About how many Irish immigrated to America to escape the terrible potato famine
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Irish Immigration Year after year, the potato crop failed in Ireland. Unable to pay the rent, families were evicted from their homes by ruthless landlords. By the time the worst was over, one million people had died of disease and starvation. Survivors were forced to emigrate. The Irish peasants came to North America in overcrowded and unsanitary ships known as "coffin ships." Cabin passenger Robert Whyte recorded the
horrifying conditions in the steerage section of a ship." "Passing the main hatch, I got a glimpse of one of the most awful sights I ever beheld. A poor female patient was lying in one of the upper berths - dying... She had been nearly three weeks ill and suffered exceedingly until the swelling set in, commencing in her feet and creeping up her body to her head. Her afflicted husband stood by her holding a "blessed candle" in his hand awaiting the departure of her spirit." Ships
flying the flag of disease were forced to dock at the quarantine station on Grosse le, an island located in the St. Lawrence, downriver from Quebec City. For many Irish immigrants it would be their only glimpse of the new land. In 1847, 50 people a day died of typhus at Grosse le. Many children whose parents died were adopted into French-Canadian families but their Irish names have lived on: Doyle, Murphy, Ryan, Johnson. The Irish famine gave rise to a movement called Young
Ireland, who members swore to free their country from Britain by any means, even armed rebellion. One member of the movement was a young writer named Thomas D'Arcy McGee who would move to Montreal in 1857 and become one of the Fathers of Confederation. Though small numbers of Irish immigrants had settled in the United States prior to 1845, the country saw its largest influx of Irish immigrants in the years that followed. A deadly potato famine had gripped Ireland, exacerbated by the ruling British government’s refusal to provide aid. In a desperate effort to survive, millions of Irish fled their home country in a rush of migration that would continue past the turn of the 20th century. There's no doubt that the Irish immigrants helped to build America but they weren't always welcome in their new country. Learn more about it in this explanation!
Irish Immigration TimelineFirst, let's get an understanding of the timeline of Irish immigration:
History of Irish Immigration to America
British involvement in the control of Ireland began following the Anglo-Norman invasion of 1169. The amount of control the British had over Ireland waxed and waned throughout the following centuries but, in 1541, King Henry VIII has bestowed the title of “King of Ireland,” marking the beginning of Britain’s increasing dominance over Ireland. In 1609, King James I began to send Protestant Scottish and British citizens, or “planters,” to live in Northern Ireland. The hope was that this would make the area more sympathetic to the king. In order to do this, the British took large areas of land from the Irish population and gave them to wealthy companies and landowners. These Scots would become the “Ulster Scots,” who made up a large portion of the first earliest wave of immigration to the United States. In 1801, the Irish parliament was dissolved, bringing Ireland under the banner of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish endured the suppression of their language, religion, and customs at the hands of the British over the course of centuries. While rebellions and uprisings were common, it was not until 1922 that Ireland was split into Northern Ireland, which stayed part of the United Kingdom, and what would eventually become the Republic of Ireland, which became an independent country. History of Irish Immigration to America: Early Irish ImmigrationIrish people began to immigrate to the United States as early as the 1600s. Many were brought over as indentured servants. This number was small, however, and Irish immigration did not occur in larger numbers until the 1700s. Indentured Servant: A person who was contracted to work without a salary for a number of years, typically providing labor in exchange for food, lodging, travel, and other expenses. This first larger wave was made up mostly of Ulster Presbyterians, who were the Ulster Scots that had been “planted” in Northern Ireland in the previous century. These immigrants were seeking the greater freedom that America promised, and fleeing the religious persecution that occurred as a result of the Penal Laws imposed by the British, which discriminated against Irish Catholics and other religious minorities. The Penal Laws in Ireland The Penal Laws in Ireland were laws passed by the British beginning in the 16th Century, which imposed restrictions on the civil liberties of Roman Catholics and other religious minorities in Ireland. The practice of the Catholic religion was penalized and included punishments such as fines and imprisonment. These laws even prescribed death for Catholic priests who preached in Britain and Ireland. Irish Catholics could not own land, vote, or hold public office, and faced penalties for teaching and disseminating materials that promoted the Catholic Church. History of Irish Immigration to America: The Potato FamineThe Irish Potato Famine, also known as the Great Hunger, occurred from 1845-1852. The potato crop had been infected by a type of water mold that caused potato blight, a disease of the potato plant. At that time, some poor families relied almost exclusively on potatoes for food, as it was an easy-to-grow crop in Ireland, and was relatively nutritious. For many people in Ireland, over 80% of their daily caloric intake was derived from potatoes, so when the crop failed, much of the population was plunged into hunger. Initially, the British government provided some aid through the importation of corn from the United States, though the imported cornmeal resulted in nutritional deficiencies and was inadequate for staving off starvation. The government also still allowed the export of grains from Ireland to Britain. When there was a change in government in 1846, the policy allowing grain export remained, and Britain took a more hands-off approach to the famine than it had previously.
This approach placed greater responsibility upon Irish self-reliance, shifting the imperative for aid from the British government to Irish landowners, who were then required to stave off the starvation of Irish peasants. This led to mass evictions, as the landowners couldn’t afford to feed the peasantry when the peasantry couldn’t afford to pay their rent. The British response was inadequate. Starvation and other diseases related to starvation killed about 1 million people during the potato famine and forced the migration of up to two million more. In the 1840s, roughly half of the immigrants coming to the United States were Irish. The Second Wave of Irish ImmigrationFleeing starvation and disease, nearly 1.5 million Irish citizens immigrated to the United States during the potato famine. Many of these were peasants, some sent by their landlords who were attempting to save money after being made responsible for their tenants. The famine affected people from all social classes, and Irish immigrants were not solely the poor and working class.
Many of these immigrants settled in Boston, Philadelphia, and New York City, profoundly affecting the ethnic makeup of these areas. This wave of immigration caused a “chain of migration” as Irish immigrants brought their families and extended families to America. This migration would last into the 20th century. Initially, this influx was mostly made up of men and their families, but as the migration continued into the 20th century, most Irish immigrants were single women who were seeking work, often domestic work, in America. Discrimination Against Irish Immigrants in America“There are some twenty five Irish Democrats in the house.... They are a stupid, sodden and vicious lot, most of them being equally deficient in brains and virtue…the average catholic Irishman of first-generation as represented in this Assembly, is a low, venal, corrupt and unintelligent brute.” -Theodore Roosevelt, from A Most Glorious Ride: The Diaries of Theodore Roosevelt, 1877-1886, edited by Edward P. Kohn1 As with attitudes towards the simultaneous influx of German immigrants, many American citizens were hostile to Irish immigrants. Some of this hostility was religious in nature: almost all of the Irish immigrants were Roman Catholic. After hundreds of years of tension between Catholicism and Protestantism in Europe, the large wave of Irish immigrants grated on Protestant Americans. Additional opposition occurred due to fear that the Irish threatened Americans with low-wage jobs. The impoverished and hungry Irish immigrants were willing to work for very little, and for longer periods. This caused competition for these jobs, which caused resentment among working-class Americans. Signs reading “No Irish Need Apply,” or its acronym “NINA,” were common, as American-born citizens tried to keep employment among themselves. Centuries of dehumanization and oppression at the hands of the British spilled over into American public opinion, deeming Irish immigrants dirty, disease-ridden drunks, who were unintelligent, and lacking in integrity. Today, anti-Irish sentiment has changed to acceptance, and one-tenth of Americans claim some Irish heritage. Irish Catholic Americans participate widely in public life, and the Pope is graciously welcomed when he visits America. But in the early days of immigration, the Irish faced an uphill battle in America. Important Irish ImmigrantsIrish immigrants had a profound impact on America. They were leaders in the labor movement and made up a large portion of the laborers who helped to build cities and transportation routes, and who worked in mills and factories. They advocated for safe working conditions, children’s rights, and income equality. Important Irish immigrants include activists such as Irish-born schoolteacher Mother Jones (Mary G. Harris Jones, 1837-1930) coordinated major strikes and built organizations that contributed to the labor protections that Americans, and people all over the world, enjoy today.
The Potato Crop in America Though potatoes had been brought to America several times throughout the 1600s, it was not until the influx of Scots-Irish immigrants in the early 1700s that it became a widely grown crop in the United States. The immigrants from Ulster planted potatoes in New Hampshire, and before long, the crop had spread throughout the United States. Now, it is a staple of the American diet.
Irish Immigration - Key takeaways
References
How many Irish have immigrated to America?Census figures show an Irish population of 8.2 million in 1841, 6.6 million a decade later, and only 4.7 million in 1891. It is estimated that as many as 4.5 million Irish arrived in America between 1820 and 1930. Between 1820 and 1860, the Irish constituted over one third of all immigrants to the United States.
How many Irish immigrants came to America 1860?Mid-19th century and later. Has the Irish population recovered from the potato famine?Ireland has never fully recovered from the famine. Indeed, the population living on the island decreased with every census until the late 20th century, and even now the population of the island is less than that in the mid-1840s.
Why did so many Irish immigrated to America in the 1840s?Suddenly, in the mid-1840s, the size and nature of Irish immigration changed drastically. The potato blight which destroyed the staple of the Irish diet produced famine. Hundreds of thousands of peasants were driven from their cottages and forced to emigrate -- most often to North America.
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