Historical Analysis Essay

Historical Analysis Essay
Student’s Name
Institution of Learning
During the 18th and 19th centuries, millions of Irish people emigrated to the United States of America. Although many would argue that the influx of Irish migration had created an increase in hardship among Americans, the research shows that the difficulty they encountered was after their arrival to the United States of America. This discussion focuses on the cause course and the consequences of the Irish migration to USA.
Reasons for their migration
A total of 4.5 million Irish migrated to the USA in search for survival because of the potato famine, starvation, and diseases in their homeland that were killing millions of people. This factor was contributed by the increased political instability in the country that cherishes dictatorship in the country. At the time the revolution failed, most of the migrants wanted to escape the political instability that was in the state. The USA was the best destiny for them since it was relatively peaceful and it was believed to be land of opportunity. It was a motivational factor for the massive migration in the USA.
Further research shows they were aggressive people that were very disruptive in the community. The Irish migrated and worked for less than minimum wages and dealt with unsatisfactory living conditions in their quest for survival and a better life, but they were looked upon as a disruptive bunch. Thus, when Irish immigrants came to the United States of America, their entry was not welcomed by other cultures and those of their own; therefore, they were forced to overcome many obstacles such as lack of money, isolation, difficulties in communication with the families in Ireland, uncertainty about the next day, and no job opportunities in the field where one was skilled.

The course of the migration
For some Irish people, moving to the USA was more comfortable, but for most of the people, it was a real trial to go through. John Doyle was a political immigrant who moved to the USA after the Irish Republican revolt had failed. Later, John will write in his letter to his wife that if one knew how difficult it would be to live the first six months in a new place, only few would dare to make the journey. According to John’s letter, he settled in New York City but could not find a job because the labor market was overcrowded and his occupation not needed “I found the printing and bookbinding overpowered with hands in New York. I remained idle for twelve days in consequence; when finding there was many out of employment like myself, I determined to turn myself to something else, seeing that there was nothing to be got by idleness” (Doyle, 1818). This process of migration was therefore not a smooth one with a lot of the local resistance from the local communities. They were segregated and strongly judged as ignorant and desperate immigrants from the communist country. Their settlement in the USA was challenging, and the increase rate of poverty was increasing too. Most of them died due to poor living standards and the general lack of survival opportunities in the country. Therefore, for many Irish immigrants the job issue became the main obstacle to overcome, and as a result, poverty was common for millions of those who arrived. To survive far away from home and family, the Irish had to think about taking a simple job that no one else wanted to do or start their enterprises.
Consequences of the Irish Immigration into the USA
According to William Dunne’s letter, the newcomers faced difficulties in the communication with their families that stayed in Ireland (Dunne, 1846). A lot of families have split apart, and the Irish, who had settled in the USA, tried to help their relatives across the ocean to reunite with them on new land. According to John and Jane Curtis’s letter to their mother, the financial problem was crucial for all the immigrants, but young families with small children were affected the most (Curtis & Curtis, 1845). Often, the simple positions were low-paid. Sometimes employers did not pay the promised amount of money for the work that had been previously done. Saving some money to start a business was extremely complicated. However, from Hannah Curtis’s letter to her brother, one can see that despite the miserable situation, the immigrants were able to send some money to their relatives in Ireland (Curtis, 1845). Therefore, for many Irish, even the circumstances of the high poverty level in the US, still, was better than the destabilized political and economic situation in Ireland. The long-term consequences of the long-term implications of the immigration of the Irish could be seen it’s the economy of the country. In this case, the increased population led to more demand for jobs, more demand for goods and services and the long-term expansion of the USA economy. It also helped to determine the results of the civil war between the north and the south of the USA, since their participation was based on the fact that they were against slavery. It made the Union be the winners and created the later abolition of slavery in the USA.
Certainly, it is worth mentioning the negative stereotypes about Irish people in the United States of America, and the impact on their lives that these stereotypes had. In her work, Hardin (2014, p.13) says that “we will look at how the Irish were portrayed in different ways: ignorant and foreign, undemocratic, possessed of conflicting loyalties, diseased, criminal, and job thieves.” Thus, a lot of Americans did not accept such a big number of poor people who arrived in search of a better life; they had a negative attitude to the newcomers even without meeting them, and such way of thinking caused a lot of cases of discrimination, some of which were mentioned before. According to Almeida (2001, p.81), the new Irish immigrants settled in separate neighborhoods and did not mix with others; even the old Irish immigrants had any social connection with the newcomers. “Often, five or six Irish migrants would share an apartment to save on rent and living expenses.” Almeida says (2001, p.81). Therefore, the great number of Americans pictured the Irish as destructive forces and was afraid of that influx, but, on the contrary, the newcomers themselves tended to isolation, and the American society did nothing to help them integrate.
To conclude, the Irish migration waves from 19th to 20th centuries caused many problems both for American citizens and Irish newcomers. A lot of stereotypes towards the Irish arose made their lives even more complicated. As immigrants, Irish people faced poverty, discrimination, and lack of understanding of their reasons to leave Ireland. For a long time, the Irish tended to isolation, avoiding any extra contacts with the hostile American society, including the representatives of the old Irish diaspora. Therefore, among the obstacles that the Irish people faced when they arrived at the USA were lack of job opportunities, communication difficulties with the relatives in Ireland, lack of money, and isolation from other members of the American society, which was full of prejudice and stereotypes regarding the Irish immigrants. Further evidence of the migration could be seen on the impact of the civil war that enabled them to be incorporated fully into American society without any further mistreatments.
ReferencesAlmeida, L. D. (2001).Irish immigrants in New York City, 1945-1995. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.
Curtis, H. (n.d.). Letter: Hannah Curtis to brother John Curtis, November 24, 1845. Retrieved from https://hsp.org/education/primary-sources/letter-hannah-curtis-to-brother-john-curtis-november-24-1845
Curtis, J. Curtis J. (n.d.). ( Letter: John and Jane Curtis to their mother, Bridget Dunne Curtis, July 21, 1845. Retrieved from https://hsp.org/education/primary-sources/letter-john-and-jane-curtis-to-their-mother-bridget-dunne-curtis
Doyle, J. (n.d.). “Suffer for About the First Six Months After Leaving Home”: John Doyle Writes Home to Ireland, 1818. Retrieved from http://historymatters.gmu.edu/d/5798/Dunne, W. (n.d.). Letter: William Dunne to his nephew John Curtis, April 25, 1846. Retrieved from https://hsp.org/education/primary-sources/letter-william-dunne-to-his-nephew-john-curtis-april-25-1846Hardin, C. S. (2014, November 23). The Irish Experience in America: Nativism, Argumentation, and Responses. Retrieved from http://www.academia.edu/26405611/The_Irish_Experience_in_America_Nativism_Argumentation_and_Responses