Irish History and Immigration to the United States

Poverty to a level of desperation and starvation became worse and worse during the 19th century in Ireland, which began to motivate large waves of immigration from Ireland to the united states in the mid 1800s. These economic conditions in Ireland were the result of a variety of factors, most importantly political domination by Britain and a dependency on one significant crop, the production of potatoes.

The potato had become increasingly popular and created some significant population growth dispute political unrest and religious persecution. Potatoes became the center of Irish agriculture, because it was discovered that about twice as many potatoes could be grown in the same sized area as other crops might have been planted in. This allowed for the production of a healthy amount of food for the farmers, and a surplus that could be used as an economic asset. By 1830 35% of the irish population depended on the potato harvest, both as their primary food source and their source of work.

This economic dependence on a particular crop led to a collapse in the economy of Ireland during the Potato Famine. This blight on the Irish potato crops was caused by an airborne fungus which caused the potatoes to become diseased. In September 1844 the potato crops were first discovered to be infected. By 1854 ¼ of Irish population had immigrated to the United States. This wave of mass immigration was given its sense of urgency by the potato famine; with underlying factors of poverty, religious persecution and political unrest.

America must have seemed to faraway immigrants leaving from Ireland as a true chance at a decent life. It was believed that they could find good work in the United States, although arriving immigrants found it difficult to gain employment in many fields due to cultural prejudices. Still, in a land with no jobs and no food, the possibility of any hope in a new land seemed to many better than suffering the circumstances of life in Ireland at the time.

It was believed that the common man had better possibilities not only in terms of gainful employment, but as future land owners. The United states was also seen as a place of religious freedom, and many immigrants left hoping to create a better life for themselves by escaping religious intolerance and persecution. Democracy, freedom of speech, and religious tolerance were factors that went beyond the purely economic I motivating the search for a new home in a new land.

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The devastation of the potato famine is almost indescribable. There had been eight million people in Ireland at the time farmers began to discover that all but ten percent of their food crops had been infected. Most of their primary food source was simply gone, and by 1847 more than half of the population was entirely reliant on this crop. Soon, about three million people became dependent on government run soup kitchens for food. people began to starve to death. Because poverty was so severe, many of the families of the deceased could not afford to bury their loved ones in coffins, and so they were laid to rest in shallow graves.

The situation was so severe that countries all around the world heard of the plight of the Irish, and began to send aid. In a day and age without the means to communicate quickly over great distances, far away places like Barbados, Jamaica, Italy, and France began to get word, and tried to help the starving people. The gifts were many and generous, including over 200,000 pounds from the Quakers alone. With so much of the population affected by the potato famine, the donations were only able to go so far. People ate stale bread, and a little soup, if anything. An eighth of the population actually slowly starved to death, and not all nations were as kind and generous.

Britain had political domination over Ireland. Absentee landlords from England owned much of the land that the Irish people lived and worked on. Rents were high, wages were low, and a significant portion of the crops were 'money crops' and belonged to the absent landlords. The most terrible and ironic fact about the potato famine is that during the blight Ireland still grew and was compelled to ship out enough food that the food needs of the whole country could have been covered by it. While the country was so desperately poor and without food, some ships cam filled with supply, but even more left with the meager good portions of the crops. This is one of the major factors in the animosity between the Irish and the English.

Religious persecution had been a significant factor in the poverty and living conditions of the Irish, and was used as a form of political domination. Roman Catholics were forbidden by English law to do many things that might make them more able to become self-sufficient and rise up against the protestants who had allied themselves with the British. To retain economic control, the British contrived laws meant to keep the majority of the Irish people who were Roman Catholic from improving their lot. Roman Catholics were forbidden to read and write, or educate their children with any more skills than necessary to perform the laborious jobs the dominating overloads expected. Many of them chose to educate themselves in secret, at great risk. There are some letters from that time which survive, and those that took the risk to attempt to write and send them have created some surviving historical documentation the presents a bleak picture.

The people were impoverished to begin with, and so the effects of the famine were disastrous. Many families had been struggling to pay their high rents to begin with, and had to go without many things to continue to have shelter. They had to kill what livestock they had for food, or sell it to come up with money for rent. There clothing was tattered, and poor protection during the colder months. When their crops failed, they often looked for more laborious jobs in work houses and on larger farms. In a weakened physical condition from lack of food, many became sick and unable to perform heavy labor. This led many of the people to become homeless. They were often evicted when they became unable to pay their rent, and often under dramatic circumstances. Sometimes the landlord would pull them out of their homes and destroy the house in front of them. These things happened even at the height of the potato famine, when many of the people forcefully thrown out of their homes were already starving and sick.

Not only did the majority of the Irish suffer starvation and sickness, but in desperation many were convicted of small crimes such as poaching or stealing food from storehouses. This was treated as a very serious offense, without much leniency or understanding for the starving people who were being denied basic human rights. As a result, many of those convicted of these "crimes" were convicted and sent forcefully to Australia to do hard labor in prison camps. Most of those who were separated and sent away on Australian bound convict ships never saw Ireland or their families again.

The English might have moved to aid faster as other countries did, but were reluctant. Not only were they importing food from a starving country, they declined to give much assistance for the people growing the food. It was believed that if they gave the Irish money, they would use it to buy weapons and revolt. The idea of providing them free food out of soup kitchens was also not popular with the English, who were concerned that they would become accustomed to the free food and become lazy and overly dependent. All the while, the Irish peasant farmers carried carts full of potatoes to be collected for the British, pulling them by hand without the aid of livestock. They suffered hard labor with little or nothing to eat, and had to deliver food to others while watching their families and their animals slowly starve to death. It was in this atmosphere that many chose to leave for other countries, knowing they would probably never see their families or their homeland again.

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An unusual tradition known as "the American Wake" happened daily across Ireland and continued for about 75 years. It was a somber fair well, among friends and loved ones before embarking on the journey of immigration across the ocean. Often more of a funeral than a celebration, the wake was held in order for adult children who were leaving to be able to mourn their parents funerals while they were still living. The emigrant who was leaving would have visited friends and relatives prior to the wake, to tell the news of their plan for departure. All who were close would come the night before the immigrants departure, to say final goodbyes knowing that they would probably never see each other again. On the night of the wake, relatives and friends would spend time trying to impart their wisdom to the immigrant. They hoped life in the new land would be better for the person who was departing, but knew that the journey was risky and becoming established with little resources would be hard. Elder relatives took this moment to advise the emigrant, many of who were fairly young, on how to survive and make a life for themselves.

In the most impoverished areas food sharing and refreshments were not offered, but a small amount of poteen might be brought and shared on rare occasions. In those areas worst effected their was generally no singing and dancing, and these gatherings were often filled with the wailing and lamenting of the women. Women were called upon to say a lament for the departing person and their families, much like one might speak of the departed in a modern funeral. In a wailing kind of speech, a woman would aquatint the listener with the personal story of the virtues of the departing person, how sadly their skills and virtues will be missed, and how terrible the grief and suffering of the parents and relatives is because of this need to say goodbye.

In areas that were less poverty stricken, the American Wake included all of those elements, but was also a more festive occasion. There might be baking, cleaning, and preparation beforehand for a nice gathering. Visiting neighbors might also bring food, tea, stout, and other libations to share. The lamentations continued, but were also sometimes mingled with dancing and singing to celebrate the life of a loved one and hope for the future. These festivities would continue late into the night, when older people would sit near the hearth and tell stories to the young seated on the floor around them. The next morning they would accompany the young emigrant to the docks for their departure.

Travel by sea was risky, and known to be frought with the potentials of sickness or shipwreck. Traditionally, relatives left behind promosed to pray for their safe passage and opportunities in America. Those departing promised to pray for a good harvest, for restoration of health and better times to their families and loved ones, and that they would keep Ireland forever in their hearts. Some found ways to communicate via letter across the expansive ocean, but with a high rate of illiteracy and the distance involved that only happened in the rarest and luckiest of cases.

Life in a new land was not easy for the Irish immigrants that made it across the ocean. Many of them, sadly, did not make it. Already in poor health and with little money, the conditions of travel were bad. The ships were overcrowded, didn't have enough supplys, and sickness took many of the passengers durring their three month journey. Many of the people who left Ireland never made it to the United States, in such grat numbers that the vessels carrying the immigrants became known as coffin ships. During the years of the famine boats constantly brought more refugees seeking a new home, the numbers totalling around a million within a decade. During the same period, around a million and a half died from starvation in Ireland.

Upon arrival, the new immigrants had to find places to live and work. This was challenging, because the American people were overwhelmed with the volume of very poor newcomers. The Irish imigrants were primarily farm workers who were not accustomed to or prepared for the industrialized cities they came to settle in. Many potential employers hung signs that said things like "No Irish Need Apply", because of prejudices against the Irish people who they believed to be lazy and unskilled. The work these immigrants had in Ireland had been primarily agricultural, while the American culture was focused on industrialized production of goods. The Irish were forced to take jobs that involved hard labor for low wages, usually in industries that were dangerous. After immigrating and setting up a meager home, many of the new immigrants died in jub related accidents while working in industries such as railroad building.

Special Thanks to my room mate Jean Marie Carrier for co-authoring this page, and allowing me to include excerpts from a college research paper she did this semester for a history class.