MAP: Irish Immigration

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Timeline: Irish Immigration

1819 - Congress establishes reporting in immigration.

1841 - The Ireland population was around 8.2 million.

1845 - Potato crop fails in Ireland sparkling the Potato Famine which kills one million of its

population and sending 500,000 to immigrate to the America.

Spring 1847 - ship load after ship load of fevered Irish arrived to the small medical inspection

facility which only had 150 beds.

1847 - Of the 100,000 Irish that sailed to British North America, ⅕ died from diseases and

malnutrition in Grosse Island.

June 40, 1847 - 14,000 Irish immigrants waited in line extending two miles down St. Lawrence.

1847 - To limit the immigration in America, the U.S raised the passenger fare 3 times more than

fares in Canada. The British government encourage the Quebec to have low fares to encourage

the Irish to populate in Canada and not migrate to England.

1847 - 52,000 Irish arrived in New York City

1850 - Irish made up 43% of foreign-born population.

1854 - Anti-Catholics created a political party nicknamed “Knows-Nothing” seeking to stop the

Irish from becoming naturalized Americans and gaining power.

1861 - The Civil War Began

1914 - Major James Michael Curley announced that the Anglo- Saxon was a joke and is time to

become like Puritans following the Catholic church.

1960 - John F. Kennedy was elected President and ended the century-long struggle for

acceptance in the U.S

1970 - The federal government requires two years of residency for naturalization.

Economic Conditions

Irish immigrants entered the workforce by taking up the menial and dangerous jobs that were often avoided by other workers (Library of Congress, 2001). Irish laborers were often used to replace those workers that demanded higher wages because it was known that the Irish were desperate for work and would accept any low-paying job available. As a result the Irish would live in poor developed communities and neighborhoods because they didn’t have the money and financial help to live anywhere more suitable. Because they lived in poor conditioned areas they would develop diseases and become ill (Library of Congress, 2001). There were occasions where families were told by their landlords that once they arrived in Canada an agent would meet them and pay them according to the family size. However, there was never no agent and the promise of money, food, and clothing was false and the families were left with no money and had to look for a home (The History Place, 2000).

Immigrants' Assimilation Into Life of the Nation

Irish immigrants were ill willed as a result from their poor living conditions and their willingness to work for low wages; sadly, this was exacerbated by religious conflict (Library of Congress, 2001). A tension between Protestants and Catholics became present in cities and this caused problems with the Irish-Catholic. Verbal attacks between these two groups would usually lead to mob violence; for example, there was a time when Protestants burned down St. Mary’s Catholic Church in New York City in 1831 and in 1844 riots in Philadelphia left thirteen dead. Irish-Catholic were attacked by anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic sentiments, in the 1840s, to fight against their foreign influences and in exchange promote “traditional American ideals” (Library of Congress, 2001).

How were they treated?

The citizens of New York City treated the Irish immigrants poorly and disrespectfully. According to the Library of Congress (2012), the Irish immigrants spent most of their money on affording their trip to the Americas that they did not have enough money to buy themselves a good home once they arrived to New York City. They lived in single room houses with adequate sewage and running water making it impossible to clean all the time. Living in these poor conditions brought diseases such as cholera, typhus, tuberculosis, and mental illness. Thus, when they moved in to the neighborhood, many families moved out fearing they will catch any diseases. According to Hy Kinsella All Rights Reserved (1996), states that the Irish were not welcome in fact, many Americans wanted the Irish to get back on the boat and ship back to where they came from. Some Americans state that the Irish would increase the prison and crimes in their city.


       

Govt. Policies Affect Immigration Patterns

The United States government policies and programs affect the Irish immigrants through workforce and religious conflicts. According to the Library of Congress (2012), the Irish arrived to the Americas during the colonial times in the 1880s. Some of the Irish immigrants were not prepared for the industrial society in the United States. The Irish had to take the jobs with the worst conditions because no American wanted to take that jobs. Thousands of Irish were killed during the process of construction and mine working. The Irish first left their homeland for religious conflict but when riots began on Catholic and Protestants spread across the United States, the Irish were facing the same problems they wanted to leave behind. According to the article article, the Potato Famine and Irish Immigrants, (Constitutional Rights Foundation, 2013) discuss that anti -Irish and anti-Catholics created the “No Irish need apply” because they believe the Irish wouldn’t be true patriotic Americans.

       

Settlement

  The Irish usually migrated to the same places over and over. Some Irish immigrated to Canada because the fare there was cheaper; although, some Irish remained in Canada, some wanted to come move to America (Santry, 2008). When living in America the Irish families usually settled in poorly environmental cities along the north eastern coast. It was usually New York and Boston along with Canada. Since many Irish came to these places they encountered discrimination as the cities were being over populated with Irish. When arriving the Irish would fall among awful landlords that would give them cheap housing and would pay $1.50 for every family (The History Place,2000). The Irish were becoming even more unwanted by New Yorkers because they began obtaining the jobs that these New Yorkers would usually receive.

Why the United States?

There were many immigrants in the United States, which included some African American, Mexican, etc. but what about the Irish? The Irish came to the United States in 1850. EdHelper(2011) said one of the reasons why the Irish came to America was to seek religious freedom because Ireland was under control by Great Britain; they wanted the freedom to believe in anything they wanted. Another reason was because Ireland was poor at the time and the Irish came to America for a better life. Ship Bettman(2005) said the English controlled all the crops and exported them back to Great Britain and the Irish farmers were only left with a small amount of the crops to feed their families. On top of that, a fungus destroyed one of their most valued crop, the potato; as a result this potato famine caused 1 million deaths in the mid 19th century.

Thesis: Irish Immigration

Irish immigration was caused by a desire to migrate to America in search of a better life. However, Irish immigrants encountered difficulties, mainly discrimination, along their journey in finding this “perfect” and “ideal” life. To solve this discrimination there are some necessary actions that will likely reduce this tension. For example, according to the American Friends Service Committee, there is a need to develop humane economic policies that will help reduce the amount of poor communities that usually force people and families to search for a better and more suitable places to live in. The Irish often lived in crowded, subdivided homes; additionally, cellars, attics, and make-do spaces in alleys became a part of their home too. There was a lack of adequate sewage and running water in these places they called home; as a result, diseases such as cholera, tuberculosis, and typhus would emerge (Library of Congress, 2012). There is also the issue of having an abundant number of undocumented people living in the United States whom do not have working condition rights. An estimated of 4.5 million Irish immigrants arrived to America between 1820 and 1930. The search of jobs was desperate to these immigrants; thus, some businesses took advantage of the Irish's willingness to work at unskilled jobs for low pay. If they had a citizenship then the Irish would have had the likeness of finding a more suitable, well-payed job. How is it that there are so many people who contribute to the country as if they were born here, yet don’t have citizenship rights? There should be a method in which immigrants can obtain proper working conditions. Everyone should be admitted into the United States and given certain rights that should be distributed equally among people. Why should only certain people be admitted into the United States? What makes a certain race or ethnicity any “better” than another? Everyone in the world should have the opportunity to go in search of “The American Dream” and attempt to live the life they dream of. No one should deprive the dream of another in any circumstance, especially if the reason is merely because they come from a different background.