Most Popular Choice Among The Irish Immigrants example essay topic

Ireland has a great history of war, famine, despair, and hardship. Throughout the years the Irish have come from the lowest of lows to the highest of highs. In this paper I will give a history of the Irish people before coming to America, what it was coming here, how they were welcomed to their new home, and how they are faring now. I will also expose many of the stereotypes that the Irish have pinned to them and the reason that they are there.

In the early 1800's, the Irish had great success in the potato industry due to the high prices for agricultural products because of the war with England. Soon though, prices began to fall and so did productivity. For that reason, the owners of the farm land turned there plots into grazing areas. There was an addition problem though, what would happen to the hundreds of other farmers that worked the land? One popular solution for most "landlords", as they were called, was to evict all the tenants, whether they were paid up for rent or not.

Then they would destroy their homes so that they could not return. (No author 1). The now homeless people turned to secret organizations to retaliate against the people that they once depended on to live their lives. Some names of these groups were Right boys, Thrashers, Ribbon men, and White foots. (No author 1).

When these vigilantes were caught, their punishments were severe. Something as simple as stealing a piece of bread could land you a multiple year sentence in prison. To add insult to injury, the prisons that these people were sent to was in Australia, many miles away from there homes. It was thought that things for the Irish could not get any worse, but in 1845 that is just what happened. The potato was a very significant part of the Irish way of life. It is one of the few foods that a person can survive solely on.

Many homes lived exclusively on the potato, they could not afford anything else and it kept them alive. What would happen if for some odd reason, all the crops failed and people were not able to support themselves with the potato? No one gave this possible scenario any thought because it seemed absurd that such a thing could occur. But in 1845, a disease destroyed over half of the potato crops in Ireland. The Irish had hoped that it would be an isolated incident and prayed that next year might be a more productive one. But 1846 proved to be even worse then the year prior.

The issue with starvation became a reality after the second year of the famine, people began to panic and crime was at an all-time high. The Irish began immigrating to other countries, and bringing deadly diseases with them. Canada was the main destination point for most immigrants for the first year. There were ships with bountiful amounts of food on them being shipped to Canada from Ireland, even though the potato crop was failing, other crops were flourishing. It seems ironic that while there own country was starving, they sent the one thing that their citizens need most to another land.

Many countries, including America attempted to send relief to Ireland in their time of need. But the English were very much against any relief being sent to these people in need. There were many suggestions given to England to help the starving in their neighboring country. Some examples are soup kitchens, which they declined because they said that the Irish would get used to free food and not want to work for a living anymore. They were also unwilling to donate any money to help the Irish buy what food there was, saying that they will only use it to by guns and turn against us. America offered to send food over, but the English said that if anything was to be sent there, it must first go through England, to make sure that "shipping interests were fully employed" The boats in which the Irish took to get overseas were ones of despair.

All immigrants were instructed to sit below deck, in cramped corridors, with little or no food. Sanitation was non-existent, people who boarded that were sick, quickly spread it throughout the entire shipment of migrating people. About half of the entire population of individuals that attempted the voyage to America did not make it. They either died on the way, or very soon upon arriving. Word spread that the Irish were dropping like flies in America, and this also was a cause of much of the hatred and rejection imposed on them when they arrived. The total death toll resulting from the Great Potato Famine is not entirely known, but the approximate count is around one and a half million, while another one million emigrated.

(O Grada 105). The Irish thought once they were out of Ireland that all be well again. But the welcome that they received in America was not of the warm and open kind. A stereotype was already in place when the first wave of immigrants arrived in America. The thought was that all Irish were dirty, needy and thieves. Most, if not all Irish were poor when they arrived in America, so getting started on a new life would not be easy.

It would include getting a job, finding a place to live and being accepted into an entirely different way of life. The luck of the Irish was anything but, sign on business windows were beginning to pop up every where, they read, "N.I.N.A". , which means, "No Irish Need Apply". The obstacles were endless, opportunity for employment was very limited and what jobs they were able to obtain they either lost rather quickly or the pay was so minimal that they might as well not have worked at all. Jobs that they were able to get included, janitorial work, masonry, carpenters, sawing wood, carrying packages, serving as waiters, and other low end jobs that other people at the time would have considered lowly. New York was the most popular choice among the Irish immigrants. Rumor was that everything starts in New York.

By 1850, New York had a population that consisted of thirty-seven percent Irish. Amazingly so, greater New York had almost as many Irish-born citizens as did Dublin Ireland. For a steady five year period, immigrants flooded New York and its surrounding areas, continuously building the Irish community in the new land. The Irish were housed predominantly in what is now lower Manhattan and China Town. For the most part they stayed together in a tight- knit community.

They had no other people to relate to, especially since America was not in the least bit interested in welcoming them with arms wide open. It was during these early times that the stereotypes about the Irish began to form. Some examples included, all Irish were drunks, all Irish have anger problems, and the Irish invented the potato. Its unknown when and where these false stereotypes originally began, but what is known is that they are false and a crude way to describe an ethnic group of people. It is true that Ireland and its citizens were known to drink quite a bit in their homeland, and that bar room brawls were a common theme among the pubs in the local towns. But to say that all Irish are drinkers, or that they all like to fight and get rowdy is wrong.

The women played a in-depth role in making the Irish at least semi-successful in the early years of their citizenship. They were remarkable sewers and were becoming known quite well for their dress making abilities. The men on the other hand, we no recognized for any specific task that they performed, nor were said to be exceptional skilled in one particular area. They were good laborers because they had to be. When you do not have any other career choice and you depend on the one so mercifully given to you, it is in your best interest to become nothing short of perfect at it. The result of making one little mistake could potentially cost you and your family their lives.

The Irish man was no stranger to hard work, considering that almost all men were farmers in their homeland, getting your hands dirty to feed your family was standard in many homes. In to days world, the Irish are successful in many aspects of life. They are not restricted to laboring jobs or making dresses. Even though the numbers of pure Irish people are limited, the few that do remain vary in careers ranging from doctors to school teachers.

They are no longer restricted to a certain type of work, nor are they destined to succumb to starvation because they thrive on any one thing. We as Americans support the main stereotype of the Irish through the celebration of Saint Patricks day. In the festivities surrounding this holiday, the main focal point of these activities is drinking. Almost everyone who thinks of Saint Patricks Day thinks of two things, the color green and alcohol. So even though we know that the stereotypes of the Irish are false, they are still celebrated as truth through this joyous, but wrongfully based holiday. It seems to me that the Irish have received a bad rap since the day that they started arriving here back in the mid eighteen-hundreds.

Starting at the trip over to the "Promise Land", and continuing for over a century. They have survived a terrible, famine, civil wars and many other adversities that any one man may not have been able. Through their hard work, dedication and willingness to sacrifice, they have become a successful group of citizens in our country and have made positive steps towards total acceptance in their new country. Now all we have to do as a society is drop all the foolish stereotypes that most of us still have and let the Irish be the Irish, Whites be the Whites, the Blacks be the Blacks and so on. Who cares where people come from or what has happened in the past? We are in the here and now, no need to look back on things done long ago.

Put the past behind and the future in front and I think that America would be better off.

Bibliography

Connery, Donald. The Irish Simon and Schuster. New York, NY. 1968 Kennedy, Robert.
The Irish University of California Press. Berkley and Los Angeles California. 1973 Larson, Audrey.
History of Ireland web 2-27-2004 McCarthy, Joe.
The World Library: Ireland Time Incorporated. New York, NY. 1964 O Grada, Cormac.
Black '47 and Beyond Princeton University Press. Princeton, New Jersey. 1999 No Author.