Irish American A History Summary

In “Who’s Irish”, Gish Jen demonstrates a family that has Chinese root and American culture at the same time. The main character is a fierce grandmother who lives in with her daughter’s family, and then ironically forced to move out because of her improper behavior during she raises her granddaughter. The author uses some unpleasant language and contents to describe the situation, which are effectively demonstrate how difficult and how struggle for people who lives in the gap between two different cultures. I can’t say who is right or who is wrong, but feel sorry for the grandmother.

While America was known at the time as a place for accepting immigrants, this was not the case for most Irish immigrants. Irish Catholics were targeted on the grounds that Catholics could not be trusted to remain loyal to anyone but the Pope, if another war were to arise. However, the Irish remained strong willed and assimilated into American society by working as farmers and building machines.

The Irish were considered White in 19th century America, but they were considered inferior to the native born Americans. In Document A. the cartoon showed the Irish being labeled as white, but were equal to blacks. So the Irish and blacks were distinguished as having an equal social status. So they were both victims of racism. Then in Document B. it was said “Things which Roman Catholics priests and all true Roman Catholics hate”. All Irish were Roman Catholics, and in the 19th century all Roman Catholics were white. Showing that once again the Irish were white but were discriminated because of their religion. Their religion was discriminated against because it wasn’t the same as the native born American’s. The native born Americans were Protestants.

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

In the late 1800s, people from other countries across the world choose to leave their homes and move to the United States. United States was seen as the land of economic opportunity at this time because of famine, land and job shortages, and rising taxes in their countries. Many others desired personal freedom or to escape political and religious persecution. Between 1870 and 1900, over 12 million immigrants arrived in hopes of a promising future. The majority of these immigrants were from England, Ireland, and Germany. Immigrants from Europe commonly entered from ports on the East Coast and settled nearby. However, there were a few immigrants who were attracted by lands for farming and moved inland.

When analyzing events or people, an important factor to consider is the historical context revolving the object of interest. Historical context provides reasoning and rationalization on why certain events occurred, what caused people’s action, among many other examples. When discussing the dominant-minority group relationship and condition of entry in relations to immigration of certain ethnicities, the historical context provides almost all understanding necessary to provide insight on what happened during these times. In this essay, the Irish Immigration in 1845 and, later, the immigration of the Japanese in the 1880’s will be examined through historical context such as what brought the group to the United States, what roles did they play

1. The Scotch-Irish were staunch libertarians, and acted upon their feelings. Sex ways and dress ways had close ties to each other in the backcountry. To talk about sex and sexual behavior was also acceptable in this culture. The dress women and men wore was meant to arouse the opposite sex. Anglican missionary Charles Woodmason wrote, “They draw their shift as tight as possible round their Breasts, and slender waists (for they are generally very finely shaped) and draw their Petticoat close t their Hips to show the fineness of their limbs– … –indeed nakedness is not censurable without ceremony.” Woodmason was appalled at how these women carried themselves, but to the women, they were sexy. Men even dressed in ways to show off

Psychologist Ph.D. Diana Baumrind studied specific techniques of parenting at length and came to the conclusion that “spirited give and take within the home… may teach the child how to express aggression in self-serving and prosocial causes,” however, Sophie’s household has not quite mastered this “give and take”. Gish Jen’s “Who’s Irish?” highlights the adverse effects of early exposure to conflicting parenting styles through a detailed narrative of the daily life of a young girl named Sophie and her mother, father, and grandmother.  The interpersonal relationship between Sophie and each of these parental figures embody three different parenting techniques: authoritarian, indulgent, and authoritative. Rising tensions between the techniques give rise to Sophie's confusion and eventual rebellion against her home life, which Gish Jen masterfully displays through her changing actions and, even, her physical appearance.

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

Reginald Byron, in Irish America, has pro vided a thorough historical and ethnographic picture of Irish American ethnicity in Albany, New York. In addition to deepening our knowledge of the immigration of Irish people to the United States in the nineteenth centu ry, Byron also forcefully argues against total izing narratives of ethnicity. By focusing on an Irish population that constituted a significant portion of the population of Albany, we can see that ethnicity is a complex phenomenon. Byron begins his discussion of the Irish in

Irish had often lived in unhealthy and unclean tenements. Then when they arrived in America they too had faced discrimination. They had many organizations conspired against them to ensure the immigrants could not vote, or hold office (Baker 262). “In 1844 controversy arose in Philadelphia over whether Catholic children in public schools could be allowed to read from the Catholic version of the Bible rather than the King James version and other issues”(Baker 262). This caused a violent reaction of the people who were against the Irish and Catholics (Baker 262). “Catholic churches and priests were the most frequent nativist targets” (Baker 262). The Americans had thought that the Irish Catholics had used the U.S voting system to elect followers of the pope so the pope could have some power in the United States. The nativist did not just have conspiracies about the Irish but many other immigrants too (Baker 262).

I was really involved with the Catholic Churches in Ireland. I supported the as much as I could with whatever they needed. When I left Ireland in and moved to the United States I thought that this was the best place for any of the Irish immigrants to go. But while I stayed there and did all my work I became disgusted with how the united states ran their democracy and republicanism. So I go moved out of here as soon as I could. I moved to Canada and then started sending all the Irish immigrants to Canada. I thought they had way better religious rights and was ran way better than the United States

The turmoil of the second decade of the twentieth century gave way to a greater sense of peace and stability in the third, with a peace treaty signed between Ireland and Britain in December of 1921 and Home Rule finally established for most of the Irish isle (Ferriter, n.d.). At the same time, this new society did not lead to instant prosperity, and indeed poverty remained a major and growing problem in Ireland during this decade (Ferriter, n.d.). Economic and social problems that persisted during this decade certainly could have been pushes to increased immigration.

A large part of Irish history revolves around Ireland’s long and bloody fight for independence from Great Britain. However, what many people do not know about this conflict is that it did not only play out in these two countries, but was carried over to North America during the 19th century by the Fenian Brotherhood. During that time many Irish people doubted a rebellion in their own country could be successful, because the British military proved to be too strong and unwavering. The Fenian Brotherhood approached the problem from a different side by attacking British colonies in Canada in order to pressure Great Britain into releasing its claim on Ireland. These attacks were called the Fenian raids on Canada and occurred between 1866 and 1871.

The Irish Penal Laws made life harsh for the Catholics living in Ireland in the 18th Century. Irish Children of Catholics were prevented from gaining a Catholic education whether at home, at a school or at abroad. Catholics were not able to get a professional job, become landowners, or make money selling crops that would pay for more than a third or their rent. Catholic conversion of Protestants was prohibited under penalty of death. Non-Anglicans faced penalties practicing their faith and their clergy members were eventually mostly, if not all, deported.