Irish Immigration To America Essay

The factors that led to the Irish to emigrate from Ireland to America in the 1700’s and 1800’s were because of the scares resources. Potato was an important crop in Ireland because it can survive the war and provided their basic food needs. The Irish Famine forced them to make the choice to emigrate to America. The government was no help at all to the Irish because they did not do anything to really help the people going through hard times. Many people in Ireland were in poverty and lived of what they could grow but things diseases affected their crops. They were starving to death. Those working were paid little but most were unemployed. They were not given education in Ireland. The Irish had no hope left in Ireland. They left to America to

The Irish experience in the U.S. was harsh. They fled Ireland due to the Potato Famine, and arrived here for opportunity, and even more importantly, a better life. They were also exceedingly poor, so that being

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

They would take the poorly paying jobs that required little skill such as jobs in brickyards, meatpacking plants, etc. They would settle in the neighborhoods with less money, like Bridgeport on the South Side or Kilglubbin on the North. It was in one such neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago where the Great Chicago Fire of 1871 started in the barn of 2 Irish immigrants, Patrick and Catherine O'Leary. The economic status of the Irish Immigrants improved as time passed. The newer generations of the Irish seems to be better off than their parents economically and educationally. At the end of the century, the Irish in chicago were still very much a part of the working class and much of them still lived in

However, Irish immigration to New York City took place throughout the late 1700s and the entire 1800s, which allowed a rift to form between protestant and catholic Irish communities in New York. Irish immigrants of the protestant faith had started to arrive before the catholics and established themselves as a community before the catholics had had a chance. Scottish-Irish was the self proclaimed name taken by many protestant Irish who had wanted to distance themselves from the new catholic arrivals. No matter which faith they followed, all Irish immigrants faced financial difficulty. A poor Ireland had been struck by many famines in the 1800s and most families could barely afford to cross the ocean into America. Those who did manage to muster the funds were left with little upon arrival. Integration started when the protestants joined other protestants in New York to avoid association with the catholics, but would not finish until work conditions improved and allowed catholic Irish workers to lose their poor reputation.

As mentioned before, Irish Americans had to climb their way up the social hierarchy. More often than not, this group traded their economic standing in order to be considered part of the white dominant race meaning that they would usually work for low wages in exchange for a sense of belonging into the dominant group. Because of this, Irish Americans were affected by poverty. However, there were some economic factors that contributed to the upward mobility of Irish Americans. A significant amount of Irish Americans became mobile by the 20th century, this upward mobility of Irish Americans is largely due to Urban political machines and the timing in which they entered the urban economy. In a fortunate series of events, many working men and women entered the country when companies were expanding and when various industries needed large amounts of workers, who were only to be paid with low wage.

This new found tolerance could not have come at better time. After the Revolutionary War, larger numbers of Irish immigrants were joining their friends and families in America. From 1825 to 1830, approximately 125,000 people emigrated from Ireland to the Americas, an average of 20,000 a year. Over 30,000 of them came to Boston and by 1830, the Irish Catholic population of Boston had grown to 8,000.

As they began to immigrate to the United States, the Irish population suffered from various racism. They were categorizes as dangerous, aggressive, temperamental, along other derogatory words. However, with the introduction of new ethnicities, as well as the conformity Irish Americans dealt with, the stereotypes and discriminations regarding this immigrant group often diminished. As many other ethnicities have done, the Irish Americans found themselves conforming to American cultures and beliefs. This process of conformity has been adapted by many immigrating ethnicities, giving up most of their culture and identity to fit the image of what an ideal American is. In the case of Irish immigrants, many of them encountered hostility because of

Immigrants from Ireland were driven to the United States due to the Great Famine of 1845-1850. Many people were almost completely dependent on potatoes, an easy-to-raise crop, due to Britain’s change of religion. These potatoes then fell victim to the unknown disease that left many families starving, and people dead. Families saved money for several winters to be able to send even one person to the United States, although they would only be able to arrive if they managed to survive the unsanitary and unsafe journey over. After arriving, many Irish immigrants began working in factories, or took jobs in the households of native-born families - then sent money back to Ireland to feed their suffering families, or to pay for another family member

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 immigrated to the U.S. in the millions from 1820 and on. They came for a variety of reasons, primarily the potato famine that caused nationwide starvation. However, the living conditions in Ireland were deplorable far before the potato famine. The Irish were different from Americans because they lived in rural area that lacked modern industry. Many were very poor and had issues supporting themselves, or even moving away from the place they docked at when they got off the boat. When they came to America, they were unprepared for the more industrialized centers of the U.S. The Irish set the scene for immigrants coming to America in their housing choices, occupations entered, and the way they sent financial support back home to Ireland. Many Irish were large contributors in

Irish immigration started in the 1800’s. tens thousands of Irish people left Ireland because of bad conditions in Ireland. Here are the reason Irish people left Ireland the first reason they left Ireland is because there was a mass starvation in Ireland and there was not enough food for everyone they fled in mass numbers to Canada in hope to find a better life. Second reason they were drove out of ireland is there was a massive sickness going around that was sweeping the Irish population and there was no antidote. The final main reason the Irish people left Ireland was they were trying to rebel against Britain and the irish men did not want to go into war so they and their families fled to Canada.

Many immigrants moved to America in hope for a better life. In Ireland in 1845 to 1852, the Great Famine caused mass starvation and disease to run rampant. In Italy, many Jewish and Catholic immigrated to America to escape political and religious persecution. To the Irish and Italians among many others, America looked like a great place. Plentiful job opportunities and freedoms like free speech and religion were very attractive feature of

The Irish people came to the United States to attempt to start a new life and attempt to succeed. Once arrived, the Irish lived in ethnic enclaves that contained a lot of Irish individuals because they could continue to practice their culture and be amongst individuals whom were also from Ireland. Based of their culture, the Irish experienced many stereotypes. The Irish were called immoral, lazy, and uneducated. They were immoral

Eventually, the Irish came to the realization how they could fit in the US. Some find freedom through the national voting systems others inadvertently from war. The civil war often isn’t recognized as a major turning point, but during that time many forgot about the Irish and focusing more on the issue of slavery. While the nation as a whole was battling over an issue the Irish snuck into a political force to be reckoned with. The major milestone for the Irish was not just the election of the first Irish American president, but the election of arguably the most influential US