The newly arrived immigrants were also taken advantage of by people who promised jobs, housing, etc. in exchange for money. They had to deal with the high crime rates in the cities and were often left without jobs because of economic changes such as depressions and panics that led to high unemployment. Another problem faced by the Irish was that their expectations and norms were different than those of white, middle class Americans. Most Americans were Protestant and the Irish were Catholic.
Many people came to America because getting there overseas was cheap and before 1917 they were almost guaranteed to be able to enter as the USA is the “land of the immigrants” and up until 1917 they had an open border policy. Due to the fair being so cheap even people who were coming from poverty were able to either afford it or if they had no money at all they were able to earn their fare by working in the kitchens and cleaning etc. A lot of people had to flee their country for religious reasons as they were being religiously persecuted in their own country an example of this is people from Ireland having to leave their own country which was majority catholic because they was being religiously prosecuted by British Protestants. The Irish also needed to escape because of the potato famine which caused mass starvation and even the British didn’t help as they decided to let things be and have as little interference as possible. Ireland wasn’t the only country where people were getting religiously persecuted as around this time Jews in Russia were also dealing with religious persecution as Russification was occurring were if you weren’t completely Russian you were to learn the ways of being Russian and you was also to speak Russian.
Others were having their land taken from them because of the religious wars going on in the country and had no where else to go. Again, they looked at America as their only option for survival. The Irish faced different forms of discrimination when they first arrived
That outlet was the free Blacks of the time whom the Irish found themselves competing for menial, low wage job against. In a good many cases signs would be posted or job ads would state “No Irish Need Apply” (Gone to America, 2000, pg.4, para.3). The Irish were in opposition to the Emancipation Proclamation, the freeing of the slaves would simply add to their problem they had competing with Blacks for jobs. The worst violence surrounding this time in Irish American and Black American history took place in July 1863 in New York city when riots broke out between the two groups. These riots were sever enough that Federal troops were called in to put a stop to the fighting but not before 18 free Blacks Americans died and $5 million worth of property was damaged.
Many were turned down at an immigration station: Angel Island, while others were pushed out of finding gold and forced to work degrading jobs. They were looked at as an unwanted completion by native-born Americans, in1882 the Chinese Execution Act was passed banning Chinese labors to immigrate. Approximately 5 million Germans, as well as 1 million Irish immigrants made the journey to the United States in the 19th century. Majority of the Irish immigrants went to New York or Massachusetts, most German immigrants spread around the Midwest for farming. Unlike the Irish the Germans had more money to take them further in America.
Even though there was a low birth rate in the and plentiful jobs in America many of the Irish found that the fast paced economy they heard about was not as fast as they believed. Many of the Irish worked as domestic servants particularly the women that came over, and the men mostly worked as day laborers [4]. Even though the Irish aided in our expansion and economic well being, they created unrest for the "natives" of the United States of America as "native's" were angered that the immigrants were
Intense rivalry quickly developed between the Irish and working class Bostonians over these jobs. In Ireland, a working man might earn eight cents a day. In America, he could earn up to a dollar a day, a tremendous improvement. Bostonians feared being undercut by hungry Irish willing to work for less than the going rate. Their resentment, combined with growing anti-Irish and anti-Catholic sentiment among all classes in Boston led to 'No Irish Need Apply' signs being posted in shop windows, factory gates and workshop doors throughout the city.
The Heart of the Irish Immigrant Barb Keil ETH/125 Axia College of University of Phoenix Once on American shores the next journey begins. Some Irish Immigrants docked in Boston and some in New York where most would continue to live because they had no money to travel any further. Because of the vast amount of immigrants arriving at the same time, housing was in great demand as was jobs. Housing wasn’t much better on land than the ships they arrived in. The Irish were segregated and were forced to move to small areas called shanties or slums.
Decades ago, immigrants made their way to the United States to better them and basically start their lives over from scratch. Irish immigrants suffered majorly from poverty and famine. Nearly millions of Irish immigrants ventured their way to America only to find out they were not wanted. Americans viewed those immigrants as dangerous people, mainly because they were of Roman Catholic faith. (Teaching Modules)
He was born to poor Irish immigrant parents. He grew up in a poor family unlike earlier presidents who mostly were from aristocracy family. When he became president, he had earned wealth and estate, but he still received support from ordinary voters as well. Andrew Jackson limited the size of the government, prohibited trade with England and France to democratize the US and reduced taxes. When there was a conflict about high tariffs of imported products that illuminate a tension between state and federal power, he eased the problem by lowered the