First Wave Immigration

The book, “The Irish Way” by James R. Barrett is a masterpiece written to describe the life of Irish immigrants who went to start new lives in America after conditions at home became un-accommodative. Widespread insecurity, callous English colonizers and the ghost of great famine still lingering on and on in their lives, made this ethnic group be convinced that home was longer a home anymore. They descended in United States of America in large numbers. James R. Barrett in his book notes that these people were the first group of immigrants to settle in America. According to him, there were a number of several ethnic groups that have arrived in America. It was, however, the mass exodus of Irish people during and after the great

         This group of immigrants was also discriminated in the workplace.  Employers made the wages for this group lower than wages of other employees.  The intention for this ill treatment was that the immigrants would warn their Irish relatives of the bad conditions here in the U.S. discouraging them from immigrating as well as to encourage the Irish Catholic immigrant employees who resided in the U.S. to leave.

Their entrance into America created challenges for them. They were disregarded and perceive as blacks. “Irish immigrants found themselves compared to blacks. They were stereotyped as “a race of savages” (Takaki 141). They consider themselves “slaves for the Americans”. As both groups experienced rejection, Irish immigrants and African Americans had to scorn each other to find their place in American society.

The Irish saw life through a peasant eyes. They went to the United States hoping to make enough money to return to Ireland and buy themselves their own land. As a result of that they could injure many negative things. There was still a group of Irish who had no intention

Immigration is one word with many different meanings. I learned those meanings when I migrated to the United States. It taught me that it was an end in India, but also a new beginning in the U.S.A. I knew that moving to the U.S. would bring a huge change, but I did not know I would have to struggle so much to adapt to those changes. Everything was different when I arrived in the United States. There were many new things I had to adapt including the language. Language was a huge change for me and I had to adapt that change; there was no other choice.

Throughout history, the American government has imposed policies that hurt the poor and vulnerable worldwide. The United States immigration policy makes it difficult for Haitian boat refugees--who had stepped on the U.S. soil to gain parole, much less political asylum. United States immigration policy between Haiti and Cuba are comparatively different; wet foot dry foot compared to no foot. Even facing persecution and death, Haitians were forced to return to their land. The common misconception that the Haitian-immigration wave is a threat to a sustainable developing country caused lack of sympathy for Haitian refugees in the state of Florida.

During 1850 and the following two decades, a mass Irish immigration to America took place. The mass immigration carried aspiring individuals and families to come to the the “land of opportunity” for the betterment of their future and their children’s. Under the rule of Britain, Ireland was thwarted from industrializing and expanding. While, overseas, the United States was thriving from the technological advancements and entrepreneurial success, appealing to many emigrants. The Irish immigration in the late nineteenth century was a result of primarily devastating social factors such as the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Most of their expectations were not met in the United States because they were poorly treated at their low paying, dangerous jobs and were often discriminated due to stereotypes, resulting in an overall, emotional and physically painful experience with numerous hardships.

The first waves of Irish immigration to America after 1846 were mainly Catholic. Most of the Irish that arrived were Protestants or Presbyterians, spoke English, had skills and small savings to start a new life. Because of that they were quickly assimilated, and soon independent and self-sufficient.

To begin with, the Irish people immigrated to America because much of the population was suffering in Ireland. The Irish had been suffering for centuries,

The journey to America was very long and rough. The Irish immigrants were refugees of the potato famine. If they had stayed in Ireland, they most likely would have died. Since the poor people of Ireland were dependant on potatoes they had to escape or choose to die. Another threat to the Irish was the deadly diseases caused by the famine. The famine helped spread diseases like typhus, cholera, dysentery, and scurvy all over Ireland. Over 1 million people died of these diseases or starvation (Mintz). The ships they came over on were often called coffin ships. The tickets for these ships were very expensive, and most Irishmen could not afford to go to

My family is Irish. The typical Irish immigrant came to america because of political culture and persecution, economic reasons, social and religious reasons and the potato famine. Political culture and persecution caused them to immigrate because of Austere taxation and tithes policies, cruel landlords, sponsorship of land prices increased, causing already poor families to be thrown out on the streets, and no catholics were allowed to own land. Economics caused them to immigrate because new farming techniques increased, decreasing the need for agricultural laborers and manufacturing industries sprang up, causing less emphasis in farming. Social and religious reasons were a cause of irish immigration because catholics were not said to be loyal

Many Irish who settled in America, bored a hatred feeling for the policies of England

They, dreadfully, they discover they belong to nowhere , and are the occupants of noman's land. They couldn't overlook their past, neither grasp the new land entire heartedly, thus lived with the duality of mind. For doing as such, they need to experience a lot of reshuffling of their thoughts and activites which make them feel distanced in their new life. The people who are raised abroad , their diasporic acknowledgment, is totally extraordinary. They don't experience the ill effects of the first settler's pain in regards to their connection with the old nation. This first generation gets information about their unique nation or country from their few visits, from the books, movies, or from the stories told by their folks. In this way, they

The United States gained its independence from England, but retained its Anglo-Saxon protestant roots, and that is what they were most comfortable for their citizens. There were biases and distrust of even other Europeans if they did not fit the mold of what was then considered American. An example would be in the book “Major Problems in American Immigration History” when Benjamin Franklin is stating, “Why should Pennsylvania, founded by English, become a colony of Aliens, who will shortly be so numerous as to Germanize us instead of our Aglifying them, and will never adopt our language or customs, any more they can acquire our complexion” (Gjerde, 72). This sets the sentiment by which both the Irish

Many of the challenges immigrants faced in Gilded-Age America stemmed from the pressure to accommodate to American standards and the prejudice they faced when unable or unwilling to do so. For most, dealing with the struggle of assimilating to a new culture outweighed returning home to a bleak, unprosperous country. The jeers, hatred and protests were worth dealing with in a place with seemingly unlimited opportunities, wealth, safety and a better life. However, as much as newcomers tried to fit in, every action seemed futile. American actions made it clear that the backbone of their hatred was not just from a newfound change but also from something unavoidable: being different. Before the Gilded Era, native-born Americans clutched every exemplifying symbol of American pride right in the palm of their hands. Though immigration was not a new concept in the mid-nineteenth century, it wasn’t considered as threatening until the rush of immigrants that arrived in 1880s, around the time rapid industrialization took hold in the United States and other countries in the world. Even individual cities found themselves harboring staggering statistics in a manner of decades. New York City, one of the most diverse American cities today, blossomed from around half a million immigrants in 1870 to almost two million in 1910. As these numbers grew, the expansion of languages, traditions, and as a result, animosity, took its toll as well.