Directed by the legendary director Martin Scorsese, along with splendid performances of the duo Leonardo DiCaprio and Daniel Day - Lewis, Gangs of New York is an excellent film illustrated the chaotic peril of 1860s New York City based on actual historical events. Build upon the nonfiction novel by Herbert Asbury, The Gangs of New York: An Informal History of the Underworld, the movie depicted the conflict between the Americans and the Irish immigrants due to the rising wave of immigration to America. Although the movie is overall very intriguing, and gave an in-depth insight into the modern gang of New York City in the 19th century, it omits certain events in history for the purpose of entertainment. The story began in 1846, when the conflict between the "Natives" and the Irish immigrants had risen to its peak. Priest Vallon and his gang fought against Bill the Butcher to defend their people and their beliefs. At the end, the infamous Five Points was filled with blood and bodies - including that of Vallon. In the midst of chaos, his son disappeared trying to protect himself. Sixteen years later, Amsterdam Vallon returned to Five Points and determined to seek revenge for his beloved father. Prior to this time, there were large numbers of immigrants and refugees from Irish for the religious freedom, but mostly to escape from the Great Famine of 1845-1851 (Foner 343). According to (http://www.ushistory.org/us/25f.asp) , in the middle half of 19th century, over two
The movie begins in New York, in 1843, with a gang fight. Bill “the butcher” Cutting’s gang of “nativists” have challenged the “dead rabbits” (a gang of mostly Irish immigrants) to a fight to settle once and for all who is the most powerful gang in the area. After an intense battle the “nativists” win by killing the leader of the “dead rabbits”, also Amsterdam’s (the main character’s) father.
The Gangs of New York was a movie based on a book written by Herbert Asbury. Five points
In the early 19th century many Irish people immigrated to the United States. There were several reasons why Irish people came to live in America. During the American Industrial Revolution, many immigrants from all over, including Ireland, came to The New World to find new opportunities. There were also great religious opportunities from the largely Roman Catholic influence in Irish culture to the various Protestant religions here. All was well and good as Americans and immigrants worked together to expand the railroad and canals in the New England States, primarily New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and New York (Irish American Journey). In 1819, 43 percent of immigrants to America were Irish (Immigration). In Ireland at the time, most people were farmers and lived off potato crops for
In the middle to late decades of the 19th century, new immigrant arrivals from Germany and Scandinavia were pivotal in establishing and settling the western frontier of the United States. You would find in the large cities that Irish immigrants where considered a major source of labor in the railroads, roads, construction and transportation arenas
But why did the majority of the Irish come to America in the 1840's? The main reason is a result of a potato famine that occurred. In the space of five years (1845-1850), a great hunger overtook Ireland when the potato crop failed. During this time period more than a million Irish died of starvation. When the potato crops first began to fail, it was because of frost, dry rot, and curl. In 1845, the potato famine ruined about three-quarters of the country’s crop. Over four million people in Ireland relied on the potato as their chief food source. A major part of the food produced in Ireland was exported to other countries, and so this was a loss to them as well. The newest wave of potato problems was caused by a fungus, Phytophthora infestans, which had probably made its way into the country on a ship. The fungus invaded the potato plant, germinated, and aided by the warm weather, reproduced rapidly,. The crop that was planted
Around 1815 to 1865 there was another huge wave of immigration. They most of immigrants came from northern and western Europe. In the 1840s, almost half of America’s immigrants were from Ireland that impoverished settled near their point of arrival in cities along the east coast. Between 1820 and 1930, around 4.5 million Irish migrated to the United States (loc.gov). Still in the 19th century, 5 million German immigrants arrived in the United States. According to the census of 2000, more Americans claimed German ancestry than any other group. By the early 1850s, around 25,000 Chinese had migrated to the U.S. (emmigration.info) lured by news of the California gold rush. With a large number of newcomers’ immigrants, the native population became
The Irish had been around in the United States, longer than most knew, since the early colonial periods. In the mid 1840s they immigrated here due to the potato famine, which destroyed the Irish because
The largest group ever to immigrate to the United States was the Irish. Today, there are over forty three million people that are of Irish blood within the US. There were three different reasons that brought Irish to America. The first was the early medieval Christian church. The second was the fight of the Roman Catholic nobility. The third and final was the great potato famine, which was the greatest mass emigration ever.
A large reason for Irish to immigrate to the United States was the fact of being catholic. Since the British have taken away Ireland during a battle and made it to one of the British colonies, Irish had a new law called the Penal law where basic right including voting, practice their religion in the open, and schools if being catholic were permitted. The land that once was owned by Irish folks were rebuild into catholic lands were the Irish had to pay rent and were not permitted to do anything freely without the landlord/government knowing. Another major reason for Irish to immigrate in such a density was because of the Famine that found its way into Ireland between 1845 and 1851 were over one million Irish died through starvation and diseases.
There were many reasons why the Irish migrated to America, but two of the main factors were the escape of poverty and search for freedom. America was known for its liberty and cheap land, which led to many Irish desiring the migration to America.
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.
The Irish were supposedly the largest group ever to migrate to the United States. Henceforth, today in the United States people of Irish ancestry exceed over forty three million people confined within the United States. What paved the way for the Irish immigrating to the United States was early medieval Christian church. The second was the Roman Catholic nobility. And the final was the potato famine, which was the greatest mass emigration ever.
One of the largest waves of migration from the Irish came about from the potato blight, which had devastated the Irish and caused massive famine. While many groups like the English, German, and French sought opportunity in the new world
The Irish started migrating in mass during the potato blight of the 1840s in Ireland (1.assumption.edu, n.d.). Later they started to migrate to America for a better life and to reunite with relatives that were already here. The Chinese began to migrate later, the first waves starting during the gold rush (Brinkley, 2014). They came to America seeking gold to become rich and escape the harsh economic conditions in China. Soon they began to do like the Irish and migrate for a better life and to reunite