Brouke M. Rose-Carpenter

May 1, 2008

The Luck of the Irish? : Colonization Causes Immigration to the United States

After the last Research Postings’ cause of realization to the vastness of Ireland and the cause and effect of colonization, I knew I would need to narrow my scope significantly to accomplish the goal of this paper.  So, I went back to the initial question, which brought me to the selecting Ireland as my topic, “Why would anyone leave Ireland?”  Now, last time it evolved into something entirely different, but it was through the curiosity of Ireland’s history, and why anyone would want to leave it, which brought me there.  As I have examined a minuet aspect of Irish history, I decided to look further into the enormous amounts of Irish immigrants who came to America during the 19^th and 20^th century, and see what caused this enormous migration. 

            During the United States’ Colonial period many Irish men migrated to the United States.  They were educated, self sufficient, hard workers and often said to be from a “hearty stock”, but this move was in an attempt to better their lives through the infamous “American Dream”.  Some were escaping the iron fisted religious expectations from the British, but over all these men came for a chance to further and improve, their way of life.  The second wave of immigration came when the potato famine, or “Potato Blight”, hit in 1845.  This “Potato Blight” occurred when a fungus decimated Irish crops.  This fungus hit them so hard, due to the fact that their British colonizers had taken ownership of so much of their land that farming plots had drastically been reduced.  The condensed farming drained the selected areas of nutrients, and with the combination of low natural nutrients and weather, the potatoes did not have a chance of self-recovery. Just like a human being, when our body is stressed or over used, we lose vitamins causing our defenses to weaken, resulting in an infection when exposed to the slightest ailment.  Ireland’s defenses were low due to colonization, and when the fungus hit, it hit hard and fast without any protection to ward it off.  Ireland, mainly consisting of farming communities, was devastated. Their crops were lost and so was their lively hood, economically and physically. Starvation plagued Ireland and within five years, over a million Irish were dead, and half a million were on their way or in America.     

            The potato famine is not the only factor involved, but it was the straw that broke the camels back.  Even before the potato blight, Ireland was suffering from the mistreatment of its British colonizers.  Their desperation to evacuate Ireland provided them with the strength to withstand the harsh process of migrating to America. Simply the fact that they had to leave their motherland was difficult, for they knew once they left they would never see Ireland again, thus earning the name of the “American Wake”.  They knew that the only future for them in Ireland ended with the result of poverty, disease, and further British oppression. America became their only salvation.  The ships were boarded with Irish families by the herd, and were so crammed and suffocated that they began referring to the ships as, “Coffin Ships”.  As they left Ireland they were filled with hope and inspiration at the chance of a new beginning; they were breaking free from the English.  They knew they had to endure a deathly boat ride, but they were driven to with stand it all through their dream of America.  Little did they know that horrible boat ride would only be the beginning of their unwelcoming experience into America. 

            Once arriving they were swarmed with greedy Americans pushing and pulling them in one direction or another, to go here, stay there, buy this, or own that.  It was disillusioning and confusing to say the least. The chaos was only a rouse, a way for them to spend the few pennies they had, and as noted on www.kinsella.org, one Irishman wrote home telling truthfully of his treatment in America,  "My master is a great tyrant, he treats me as badly as if I was a common Irishman.’ The writer further added, ‘Our position in America is one of shame and poverty.’ No group was considered lower than an Irishman in America during the 1850s.”  They were escaping the British created tyrannical world, and entered into a nation that was an infected with English ideology.  The British colonization of Ireland not only destroyed half of the Irish population, but drove the rest to escape, only to enter a new world where their culture had already been contaminated by the British.

Ads for employment were often followed by, “NO IRISH NEED APPLY”.  They were rejected without legitimate cause, leading to a once again impoverished community resulting in early death and disease.  Nearly 80% of the Irish population born during this period perished during infancy.  They couldn’t get jobs, even though they were skilled, by the default that they were Irish.  They were impoverished because they weren’t employed, which led to constant ridicule.  Lack of funds also meant lack of education, leading them into illiteracy, only adding one more reason they could not get jobs.  American’s wanted to send the Irish “home”, but they didn’t have a “home” even in their homeland.  Colonization is the reason they were not only homeless, but also shunned and attempted to be banished. The clichés and slogans pertaining to the Irish were created out of sarcasm, and intended to be a satirical stab at the Irish.  

Irish men and women did not lie down and take this abuse, but they banned together, and began to reciprocate against the insults with violence.  Even though many sources seem to degrade their acting out, it seems that their personal unionization was the only thing they had, and it made them strong.  Their lashing out is only to be expected of human beings, there is only so much a person can take before they explode, and this is not just one person, but also an entire culture’s population.  Their pride and violent behavior earned them respect through fear.

The Irish migration to America was not out of a want, but out of need.  They were able to rekindle their feelings of hope through this voyage, but it was purely for survival.  Whenever people consider immigrants coming to America, it is always in hopes of gaining the “American dream”, to create a better life of equal opportunity, the whole “Cinderella story”, but when the Irish came to America they were not greeted with the open arms of opportunity that America was known for, but with the same discrimination they were trying to escape.  The British colonizers did more than just colonize Ireland, they created a massive take over, which almost ended with genocide, and then attempted to ruin any hope of life elsewhere for anyone who was Irish, by disgracing their heritage.  The move to America was out of necessity, all because of a brutal colonization.

Even though the term “Luck of the Irish”, and many more Irish slogans, were invented to condescend the Irish and mock their prejudiced inflicted run of “bad luck”, they still strived to move past it all. I have discovered that their migration to America was out of desperation.  Their experience in America was belittling, but they continued to fight, so even though the “luck of the Irish” was to patronize them, the “fighting Irish” holds true, and acts a constant reminder of the “fight” the Irish had to make to get to where we are now. 

“ERIN GO BRAGH”

(Ireland forever)

Research:

http://memory.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/irish2.html

http://lcweb2.loc.gov/learn/features/immig/irish.html

http://www.kinsella.org/history/histira.htm

http://www.sunflower.com/~caitlin/Immigration.html

http://web.archive.org/web/19990117024345/http://avery.med.virginia.edu/
~eas5e/Irish/Famine.html