also poured into America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. The assimilation and immigration of the Irish has been difficult for each group that has passed through the gates of Ellis Island or South Boston. Like every group that came to America, the Irish were looked down upon; yet, in the face of discrimination, political, social and economic oppression, the Irish have been a testament to the American Dream as their influence in the political and business world increases with each generation. The tradition and family upbringings of the Irish culture has served as the bridge to allow the "great race" to both prosper and persevere through the hardest of times. Although Irish immigrants were mixed into and not originally part of American culture, they enriched their new country with their cultural contributions, active participation in politics, and their wealth of influential individuals. The antebellum period in America was a hard time for all that lived, native born and those coming to America shared in the labors and hardships equally. Irish immigrants however, seemed to have struggled a little more. Many were regarded as inferior to the Anglo-Americans and immigrants already established in America. This problem came chiefly because of the lack of skilled labors, thus causing Irish immigrants to bear the load of working in mines, in quarries, digging canals, and building bridges and railroads. Others still, wer... ... middle of paper ... ...trong faith and the strong sense of humor helped my relatives, and all of the other Irish to prosper. The current 38,760,000 Irish Americans owe their ancestors a great deal of thanks for sustaining and perpetuating the long-standing tradition of the Irish in America. Bibliography McNamara, Customs and Etiquette in Ireland, Global Books LTD, London, 19996 Encyclopedia of American Social History Vol. 1 Ed. By : Mary Kupiec Cayton, Elliot J. Gorn, and Peter W. Williams. Published by Charles Scribner's Sons - 1993 Golway, Terry. The Irish in America. Hyperion, New York. 1997 Compton's Interactive Encyclopedia, Copyright 1993, 1994 Compton's New Media, Inc. http://seeds.history.cal seeds/episodes-0121/history.html MacManus. Story of the Irish Race. The Devin-Adair Company, New York. 1977 Connery. The Irish. Simon and Schuster, New York. 1968
Throughout the history of America people have been immigrating to America from multiple countries. People have arrived from all over Eastern and Western Europe, Asia and many other places. One country that people had immigrated from was Ireland. The Irish settled into America because of the Anti-Catholic Penal Laws in 1790. Most of the Irish were Catholic so they fled to America. The Irish also came to America because of a summer with constant rain and little sun that in turn destroyed their popular crops. Pushing this further, the Irish came to America because of the Potato Famine. Lastly, the Irish came back to America because of Hart-Cellar Act. This Act
John Doyle wrote a short story about an Irish immigrant coming to America. The story is excellent because it showed the immigrants' perspective throughout the article. Before understanding my views on Immigration let me give a quick summary about the story written by John Doyle. The one thing the young Irish immigrant feared the most was touching American soil, with little money that would not be able to reach him ashore on fresh American soil. Praying to the sky above asking for his hard-working feet to touch the fresh American soil. Finally arriving on American soil, he gets greeted by new coming friends who are all glad to have him here and talking up on how better American is than the Old Country which referring Ireland. The Irish immigrant was just listening to their
Foner, Eric, and John A. Garraty, eds. The Reader's Companion to American History. Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1991.
Immigrants have been a key part of The United States’ development into a first-world nation. Their impact on the nation is dichotomous; parts of society have actively sought to increase immigration, while other parts have actively fought against its expansion. The types of immigrants have changed throughout American history - the perception of immigrants has not. Economics has dominated the argument of immigration, as pro-immigration individuals seek to financially benefit from the influx of immigrants and anti-immigration individuals seek to limit the financial damages caused by immigration. The arguments made by opponents of immigrants reveal strong economic fears, while also revealing fears
It was not until 1841 that Great Britain's government made its first attempt to count the number of Irish migrants in the Census of 1841. Data compiled from the actual census and other parliamentary sources at the time illuminate the fact that in 1841 and in the preceding years of this century, most migrants from Ireland were of the seasonal type. Typically, they would plant their potatoes in their mostly minuscule plots of land in May, travel to Great Britain for the summer months to partake of seasonal harvesting work and return in time for their own harvest. During this same time there were Irish who settled in Great Britain on a more permanent basis but they were outnumbered by their fellow countrymen who were strictly seasonal migrants. This latter group seemed quite successful in finding work in the agricultural districts of the industrial north, those parts of the country surrounding Manchester, Liverpool and the other great towns. After the Irish potato famine of 1822, the influx of Irish into England grew and a large majority of these were seasonal migrants. These Irish were in great demand in the agricultural districts of England and in Labour Migration in England 1800-1850, Ar...
When the Irish Populace migrated to the Land of Dreams, America, they were greeted with the signs of No Irish Need Apply. This was mainly at the end of the 19th Century when racial and ethnic discrimination was at its peak and was mainly due to the religious differences the Irish had. The Irish being followers of the Catholic Church were renounced and ridiculed, their cultural differences misinterpreted, their image disgraced by terming them alcoholics. People with Irish accent or Irish names were denied public employments and housing opportunities.
From the 1820s to the 1840s, around 90 percent of migrants to the United States originated from Ireland, Britain, or Germany. Among these newcomers, the Irish were by a wide margin the biggest. In the 1820s, about 60,000 Irish settlers moved to the United States. In the 1830s, the number developed to 235,000, and in the 1840s, because of a potato starvation in Ireland, the quantity of settlers soared to 845,000. The Incomparable Irish Starvation, as it ended up plainly known, came about because of a five-year scourge that turned potato crops dark. In the vicinity of 1845 and 1850, one million Irish kicked the bucket of starvation and another two million fled the nation.
The United States of America has been considered as a place of hope, freedom and prosperity ever since its independence from the British Union to the present day. So is to say, that from its early settlements, this country became the dream of many foreigners in order to live a new life full of opportunities. Particularly, the famous Statue of Liberty inspired numerous newcomers to settle down in America due to its symbolism of freedom, welcoming immigrants from abroad. A group in particular had an important participation in the immigration to the United States during the period of the industrial revolution, the Irish. Although this group’s emigration intensified during that period, their presence in the United States dates from the 17th century and earlier. Several conditions drove the Irish to leave their homes with the interest of pursuing a better life. The Irish began to leave their country after the Great Potato Famine, which caused massive starvation and diseases among the people in Ireland (Quigley). Consequently, the Irish population decreased about 20-25% due to mortality from hunger and immigration. These people accused the Great British Union for all the disgrace and abandonment, creating big resentment against them and their political influence over them. Since then, more than 4 million Irishmen have arrived to the American cities such as Boston, Chicago, New York and Philadelphia. Taking into account the vast amount of Irish incomers, it is important to note the influence held by them. Hence, how did the Irish immigrants affect the American culture during the 19th century? The Irish emigrants impacted the American society in sociocultural, political, and economical aspects over the time after their arrival. At firs...
The Irish’s earlier arrival in New York gave them an edge in society over their Italian American counterparts. The first boom of Irish immigrants came to America in the 1840s due to the potato famine in Ireland. (4) This wave of immigrants led to Irish domination in New York, particularly in in the church, workforce, politics, law enforcement, and entertainment. Irish had established and were now in control of unions, civil service jobs and Catholic institutions. (1)
In the 1840’s, millions of people were forced to leave Ireland as a means of survival. The already poor country was now being ravaged by The Great Potato Famine. The country’s main food source was being destroyed by the plant disease Blight and starvation and death was everywhere. When no help was received from their British government, desperate families realized the only way to survive was to leave. Many braved the 40 night trip across the Atlantic to America with merely the clothes on their back and little to no money. Starting a new life in a strange country would be hard, but it gave them the will to keep going and a hope for the future.
Many states, especially those with sparse populations, actively sought to attract immigrants by offering jobs or land for farming. Many immigrants wanted to move to communities established by previous settlers from their homelands. Once settled, immigrants looked for work. There were never enough jobs, and employers often took advantage of the immigrants. Men were generally paid less than other workers, and women less than men. Social tensions were also part of the immigrant experience. Often stereotyped and discriminated against, many immigrants suffered verbal and physical abuse because they were "different." The Irish were called white niggers. They came to America because of An Gorta Mor. (That’s the great hunger for those who didn’t know). The Britt’s hated (and still hate) the Irish, and they made them work like slaves, and paid them very little. The Irish, who came because they thought they could get some land, and be free in America, were starving in the streets, and dying in the factories.
The famine caused Cabinet Ministers, such as Viscount Palmerston, to call for an "ethnic cleansing in order to reduce uneconomic overpopulation..." in Ireland. They even had support from the Anglican Church at the time to do so. These problems sent many Irish people out of the country and towards other countries like the United States (Coogan). The Irish, with a rise in population in America, created a sense of their own identity and stance in America. They made history in their local settings. With their own kind of culture and based Catholic religion, they set goals to make something of themselves, not caring if they were rich or poor. They were in roles such as "elite novelists, playwrights, newspaper editors, clergymen, and politicians. With an upsurge of both immigration and nativism in the United States, there was an increase in the Catholic Irish immigration throughout the 1920s. The new Catholic Irish culture in America from the 1860s set a new path for other groups of immigrants to come to America at the time, looking for hope and new places. Even in a new country, the Irish were able to keep their own identity and cultures
The famine robbed many already poor individuals from reclaiming their economic stability and land. Having no other choice but to retreat to a land far from being familiar. Throughout my paper I’m going to be delving into the cause and effects as to why the Irish immigrated to America. The research will also enable me to uncover my family’s motives as to why and when they came to America; I’m able to somewhat search for the questions as to why Irish individuals immigrated to the United States of
Through the span of multiple centuries, a large number of individuals left their homes and all that they knew to bet with their odds of another life in the New World. Many people considered the United States a “land of opportunities,” giving them hope into finding a better life that was more suitable for them. As a result, millions of immigrants came to America trying to start over their life, or even better, begin their life. America gave people the opportunity to live on more land, have a more abundant amount of food, and search for better education for their children. Of the millions of immigrants who migrated to the United States over the course of years, my great grandmother, age sixteen at the time, Esther Flynn, embarked on a journey in 1926 across the Atlantic Ocean from Ireland, in hope of finding “a new life.”
(1) Tennant, Lorraine, “The Irish Emigration Database,” Journal of Scotch-Irish Studies, Vol 1, No 1 (Spring 2000) pp120-124