From Ireland to America

1179 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: migration into the united states of america

America is the world’s melting pot. American heritage stems from all over the world. The Irish are the second largest group to immigrate to the United States, and they have left their mark on the American culture (Gavin 7). Kevin Kenny argues that “The Irish immigrants of the famine era were the most disadvantaged the United States had ever seen.” The Irish potato famine was caused by a fungus that caused the potato to rot in the ground. Between the years 1845 and 1850 over one million Irish died of starvation. Another one and a half Irish immigrated to other countries. Since their main source of food was gone they became refugees of the famine. If they had not left they would have died of starvation or diseases. The journey to America was just as hard as their life in Ireland. There was no food on the ship, and diseases were being spread around (Gavin 5). Life was not easy in America either. They could not find jobs or adequate housing (“Adoption and Assimilation”). When the potato famine hit Ireland in the mid 1840s many people immigrated to New York where they were discriminated against and unable to find jobs because of their Catholic beliefs. The Irish faced many hardships in Ireland, and even more when they landed in America.

Life in Ireland was very tough during the potato famine. They were under British control, and their crops were dying. The Irish people were very poor during this time. No one could afford their own land, so they had to rent land from the British landlords. The Irish planted potatoes because they were easy to grow and very nutritious (Gavin1). The British owned the land while the poor Irish farmed it. The British shipped all the Irish crops except potatoes back to England to make a profit. The Britis...

... middle of paper ...

... Web. 3 Mar 2011.

"Irish Identity, Influence and Opportunity." loc. Immigration, 06 Apr 2002. Web. 6 Mar 2011.

"The Irish Potato Famine, 1847." EyeWitness to History. EyeWitness to History, 2006. Web. 3 Mar 2011.

Kenny, Kevin. "Irish Immigrants in the United States." America.gov. America.gov, 13 Feb 2008. Web. 10 Feb 2011.

Kinsella, Jim. "Irish Immigrants in America during the 19th Century." N.p., Aug 2008. Web. 3 Feb 2011. .

Mintz, S. "The Irish Potato Famine ." Digitalhistory. N.p., 9 Feb 2011. Web. 9 Feb 2011.

O'Grady, Joseph. How The Irish Became Americans. Boston Massachusetts: Twayne Publishers,

1973. 31. Print.

Gangs of New York . Dir. Matain Scorses. Miramax Film Corp. 2002, Film.

Thornton , Mark. "What Caused the Irish Potato Famine?." mises. N.p., 20 Mar 2008. Web. 4 Mar 2011.

Show More
Related

  • Development of Neighborhoods in Chicago

    1872 Words  | 4 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Immigration Dbq Essay

    259 Words  | 1 Pages

    Starting in the 1830s, many immigrants came flooding into the United States of America due to hard times, famines, and economic opportunities. Everyday, thousands of underprivileged citizens would take on the task of being an American. To begin, many immigrants were Irish due to the Irish Famine in the late 1840s (Doc 2). According to Catherine Moran McNamara, “The Irish lived under awful stress. I’ve seen the family thrown out (Doc 2).” Meanwhile during the Irish Famine, many potato crops died, leaving families without a source of food or income(OI). However, the Irish were not the only culture going through tough times. In Greece, the pay was unbearable with only five dollars a day(Doc 3). Also, George Kokkas explains that Greece lacked education for the youth. He stated that “I was concerned for the education of my kids.

    Read More

  • Social Change From 1815 To 1860

    2166 Words  | 5 Pages

    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."

    Read More

  • Essay On Irish During The Gilded Age

    3124 Words  | 7 Pages

    Meagher, Timothy. “The Columbia Guide to Irish American History.” Columbia University Press- New York, 2005

    Read More

  • Irish Immigration To Canada

    1473 Words  | 3 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Irish Immigration in the 1840's: Escaping the Great Famine

    980 Words  | 2 Pages

    Looking for a better life away from death, oppression, and destruction the Irish headed to America by the thousands in the 1840’s. Ireland’s staple food was the potato, it was the main means of subsistence for the poor. Then in the 1840’s cataclysm struck, the potato blight caused famine, disease, death and despair. Close to a million deaths were blamed on the potato blight in Ireland. The potato blight was caused by a disease that rendered the potatoes inedible. It lasted for several years, from 1845-1849 the country suffered great hardships, sickness, and death. The blight was the final straw to push many immigrants out of Ireland and to America looking for a chance of survival (Marger, 2015, pg. 284)

    Read More

  • The Fall of the Potato: Causes of the Great Famine

    1434 Words  | 3 Pages

    There are several circumstances to take into consideration when looking at the causes of the Great Potato Famine in Ireland. Due to the great dependence the Irish people had on the potato, it is clear how blight could devastate a country and its people. To understand the Irish people's dependence on the potato for diet, income, and a way out of poverty, it is necessary to look at several key factors that were evident before the famine. Factors such farming as the only way of life, rise in population, and limited crops explain why the people of Ireland relied on the potato. But not only do these reasons clarify why the famine hit the Irish people so hard, other important factors play into effect as well. By looking at the weak relationship between England and Ireland through parliamentary acts and trade laws, it is more evident what the causes of the Great Famine are and why it was so detrimental.

    Read More

  • Irish Immigrants in Boston

    2774 Words  | 6 Pages

    The life of Irish immigrants in Boston was one of poverty and discrimination. The religiously centered culture of the Irish has along with their importance on family has allowed the Irish to prosper and persevere through times of injustice. Boston's Irish immigrant population amounted to a tenth of its population. Many after arriving could not find suitable jobs and ended up living where earlier generations had resided. This attributed to the 'invisibility' of the Irish.

    Read More

  • Causes Of The Great Potato Famine

    1138 Words  | 3 Pages

    During 1845-1846 events in Ireland would change the lives of many. The Great Potato Famine was a major incident that shocked the entire world. This incident was cause by a disease that traveled from ships overseas. The Great Potato Famine affected one of the biggest crops at the time, which was the potato. Many people got sick from this disease otherwise known as, Phytophthora Infestins. Phytophthora Infestins killed about 1 million people in Ireland.

    Read More

  • Causes of the Easter Uprising

    1504 Words  | 4 Pages

    During the mid 1840’s, blight in the potato crops in Ireland caused widespread starvation and migration of Irish citizens to the United States. Yet, the massive loss of life and massive exodus could have been avoided if British taxation upon the working class of Ireland was nullified. Though the struggle for liberation was already taking place, the potato famine furthered the cause and helped spread awareness. Furthermore, the potato famine made the average Irish family more reliant upon the government for subsidies and supports to get by.

    Read More

  • Essay On Potato Famine

    1158 Words  | 3 Pages

    With 3 million either gone or dead from the island of Ireland, 1845 was possibly the most painful year in its history. It was also obvious that something was afflicting Ireland, with the smell and sight of the crops. Death rate grew high, and immigration even higher during this time period of the famine. The Great Potato Famine of 1845 had a massive effect on Ireland in population decrease, the reactions of the people, and effects it had on the future of Ireland.

    Read More

  • Irish Immigration 18001880

    2146 Words  | 5 Pages

    INTRODUCTION The history of Ireland "that most distressful nation" is full of drama and tragedy, but one of the most interesting stories is about what happened to the Irish during the mid-nineteenth century and how millions of Irish came to live in America (Purcell 31). Although the high point of the story was the years of the devastating potato famine from 1845 to 1848, historians have pointed out that immigrating from Ireland was becoming more popular before the famine and continued until the turn of the twentieth century. In the one hundred years between the first recording of immigrants in

    Read More

  • Immigrants and The American Dream

    2129 Words  | 5 Pages

    Throughout the history of this nation there are thousands of upon thousands of immigrants coming to this country and achieving the American dream. The Irish immigrated to the United States in 1840 – 1850s in big numbers driven by hunger and by the oppression of the British. Many of them became successful politicians, police officers and businessmen. One of the brightest examples in the history of Irish immigration success is Henry Ford. His grandfather immigrated in the 1840s escaping the potato famine. Henry Ford himself was born in a poor family in Dearborn, Michigan went on to become the most successful car builder in the country (Hennigan). Between 1880 and 1920 the first wave of Italians mainly from South Italy immigrated in the United States (Hendin 13). Many escaped from the poor countryside in Southern Italy to seek better life in America. Shining ex...

    Read More

  • Causes Of The Potato Famine

    1066 Words  | 3 Pages

    Beginning in 1845 and lasting until 1861 the Great Potato Famine of Ireland killed over a million people, and causing another million to leave the country. The famine began in September 1845 as leaves on potatoes suddenly turned black and curled, then rotted. The cause was an airborne fungus (phytophthora infestants) originally transported by ships traveling from North America to England. Many other factors contributed to this devastation.

    Read More

  • New Immigrants Essay

    1291 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

More about From Ireland to America

Open Document