Irish Immigration Ethnography

Irish and Mexican immigrants had similar reasons for migrating to America. Both were leaving behind countries that had little to offer and were enticed by the many opportunities that were said to available in “the Promised Land” and “El Norte”. The Irish were coming from a poverty stricken land where many of them were dying from starvation, where their work was being taken advantage of, where they had become second-class citizens. The Mexicans were coming from to a country where, much like the Irish, they had come to be exploited, where the dangers of violence were very real, where they didn’t have a fighting chance at a better life. After all, all these immigrants wanted from America was a chance at a better life for themselves and their

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

The roots of modern american rock and roll music, are firmly planted in Africa. As the native Africans were torn apart from their family’s and brought to the new world their lives were immediately and drastically changed forever. Finding themselves immersed in a completely new environment with a foreign culture, they thankfully persevered and carried on with their own traditions and most importantly to this paper, musical ones. Most American slaves originated from Western and Central Africa. The West Africans carried a musical tradition rich with long melody lines, complicated rhythms (poly rhythmics) and stringed instruments CITATION. The West Africans music was also strongly integrated into their everyday lives. Songs were preformed for religious ceremonies and dances and music was often a

Immigration has been a central theme in the development of the United States. The influx of foreigners into the country has been met with acceptance and restrictive policy since its formation. The reaction to diverse immigration created exclusionary policies first introduced in the late nineteenth century and held in place by national origins quotas until 1965. The purpose of this historiography is to show how recent scholarship on immigration has developed and changed in the last fifteen years. This historiography is divided into three types of studies. The first is focused on how historians have extricated the individual from the broad historiography to give voice to specific ethnic groups as they negotiated for a place in the country.

Hispanic people are people of passion and richness. Throughout their history, they have experienced hard work in the migrant fields, discrimination, and exploitation. When the Depression came, they were accused of taking jobs away from ‘real’ Americans (Florido, 2015), From the 1940’s through today, people still complain about illegal Mexican immigrants who come to the U.S. They claim the immigrants are uneducated with no job skills, stay in poor housing, and lack education. It is against this backdrop that Chicano musicians write their music. They play with a soulful timbre that music lovers throughout the world seek as they attend their concerts, buy their albums, and download their songs.

The Irish Immigrants that came to the United States after the potato crop failure were not greeted with a warm reception. In fact, they migrated at a time when the U.S. was experiencing anti-immigrant movements, consequently leading to acts of violence and harsh words against them. A major contributing factor to the oppression they faced was the fact that they were so far off from meeting the White Anglo-Saxon Protestant criteria that was present in society. Surprisingly, the Irish were at one point treated and viewed worst than the African Americans because they would not accept their mistreatment in silence. Essentially, their resistance to the mistreatment that they endured made the White American consider them to be “out of place” therefore they were a problem, much like that of the Native American Indian, whom the British settlers feared during the early colonization of America. Similarly, the Irish were separated by employers and mixed with other immigrant groups to prevent revolts just as they did with the African slaves and Native American Indians during the colonial days. Notably, the Catholic Irish received the worst treatment for a period of time as their customs were considered unusual and were not tolerated. Unfortunately, the intolerance that persisted in society led to the burning of Catholic homes and a convent, destruction of churches, murders, as well as death (pg. 120). In an effort to save their selves, the Irish noticed the need to assimilate with

The Irish, like many immigrants, immigrated to Canada in hopes of finding a better life to live for themselves and their families. The first wave of Irish immigrants arrived in Newfoundland, Canada in the early 17th century. (Toner, Peter., & Leitch, Gillian, 2016). After that, the now Irish Canadians in Newfoundland, Canada found work as fishermen, but were still living in poverty like conditions they had hoped to escape from Ireland. (Toner, Peter., & Leitch, Gillian, 2016). By the 19th century, Canada saw a substantive increase in immigrants, especially Irish immigrants. This was mainly due to the fact that; poor economic conditions had hit Ireland. (Toner, Peter., & Leitch, Gillian, 2016). As well as, the growing population, the Great Famine,

The history of Irish in Chicago follows a similar pattern to one alike the Irish in other American cities where they settled in large numbers. Many early immigrants created a visible Irish community which was sustained by many different key structures, this community stayed relatively together into the early-twentieth century. After that, many of the descended Irish immigrants gradually began to mold into a more general Catholic American subgroup, though a smaller core of very ethnic Irish still remain to this time. The early irish immigrants in Chicago had an immense effect on Social, economic, Religious and political factors in Chicago.

"A conversation with Dennis Mcnally music and race in the 20th century". (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.grammymuseum.org/events/detail/a-conversation-with-dennis-mcnally-music-and-race-in-the-20th-century

Potatoes. Delicious yet simple, potatoes were at the root cause of a massive upheaval of a country and responsible for countless deaths. Looking at the tragedy which drove a nation to leave its homeland and drive them outward to another country, one which they embraced fully though it did not reciprocate the feeling. Starting from the bottom and working their way up, fully assimilating into the United States and becoming a dominate force within its structure. Most would call them just Americans, yet before a time they were Irish Americans, further still they were Irish immigrants, how far were they able to integrate themselves into a society which wasn’t willing to have them at first?

Ethnicity and class are similar, yet different. A common way to described class can be by the socioeconomic statues of an individual. The socioeconomic statues are lower class, middle class, and high class. Ethnicity can be described as a group of people who are bound together by either having common traditions or cultures. They way class and ethnicity functions together for Irish immigrants was that even though they had the same skin color as the English, they were still seen and treated harshly. They were considered lower class in both Europe and America in the 1800s, they were treated like any other minority in the United States. However, even though Irish Immigrants were treated unfairly as any other minority, the Irish believed that

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.

While I lack sources specifically on the Irish in the American music industry and song writing business of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, I am able to draw from other works that highlight relevant threads—such as immigration, Irish music, stereotyping, and identity—throughout my thesis. Scholarly writings (historical or otherwise) on the social dynamics found in and around the Irish influences in popular music produced in America around the turn of the twentieth century come in short supply. William H. Williams seems to be the only scholar to have extensively written about Irish and Irish-American song in the United States after the nineteenth century. Another honorable mention is due to musician and scholar, Mick Moloney, who studied the Irish presence on the American stage (vaudeville).

Ireland is a country that is rich in culture, traditions, and faith. This country has struggled with over time with famine, religious tension, and even freedom. Many individuals immigrated to America in search of a better life. The person I chose to interview family came over to the United States when Ireland was struggling with famine. They came over on a boat through New York and changed there name to make it more American. For this paper I will further discuss the Irish culture and the person I interviewed.