The Ghost of Duffy's Cut

The Ghosts of Duffy’s Cut depicts a period in history in which Irish immigrants migrated to America with the hope of being able to take advantage of the opportunities that living in a new world had to offer. However, upon arriving to U.S. shores, many immigrants were subject to social inequality, exploitation, and living in harsh conditions. The tragic deaths of the fifty-seven Irish men on Duffy’s Cut exemplify how the causes and effects of immigration, industrialization as well as disease were all significant indicators of problems the Irish living in American in 1832 and thereafter were destined to face. There were several factors that caused an influx of Irish immigrants to migrate to America. Some of these factors include poverty, and unemployment. For example, “Most of them came because of civil unrest, severe unemployment or almost inconceivable hardships at home,” (Irish and German Immigration). The Irish immigrants believed that coming to America would offer an escape of the poor living conditions and the harsh reality of being unable to care for oneself or family. The general hope was that America would offer peace, stability, job opportunities, and an overall better future. For instance, it is recorded that, “From 1820 to 1870, over seven and a half million immigrants came to the United States — more than the entire population of the country in 1810,” (Irish and German Immigration). Another significant incident that caused a wave of Irish immigrants to come to America was famine, more specifically the potato famine in 1840’s. As stated before, finding employment in Ireland was quite difficult and a majority of poor families relied on agricultural labor in order to grow and live on potatoes. Watson describes how important this crop was to Irishmen: “These “potato people” spent their entire lives in back-breaking agricultural labor to gain access to a plot on which to grow a nutritious but fickle crop. Even in the best of agricultural cycles,

References: "Irish Ships to America: Famous Ships of Irish." Irish American Journey. N.p., n.d. Web. 31 Mar. 2013. <http://www.irishamericanjourney.com/>. Ushistory.org."Irish and German Immigration." U.S. History Online Textbook. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 Apr. 2013. <http://www.ushistory.org/us/25f.asp> Watson, William E., Ph.D., Francis J. Watson, John H. Ahtes, and Earl H. Schandelmeier, III. The Ghosts of Duffy 's Cut: The Irish Who Died Building America 's Most Dangerous Stretch of Railroad. Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006. Print.