American History

The second largest nationality group to migrate to the United States was Irish. Most of them came from Germany, not Ireland as would be expected. The number of women who immigrated to America was as large as that of men. These women were unlike other women from other countries in that they came here to live by themselves (Udel, 2010). Ireland is one country that is most famous because of its immigrants in almost all European countries. They went as far as they could in these countries, especially North America. These people were more of fleeing from starvation, disease and poverty which had inflicted Ireland for decades than pursuing prosperity in America. They believed that in America they could escape the hardships they had been tolerating for a long time in their country (Magnusson, 2010). But whether they got what they wanted in the lands they migrated to is still debatable. It is paradoxical to realize that though the Irish people were migrating to the United States for better living after the Irish potato famine, they were met by the same challenges that they were experiencing back home.

Reasons for Irish immigration
There were several reasons propounded by the Irish for their immigration into the United States and other countries in the 19th century. However, the major reason was the great famine that swept across the country during those times. This famine caused the most important crop of the Irish, the potatoes, to fail terribly. This made many people to die due out of starvation (McNamara, 2010).

To get a better grasp of the great famine that led to the mass exodus of the Irish, it is important to look back to the events of 1793. During this year, there was a fight between Great Britain and France. This war had terrible effects on Ireland, because the English had to establish good trading partnership for the sake of their population. Great Britain depended on Ireland to provide food for its citizens. This had resulted in the Irish agricultural success at the start of the 19th century (Magnusson, 2010 ONeill, 2009). Due to the boom in agriculture, the birth rate grew at a steady rate in Ireland since it was able to support its population. But the peace agreement between Great Britain and France in 1815 changed this situation drastically. Due to the fact that now Britain could trade with other European countries, it did not have to rely on Ireland. As the economy of Ireland went downhill, the peasants were left in a desperate position. At this time, Ireland was still relying on their exports to Britain which reduced significantly (Magnusson, 2010 ONeill, 2009).

The situation became worse in the late 1820s. Due to the fact that the generation had grown up during times when agriculture flourished, they wanted to start their own farms. For them to be able to start their farms as they had wished, they needed land. But acquisition of land had become very hard during those days (Kenny, 2010). The land which was inherited from parents had become scarce. The families had grown bigger and it had become considerably hard to continue partitioning land among the children. Land segmentation increased as generations came and went. The soil was over cultivated as the families struggled to feed their members. The amount of stony soil used to grow the potatoes increased, and the hardy potato was the only hope for the families in Ireland (Kenny, 2010).

The heavy reliance on potatoes alone as the major food contributed lot to the starvation that was brought by the famine. Potato had become the popular foodstuff as the size of land used to grow crops became less and less. The advantage of this crop was that smaller potions of land could be used to produce large quantities of harvest and it never depleted the land of nitrogen. By the year 1845, potato had gained the status of the most popular food and fed more than three million people. Things however changed when the crop was attacked by a dangerous fungus. People were not at first aware of the danger the fungus could cause to the plant. Before long, the fungus had started to destroy the crops in large numbers. By the second year of the attack, almost all fields in Ireland had been attacked (Magnusson, 2010).

The famine that followed was the major cause of a subsequent mass exodus of Irish to the United States. Hundreds of thousands of Irish peasants were forced to leave their cottages and immigrate for the fear of their lives. The most preferred destination was North America. These immigrants were different from their earlier counterparts in that these did not have any skills or sufficient education to secure any meaningful employment. They had no money, clothes and were often hopeless. They did not have any formal religious training despite their fierce loyalty to Catholic Church, which had been legalized few decades earlier (Assumption, 2010).

The Irish, even before the famine, were some of the poorest in Europe. They then found themselves forced to leave their shanties which were mere hovels. They could witness their neighbors fall victims of cholera and other diseases while others died of hunger. Those who survived and settled on the shores of Canada and the United States had very few resources on them which could not probably last them for long. However, according to annual totals immigration statistics which were released, these people managed to cross over to Canada and the United States in very large numbers. Here, they wanted a better life, a more comfortable one than the one they led back in their country of origin. Whether they got what they were looking for is a contentious point (Rzuser, 2010 Encyclopedia Britannica, 2010).

The passage prices increased with the number of the immigrants. The immigrants usually could sell everything that they owned at home except the clothes that they were wearing. Some renters even left their lands and went to the United States the land could be taken and used for the growing of cash crops and for the rearing of cattle. The landlords in the destination countries even went ahead to promise the tenants the payment of arrival money, though they rarely paid (Carson, 2010).

Arrival and settlement
What motivated more Irish migrations is that those among them who had arrived earlier used to describe America as a land of abundance and even wrote letters back home urging others to follow them. Some of these letters were in fact read at public forums with the youth especially being urged to move the new land (Kinsella).

The voyages to America were not honey moon for the immigrants. They traveled in very large numbers and as a result many of them, who were already starved and sick, died in between the journey. This is the reason why the ships that used to ferry people at this period of the great famine were being referred to as coffin ships. In some instances as many as forty percent of those on board died before the arrival (Irish Genealogy Toolkit, 2010).

When the Irish arrived in the United States, they realized that the conditions there were not much better than those they had left in their own countries. Most of the time, they found themselves crammed into slums, and their houses were made out of waste debris and discarded boards. The situation of sanitation was at its worst. The paths that they usually used normally turned to ditches during the rainy season. (Assumption 2010)

It eventually became very hard to find jobs for the Irish in particular. Employers were not willing to employ them under any circumstances. In most cases, advertisements were often followed by a notice indicating that Irish need not apply. This phrase was so popular that at some point in time it used to be incorporated in songs (Assumption, 2010). The popular jobs for women were those of domestic chores, and their husbands did manual work in building constructions. Newspapers ran cartoons that depicted how unwelcome the Irish were and commentaries always associated everything evil with the coming of these people to the United States. They were associated with theft, prostitution and even madness. But this did not surprise the Irish. They had already experienced such undermining long enough and were comfortable with the same provided they could place a meal on the table (Assumption, 2010).

It is ironical that the main reason why the Irish people migrated into the US and Canada was to escape poor life that was in their country. However as it turned out to be, the situation was even not better in this new land. The Americans themselves did not like the immigration of the foreigners into their land as they felt that they were opportunists coming to take over their property and space. Whenever they landed the Irish people most of the time settled around there as they did not have even the resources to venture in the interior. This is the main reason why the settled mostly around Boston and New York City. Psychologically none of them was prepared to have a high class job and since they could not get better housing, they had no otherwise that to make shanties their new homes (The History Place, 2000).

They were highly discriminated by the locals and in fact this is one of the main reasons that made them to live under poor conditions. Many of the Irish people were Catholics unlike the locals who were largely Protestants. The Americans feared this mass Catholic migration of unskilled and uneducated Irish workers because they were scared of the effects the Irish would have on the economy and their way of life (Valentine, nd).

The Irish immigrants were forced to take poor and dangerous jobs in the United States of America. They had to work as coal miners, and also in the building of canals and railroads. Whenever there was a strike by the unionized workers, the employers would go for the Irish immigrants. Such actions increased resentment by the locals against the Irish people. Due to great discriminations and harassment, the Irish people were forced to form militia groups aimed at protecting themselves. Eventually as they continued with their stay in America, their living conditions improved and they managed to get better jobs though still not official ones. Some became carpenters, firefighters, teachers and plumbers (Carson, 2010).

Conclusion
 It is clear from the essay that the main reason why the Irish immigrated to the United States was as a result of poverty and starvation as an aftermath of the potato famine. The people were tired of the situation and were looking for any better place that would provide a meal on the table. Those who had migrated to the United States earlier usually would send letters home describing the place as a land of opportunities. This led to large immigration voyages. The most ironical fact however is that though they were running from the problems, they landed in other problems raging from discrimination, poor housing and dangerous jobs.