During what is known as the Gilded Age, there was major changes happening in the US. These changes included industrialization, population increase, along with cities rising up and big business like the railroad company coming about as well. These were just a few of the many changes that were occurring. One of the biggest occurrences in the US was immigration. Imagine you and your family leaving your homeland to a completely new world where there is a language you might not be able to understand or speak. These immigrant groups not only relocated throughout different states but immigrant were moving to specific cities to the best places they felt accepted. As an example we had many immigrant groups that came to Saint Louis, Missouri. One …show more content…
The first type of institution they formed was social institutions. These institutions included educational facilities. One of the most famous schools that was opened was St. Leo. This school was built in 1888. It was built to serve the needs of Irish community. In the middle of the 20th century, it began its decline. Due to low numbers of admission, the school fused with another school called Saint Bridgets in 1968. This couldn't help save the school and it closed ten years later. Another type of institution that the Irish formed were newspapers and periodicals. Many Irish became writers, and journalist. One of the most famous newspapers was founded by Irishman Joseph Charles, and he founded the “Missouri Gazette” in the early 1800's19 (Saint Louis IRish. Other newspapers or periodicals that were founded or created by the Irish include; Home Library and Hearthstone Visitor, Home Press, North Saint Louis News, The Sporting News, Saint Louis Practical Photographer (Saint Louis Irish). The Irish also became to form special interest groups and institutions. There weren't …show more content…
Rose of Lima, St. Thomas of Aquinas, Holy Rosary, St. Agnes, St. Edwards and St. Matthew22. Due to the Irish immigrating into the city there are many well known and famous people who came out of Saint Louis. Some of these immigrants became preachers, and writers. While others became politcal figures and other types of public figures. One of the most famous Irish immigrants that came from Saint Louis was writer Kate O'Flaherty or better known as Kate Chopin. A biography written by gives a good chronological story of her life which will be described in the following paragraphs23. Chopin was born February 8th 1850 in Saint Louis. Her father was from Ireland while her mother was from Saint Louis. From the time she was five years old she went to Saint Louis boarding school known as Sacred Heart. She was very close to her family. When she was a teenager she kept a diary. A few years later she met her husband Oscar Chopin. They got married and they moved down to Louisiana from Saint Louis. They had six children together; five boys and one girl. Her husband died in 1882 and she never got remarried. After her husband died, her and her children moved back to Saint Louis. In 1885, her mother died. She
In the years from 1860 through 1890, the prospect of a better life attracted nearly ten million immigrants who settled in cities around the United States. The growing number of industries produced demands for thousands of new workers and immigrants were seeking more economic opportunities. Most immigrants settled near each other’s own nationality and/or original village when in America.
Immigration to America from Europe was at an all time high in the mid-1800s. After the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, a large group of Irish immigrated to the United States. Since then, increasing numbers of Irish people have been moving to the United States, especially in Chicago. The Irish had come to realize that the United States really is the land of opportunity. With jobs being available to the immigrants, many more shipped in to start new lives for their families. However, for quite a while they did not live in the nicest of areas in Chicago. Many of the Irish resided in low-class areas such as overcrowded parts around the Loop, and out in the West Side. Not only did the West Side shelter the Irish, but many Germans and Jews lived in that area.
Vigdor, Jacob L. From Immigrants to Americans (The Rise and Fall of FittingiIn.) New York:
The force that brought Irish immigrants can be described in two ways, both negative in the way of the Famine Years and the control of Protestant England. On the other hand, Irish immigrants were able to use the United States as a chance for economic opportunities as well as a chance to be free to practice their Catholic faith. The economic events that helped fulfill the need for Irish workers were thanks to the Industrial growth of the United States. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed by the continuous harsh labor that was done by Irish immigrants. The Eastern half was largely built by Irish men that were hired by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The chance to make a life and put some money in their pockets was an attractive situation for struggling Irish immigrants. The inevitable factor for Irish immigrants to leave their homeland was the effects of famine that was occurring among the rural population of Ireland. Ireland depended heavily on potato crops, but as the crops failed they diminished the hopes of surviva...
During the 1920’s there were many controversial issues. There was a concern about declining moral and ethical values, which led to restrictions such as prohibition for example. The concern about these issues seemed most intense when they pertained to religion. In situations like these it always seems necessary to place the blame somewhere. One particular group on which this blame was emphasized happened to be the immigrants. Irish Catholic immigrants were a main focus of discrimination in many ways.
Knapp, A. (2010, September 9). Irish Immigrants in America during the 19th Century, Website: http://www.kinsella.org/history/histira.htm
Fabricant, Carole. "Speaking for the Irish Nation: The Drapier, the Bishop, and the Problems of Colonial Representation." ELH (1999): 337-332. http://www.jstor.org.muncie.libproxy. ivytech.edu/stable/30032076.
The relocation of so many people in the late 1800’s can be attributed to several push-pull factors. A number of the people that came over to America were from Germany, Ireland and England. In their homelands many experienced crop failure, a stagnant economy and in some cases even a shortage of food. One example of aforementioned crop failures would be the Irish Potato Famine that Ireland suffered through in the mid 1800’s. The plants were plagued with diseases and an estimated one million men, women and children lost their lives.
Throughout the history of this nation there are thousands of upon thousands of immigrants coming to this country and achieving the American dream. The Irish immigrated to the United States in 1840 – 1850s in big numbers driven by hunger and by the oppression of the British. Many of them became successful politicians, police officers and businessmen. One of the brightest examples in the history of Irish immigration success is Henry Ford. His grandfather immigrated in the 1840s escaping the potato famine. Henry Ford himself was born in a poor family in Dearborn, Michigan went on to become the most successful car builder in the country (Hennigan). Between 1880 and 1920 the first wave of Italians mainly from South Italy immigrated in the United States (Hendin 13). Many escaped from the poor countryside in Southern Italy to seek better life in America. Shining ex...
John Doyle wrote of the struggles that the Irish immigrants have to face in America for their first six months in the new world. Little did he know that in a couple of decades, the Irish population of America would increase almost fivefold. The story that he would tell of his immigration would be strikingly different than the stories of the nearly 700,000 refugees that would make the voyage across the Atlantic thirty years after he did. The conditions for the Irish Catholics in America would all but get better.
One of the most significant factors of immigration for America during the Gilded age was the creation of ethnic neighbourhoods. Since most of the immigrants were unskilled, they tended to find a job in growing factories located closer to the centre of the cities. The American culture was very different from the cultures in which the immigrants were raised, mainly because the Americans had noticeably different values from the rest of the world. Therefore, most of the immigrants experienced a culture shock. The language was a huge barrier to the majority of the immigrants too, because that was their main way of communication. Furthermore, the lack of language skills increased the impact of the culture shock that they were already experiencing.
O’Brien, Conor and Cruise. A Concise History of Ireland. Thames and Hudson; New York, 1985.
The Gilded Age, known for the economic boom and a time of great industrialization, along with the promises of America brought immigrants from all over seeking life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness though the many great opportunities that America had to offer. However, the opportunities that America had to offer were compromised by corruptions during this era, which were seen in the cities during this time. Once entered into the cycle that so many immigrant workers were stuck in, it was difficult to gain independence and to truly have lived out the American Dream, which brought these immigrants to America in the first place.
Until the 1860s, the early immigrants not only wanted to come to America, but they also meticulously planned to come. These immigrants known as the “Old Immigrants” immigrated to America from many countries in Northern and Western Europe, known as, Sweden, Norway, Scandinavia, Wales and Ireland. Some of them traveled to Canada, but most of them came to the U.S. seeking freedom they didn’t get in their own countries. Ireland had also recently suffered through a potato famine, where the citizens were left poor and starving. Most settled in New York City and other large cities, where they worked in factories and other low-paying jobs. The immigrants caused a great increase in population in these areas. The “Old Immigrants” tried not to cluster themselves with others of their own nationality. They would mostly try to fit in with Americans as best as they could. Many of them had a plan to come to America, so they saved their money and resources before they arrived so they could have a chance at a better life. On the other hand, another group of immigrants began to arrive
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