Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
difficulties that immigrants face essay
immigrants and their struggles
irish nationalism 19th century
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: difficulties that immigrants face essay
During the nineteenth century, the nativists and many of the native inhabitants of New York looked down upon the Irish immigrants because of their poverty and large numbers. The Irish symbolized destitution and desperation and stereotyped them as criminals. Their poverty-stricken appearance caused many people especially those who agreed with the nativist ideology to look at them with distaste. Furthermore, the New York Draft riots in 1863 did little to help with the public’s opinion of the Irish. Feeling bitter about the unfairness of the new draft laws the rioters took desperate measures. The rioters were predominately Irish and they participated in the burning and looting of several buildings. The rioters caused mayhem leader to several death and injuries from July 13 to 16. An article in Harper’s Weekly featured several drawings that depicted the madness. The images featured violent fights with the police, lynching of an African American man, ruins of a building and looting of a store. These pictures depict the destructive and disturbing actions of the rioters. The New York Draft riots only heightened the public’s perception that the Irish immigrants were dangerous and bringing harm to the United States.
The new wave of Irish immigrants created competition for jobs and territory in the city, which caused anti-Catholic nativism to grow. Many of the Irish immigrants hoping to escape starvation and seeking new opportunities and were willing to work for meager wages to support their families. The nativists saw themselves as superior to foreigners because they believe that they had helped build the United States and the immigrants were taking advantage. In the novel by Orvilla S Belisile titled The Arch Bishop: or Romanism in the U...
... middle of paper ...
...nvolved in the riot but did not include any details about the American rioter’s religions or ethnicities. This is notable because it could cause a specific group to be targeted while the general reference to the Americans causes them to pass through the audience’s radar. In the article titled Ireland in America the author draws attention to the large number of immigrants arriving from politically and socially troubled “foreign lands” are “thrown among us.” His use of language shows some concern for the large number of Irish immigrants arriving in New York City. However, the writer shows sympathy for the hardships that the Irish have encountered in their homeland and states that the Irish immigrated to avoid the “jaws of famine.” 7 His tone is optimistic that the Irish will “grow up with the vigorous and fruitful American tree” and be productive members of society.
Immigration to America from Europe was at an all time high in the mid-1800s. After the potato famine in Ireland in the 1840s, a large group of Irish immigrated to the United States. Since then, increasing numbers of Irish people have been moving to the United States, especially in Chicago. The Irish had come to realize that the United States really is the land of opportunity. With jobs being available to the immigrants, many more shipped in to start new lives for their families. However, for quite a while they did not live in the nicest of areas in Chicago. Many of the Irish resided in low-class areas such as overcrowded parts around the Loop, and out in the West Side. Not only did the West Side shelter the Irish, but many Germans and Jews lived in that area.
The Americans murdered several Irish immigrants and set fire to Irish immigrants’ homes, stores, schools, and churches (Educating About
Taylor (Puck, 1889) portrays how Columbia is stirring a bowl labeled “Citizenship” with a spoon labeled “Equal Rights” and a pained expression on her face indicating that she is trying to keep the immigrants under control. The labelling plays a part in identifying the problem that America is having with full assimilation. America has had the reputation of being seen as a melting pot, but in this cartoon the Irish man is being shown as a strong supporter of Irish nationalism rather than assimilating into society. There are many different nations represented in the bowl, but primarily an Irish man that jumps up yelling whilst waving a dagger and a green flag. He is wearing a sash which reads “Blaine Irishman”, which refers to the republican politician who attempted to lure Irish voters away from the Democratic Party with a combination of anti-British rhetoric and lip service to the cause of Irish nationalism. (2) The rest of the men within the bowl are Racialized and under control, but the symbolism of the colors the Irishman is wearing along with his labeling shows how the Irishman is “the one element that won’t mix”. The process of assimilation was crucial for the government at this point because they believed it would make immigrants more loyal and moral citizens. “During the war…interest focused not on the old objective of restriction but rather on new policies of repression, Americanization, and deportation.” (Closing the Gates). Newcomers were pushed to learn English and to change their cultural customs, which in turn led to prejudice against immigrants. The implementation of Americanization demonstrates the anti-immigration attitudes that were present in the country. Assimilation was used in order to make the immigrants fit the American standards so that they didn’t stand out in the crowd, it was used to bring the country closer together and retain the sense true patriotism. However, with the arrival of so many European
The Irish were refugees from disaster, fleeing the Irish potato famine. They filled many low-wage unskilled jobs in America. German immigrants included a considerably larger number of skilled craftsmen as compared to Irish immigrants. Many Germans established themselves in the West, including Cincinnati, St. Louis, and Milwaukee or the "German Triangle." The heterogeneity that had been a distinctive characteristic of American society since colonial times became more pronounced as some five million immigrants poured into the nation between 1830 and 1860. The Irish and Germans were numerically the two major immigrant groups during this period. These immigrants often faced the prejudice in American society. They were blamed for urban crime, political corruption, alcohol abuses, and undercutting wages. The growth of immigration caused the rise of nativism. The influx of Irish during the 1840s and 1850s led to violent anti-immigrant backlash in New York City and Philadelphia. Those who feared the impact of immigration on American political and social life were called "nativists."
"Draft Riots." Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6Th Edition (2013): 1. Academic Search Premier. Web. 1 May 2014.
The force that brought Irish immigrants can be described in two ways, both negative in the way of the Famine Years and the control of Protestant England. On the other hand, Irish immigrants were able to use the United States as a chance for economic opportunities as well as a chance to be free to practice their Catholic faith. The economic events that helped fulfill the need for Irish workers were thanks to the Industrial growth of the United States. The Transcontinental Railroad was completed by the continuous harsh labor that was done by Irish immigrants. The Eastern half was largely built by Irish men that were hired by the Union Pacific Railroad Company. The chance to make a life and put some money in their pockets was an attractive situation for struggling Irish immigrants. The inevitable factor for Irish immigrants to leave their homeland was the effects of famine that was occurring among the rural population of Ireland. Ireland depended heavily on potato crops, but as the crops failed they diminished the hopes of surviva...
Irish Catholics were not welcome in America because of their different traditions which caused conflicts within the communities. Nativists were one of the main groups who
The Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when the lack of jobs and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the major European wars. When the Europeans could finally stop depending on the Irish for food during war, the investment in Irish agricultural products reduced and the boom was over. After an economic boom, there comes a bust and unemployment was the result. Two-thirds of the people of Ireland depended on potato harvests as a main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then between the years of 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acre after acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. The failure of the potato yields caused the prices of food to rise rapidly. With no income coming from potato harvests, families dependent on potato crops could not afford to pay rent to their dominantly British and Protestant landlords and were evicted only to be crowded into disease-infested workhouses. Peasants who were desperate for food found themselves eating the rotten potatoes only to develop and spread horrible diseases. ¡§Entire villages were quickly homeless, starving, and diagnosed with either cholera or typhus.¡¨(Interpreting¡K,online) The lack of food and increased incidents of death forced incredible numbers of people to leave Ireland for some place which offered more suitable living conditions. Some landlords paid for the emigration of their tenants because it made more economic sense to rid farms of residents who were not paying their rent. Nevertheless, emigration did not prove to be an antidote for the Famine. The ships were overcrowded and by the time they reached their destination, approximately one third of its passengers had been lost to disease, hunger and other complications. However, many passengers did survive the journey and, as a result, approximately ¡§1.5 million Irish people immigrated to North America during the 1840¡¦s and 1850¡¦s.¡¨(Bladley, online) As a consequence of famine, disease (starvation and disease took as many as one million lives) and emigration, ¡§Ireland¡¦s population dropped from 8 million to 5 million over a matter of years.¡¨(Bladley, online) Although Britain came to the aid of the starving, many Irish blamed Britain for their delayed response and for centuries of political hardship as basi...
...for the Irish Catholic immigrants as well as the others, “the old-stock drive for conformity and community represented attacks on their culture, religion and ethnicity. Repeatedly their stake in American society, their right to be American citizens, was denied” (Dumenil, 248). I agree that it was their right to become American citizens. Discriminating against Irish Catholic immigrants was unjust, especially for the reason that there is no rational or justifiable way to discriminate against which people are allowed to immigrate and which are not.
Baldwin, Peter C. “The Fourth Ward: Life and Death in New York 1860-1870, The Draft Riots. Accessed November 11, 2013. http://vm.uconn.edu/~pbaldwin/ward4p8.html
The Irish migrated to America to flee from famine and were poor due to lack of money and skill. They were forced to work in factories and became political chess pieces to political machines like Tammany Hall. The Germans relocated to America to escape economic hardship and political tensions. Many farmers, artisans, and rebels of the failed revolutions of 1848 came to America for a better life. The Germans were wealthy and were able to move westward to further increase their capital. The Nativists condemned the presence of immigrants in America because of the crime and disease they brought with them, and for being politically liberal and integrators of
There is particular consideration given to the political climate in this story. It is incorporated with social and ethnic concerns that are prevalent. The story also addresses prejudice and the theme of ethnic stereotyping through his character development. O'Connor does not present a work that is riddled with Irish slurs or ethnic approximations. Instead, he attempts to provide an account that is both informative and accurate.
Indeed, the Civil War and the Conscription Act were just starts that lighted the breaker. The primary driver of the riots lies in New York's social and political history. The masses of immigrants basically Irish who went to the United States with the guarantee of driving a decent and better life, discovered that guarantee to be false. As opposed to discovering the American Dream they discovered hopelessness and packed slums. For these immigrants and regular workers, the riots were a violent dissent against the rich and tip top's abuses of the poor. At long last, in a city established upon business and entrepreneur standards, the draft riots were a showing of a city's inner conflict toward war and craving for an arrival to the prosperous economic points of interest of the norm. The last consequence of these strains was an upward coordinated and downward coordinated assault against the cities wealthiest and poorest that turned into an impetus for change. Espite the Draft Riot's prompt impacts, the riots had a significant and durable impact on New York City. The Draft Riots was the country's bloodiest snippet of civil issue. All through the Union, individuals were irate at New York. The entire nation was experiencing civil war, so how could New York express its issues with such violence? New Yorkers posed the same inquiries; they were finding that these issues couldn't be tackled with a lessened draft amounts or cash to pay for absolutions. Maybe, New Yorkers looked toward change and discovered distinctive approaches to express their grievances. Generally as the riots can be partitioned into two manifestations of assaults, so can the reactions to the riots. Initially, New York's world class and well off understood that they could no more disregard the predicament of the poor, and they got to be effectively involved in establishing
Paul Kalapodas 8 Dec. 1999 Acknowledgements Laton, Edward. The Famine Ships: The Irish Exodus to America. 1st ed. New York: Henry Hold 1997. Cozic, Charles P. Illegal Immigration: Opposing Viewpoints. San Diego, CA. Greenhaven Press 1997. Docket # 16778/2-12, Box 1211, U.S. National Archives Norton. Katzman. Escott. Chudacoff. Paterson. Tuttle. A People & A Nation: A History of the United States. 4th ed. Houghton Mifflin Press: Boston, MA 1994. Heisler, Martin O. From Foreign Workers to Settlers? Transnational Migration and the Emergence of the New Minorities. Sage Publications: Beverly Hills, CA c1986. Simon, Rita James. Immigration and American Public Policy. American Academy of Political and Social Science. Sage Publications: Beverly Hills, CA 1986. Hutchinson, Edward Prince. The New Immigration/ Special Editor: Hutchinson, Edward P. American Academy of Political and Social Science: Philadelphia 1966.
Until the 1860s, the early immigrants not only wanted to come to America, but they also meticulously planned to come. These immigrants known as the “Old Immigrants” immigrated to America from many countries in Northern and Western Europe, known as, Sweden, Norway, Scandinavia, Wales and Ireland. Some of them traveled to Canada, but most of them came to the U.S. seeking freedom they didn’t get in their own countries. Ireland had also recently suffered through a potato famine, where the citizens were left poor and starving. Most settled in New York City and other large cities, where they worked in factories and other low-paying jobs. The immigrants caused a great increase in population in these areas. The “Old Immigrants” tried not to cluster themselves with others of their own nationality. They would mostly try to fit in with Americans as best as they could. Many of them had a plan to come to America, so they saved their money and resources before they arrived so they could have a chance at a better life. On the other hand, another group of immigrants began to arrive