The Role Of Immigrants In The 19th Century
They say that America is the melting pot of the world. Certainly, many different people from many different countries, and with very different worldviews came to America and made it their home. But perhaps some of those people, and indeed, some of their cultures, melted easier than others. Almost all immigrants struggled with assimilation, but the promises of a new life, and the cruel reality of their old one, made immigration worth it for many. America offered practically free land in the Louisiana purchase and the California and Oregon. High wages, and later, gold, stimulated immigrants to pursue their fortunes in America. And above all, America supposedly had peace. Wars, famines, and revolutions rocked the world, but in the early to middle nineteenth century, America stayed relatively peaceful. Immigrants frequently found their monetary dreams realized in America, but when times got hard they often met ridicule and discrimination from people there. Although large numbers of Germans, Irish, and Chinese immigrated to the United States during the mid-1800’s, the three groups received radically different receptions to the New World. Although the bulk of Irish immigration to the
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United States did not commence until the mid-nineteenth century, a sizable group of Irish also emigrated in the early 1800’s and even before. However, many of these early immigrants were Scots-Irish from northern Ireland. A majority of them, whether Presbyterian, Methodist or Quaker, believed staunchly in Protestantism, strongly contrasting to the nearly entire Catholicism of famine era immigrants. By 1768, they had founded multiple religious communities and churches, including Wesley Chapel in New York City, the first Methodist church in America (6). These Scots-Irish typically possessed enough capital to travel west, buy land and begin farming. Many settled in the Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and especially Pennsylvania. There, they rapidly assimilated into American culture. However, the bulk of Irish immigration occurred in the decade or so after 1845. In that year, a blight devastated Ireland’s potato crop, a staple for much of the population. After Ireland’s unification with Britain in 1801, many Irish Catholics were severly persecuted. The protestant British prhobited them form owning firearms, horses, or land, among other things. Many Irish farmers in their struggle to survive, rented small plotw sof land, and grew potatoes, suplemented by turnips and cabbage to feed their familes. By 1845, 4 million Irish relied on potatoes as their staple food source. When the blight first hit in 1845, it wiped out one-half to three-fourths of Ireland’s potatoes, and in subsequent years, it destroyed the crop entirely (3).
Since the diseased potatoes could not be eaten, food prices soared. Over a million people perished from starvation or disease, and up to two million more immigrated to escape the disaster (6, 8). The famine decimated Ireland’s population, and, if anything, worsened the poverty and suffering for the remaining people. Some of the famine Irish immigrated to Britain and Australia, but most headed for America.
Many went directly to the United States via New York or Boston, but up to 100,000 Irish took the cheaper “timber ships” to Canada (3). Immigrants suffered deplorable conditions in almost all routes, but these were the worst. Captains crowded as many people as possible onto their typically small ships, and passengers very had little room or fresh air. Food, water, and other supplies often ran low, compounding the passengers’ problems (6). Diseases like Cholera and Typhus ran rampant, and mortality among immigrants going through Canada could have reached 30-40 percent (3). Irish immigrants who traveled directly to the US fared slightly better, but they still faced many of these same
conditions. Once in America, Irish immigrants faced even more trouble. Upon arrival, sick persons were quarantined until they recovered or died. The typically poor, illiterate, rural farmers spoke only Irish and no English, and thus became easy targets for “runners” to sell phony boat and train tickets as well as shabby housing for exorbitant prices (4). Having no money to go further, over ninety percent stayed in or near cities on the East Coast. There they formed tightly knit ghettos in the cheapest areas available, often in slum-like conditions. Overcrowding, poor supplies, and unsanitary conditions led to extremely high rates of disease and death. More than half of Irish children died before they reached six, and adults fared little better after emigrating (4). Though they escaped death from the famine, Irish families initially found little improvement in America. The sheer number of Irish immigrants coming to America also caused problems. Of the 2 million immigrants, a quarter of Ireland’s population, almost all were strong Catholics. This influx of people nearly swelled Catholicism to the largest denomination in the US. Many citizens falsely viewed this as the papacy gaining power in the US, and sacked and burned Catholic churches across the nation (4). Many citizens also held discriminatory views against the Irish because they worked for low wages. This led to the formation of the Know-Nothing party, which blamed the Irish for an increase in crime, poverty, disease, and unemployment. Public opinion stereotyped the Irish as stupid, lazy, drunken criminals (6). Employers refused to hire Irish on this basis, ending job listings with the clause, “No Irish need apply” (3, 8). Irish immigrants faced severe discrimination because of their beliefs and work ethic. But however disliked, the Irish did fill much needed positions in the American workforce. The Industrial Revolution created an insatiable demand for cheap labor in transportation, and manufacturing. Irish immigrants took any unskilled labor they could find, and in the process, they built America’s infrastructure. The Irish built the railways and trains, roads and streetcars, and canals and steamboats, that connected the East coast. Other Irish worked as coal miners, factory workers, and to a lesser extent, farmers (6, 8). They drove streetcars, conducted trains, and dominated the fields of police, and firefighters as they were created. Ironically, women outnumbered men in immigration to America, the only immigrant group to do so. Socially, they had more freedom than women of other groups, and often delayed marriage to immigrate and find work. High demand for servants, housekeepers, nurses, chambermaids, laundresses, and cooks meant that many found employment in one of these fields (6). While both men and women immigrants found mostly unskilled jobs, their children and grandchildren worked increasingly in semiskilled and skilled labor occupations (6). Eventually, as the Irish assimilated, their contributions became a vital part of the United States. However, even the Irish were not the largest immigrant group to the United States between 1820 and 1860. That title went to the Germans, who, 3 million strong, made up over a third of of all immigrants during that time period (8). Germans had long held an integral part of American society. Indeed, several German settlers helped found Jamestown, and many more followed them to America. With sold work ethics and farming skills, they became a cornerstone in the agricultural economy of the Middle Colonies. John Peter Zenger, a German printer, helped institute freedom of the press in colonial America, and other Germans played important roles in the American Revolution (5). The young country continued to accept and assimilate more German immigrants into its culture and life throughout the 1800’s. In 1829, an early German settler named Gottfried Duden published a book on his experiences settling land in Missouri. Report of a Journey to the Western States of North America praised the Intellectual freedom and bountiful harvests found in America, and attracted many German immigrants to the New World (5, 9). For centuries, German farmers had split up their land between all their sons, but, eventually the plots became so small that they could no longer provide enough food for their families. Because the German states had little manufacturing, most of the disgruntled German farmers came to the United States to find their own land and start farms (8). Many settled in Wisconsin, which had a similar climate and soil to that in Germany (9). The greatest push, however was the political instability, resulting from the failed revolution to unify the German states in 1848. German immigrants poured into the United States by the thousands; 215,000 immigrants came in 1854 alone (5). The allure of prosperity and freedom in America, combined with the hardships in Germany, persuaded large numbers of Germans to restart their lives in the New World. Unlike the Irish, German immigrants typically came prepared with enough money to travel farther inland and buy property (8). Although New York City, on the coast, retained some 100,000 Germans, Chicago boasted over 130,000 immigrants, and many other mid-western cities had high German populations (9). The heart of German settlement lay in the triangle between St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati, and the Germans made up the majority of the whole population in this area (8). Fewer Germans settled in the South, and of the 70,000 who did, almost a quarter lived in New Orleans (9). By 1860, 1.3 million immigrants to the US had been born in Germany, and they published over two hundred magazines and newspapers, in German, to communicate and broadcast information. Many influential Germans immigrated, and lead very successful lives in America. For example, Charles Schurz, who immigrated in the early 1850’s, eventually became a union general in the Civil War, a US senator from Missouri, and the secretary of the Interior under Rutherford B. Hays. The thousands of Germans who immigrated to the US found success mostly as farmers in the mid-west, and occasionally as businessmen and politicians.
United States did not commence until the mid-nineteenth century, a sizable group of Irish also emigrated in the early 1800’s and even before. However, many of these early immigrants were Scots-Irish from northern Ireland. A majority of them, whether Presbyterian, Methodist or Quaker, believed staunchly in Protestantism, strongly contrasting to the nearly entire Catholicism of famine era immigrants. By 1768, they had founded multiple religious communities and churches, including Wesley Chapel in New York City, the first Methodist church in America (6). These Scots-Irish typically possessed enough capital to travel west, buy land and begin farming. Many settled in the Middle Colonies: New York, New Jersey, Delaware, and especially Pennsylvania. There, they rapidly assimilated into American culture. However, the bulk of Irish immigration occurred in the decade or so after 1845. In that year, a blight devastated Ireland’s potato crop, a staple for much of the population. After Ireland’s unification with Britain in 1801, many Irish Catholics were severly persecuted. The protestant British prhobited them form owning firearms, horses, or land, among other things. Many Irish farmers in their struggle to survive, rented small plotw sof land, and grew potatoes, suplemented by turnips and cabbage to feed their familes. By 1845, 4 million Irish relied on potatoes as their staple food source. When the blight first hit in 1845, it wiped out one-half to three-fourths of Ireland’s potatoes, and in subsequent years, it destroyed the crop entirely (3).
Since the diseased potatoes could not be eaten, food prices soared. Over a million people perished from starvation or disease, and up to two million more immigrated to escape the disaster (6, 8). The famine decimated Ireland’s population, and, if anything, worsened the poverty and suffering for the remaining people. Some of the famine Irish immigrated to Britain and Australia, but most headed for America.
Many went directly to the United States via New York or Boston, but up to 100,000 Irish took the cheaper “timber ships” to Canada (3). Immigrants suffered deplorable conditions in almost all routes, but these were the worst. Captains crowded as many people as possible onto their typically small ships, and passengers very had little room or fresh air. Food, water, and other supplies often ran low, compounding the passengers’ problems (6). Diseases like Cholera and Typhus ran rampant, and mortality among immigrants going through Canada could have reached 30-40 percent (3). Irish immigrants who traveled directly to the US fared slightly better, but they still faced many of these same
conditions. Once in America, Irish immigrants faced even more trouble. Upon arrival, sick persons were quarantined until they recovered or died. The typically poor, illiterate, rural farmers spoke only Irish and no English, and thus became easy targets for “runners” to sell phony boat and train tickets as well as shabby housing for exorbitant prices (4). Having no money to go further, over ninety percent stayed in or near cities on the East Coast. There they formed tightly knit ghettos in the cheapest areas available, often in slum-like conditions. Overcrowding, poor supplies, and unsanitary conditions led to extremely high rates of disease and death. More than half of Irish children died before they reached six, and adults fared little better after emigrating (4). Though they escaped death from the famine, Irish families initially found little improvement in America. The sheer number of Irish immigrants coming to America also caused problems. Of the 2 million immigrants, a quarter of Ireland’s population, almost all were strong Catholics. This influx of people nearly swelled Catholicism to the largest denomination in the US. Many citizens falsely viewed this as the papacy gaining power in the US, and sacked and burned Catholic churches across the nation (4). Many citizens also held discriminatory views against the Irish because they worked for low wages. This led to the formation of the Know-Nothing party, which blamed the Irish for an increase in crime, poverty, disease, and unemployment. Public opinion stereotyped the Irish as stupid, lazy, drunken criminals (6). Employers refused to hire Irish on this basis, ending job listings with the clause, “No Irish need apply” (3, 8). Irish immigrants faced severe discrimination because of their beliefs and work ethic. But however disliked, the Irish did fill much needed positions in the American workforce. The Industrial Revolution created an insatiable demand for cheap labor in transportation, and manufacturing. Irish immigrants took any unskilled labor they could find, and in the process, they built America’s infrastructure. The Irish built the railways and trains, roads and streetcars, and canals and steamboats, that connected the East coast. Other Irish worked as coal miners, factory workers, and to a lesser extent, farmers (6, 8). They drove streetcars, conducted trains, and dominated the fields of police, and firefighters as they were created. Ironically, women outnumbered men in immigration to America, the only immigrant group to do so. Socially, they had more freedom than women of other groups, and often delayed marriage to immigrate and find work. High demand for servants, housekeepers, nurses, chambermaids, laundresses, and cooks meant that many found employment in one of these fields (6). While both men and women immigrants found mostly unskilled jobs, their children and grandchildren worked increasingly in semiskilled and skilled labor occupations (6). Eventually, as the Irish assimilated, their contributions became a vital part of the United States. However, even the Irish were not the largest immigrant group to the United States between 1820 and 1860. That title went to the Germans, who, 3 million strong, made up over a third of of all immigrants during that time period (8). Germans had long held an integral part of American society. Indeed, several German settlers helped found Jamestown, and many more followed them to America. With sold work ethics and farming skills, they became a cornerstone in the agricultural economy of the Middle Colonies. John Peter Zenger, a German printer, helped institute freedom of the press in colonial America, and other Germans played important roles in the American Revolution (5). The young country continued to accept and assimilate more German immigrants into its culture and life throughout the 1800’s. In 1829, an early German settler named Gottfried Duden published a book on his experiences settling land in Missouri. Report of a Journey to the Western States of North America praised the Intellectual freedom and bountiful harvests found in America, and attracted many German immigrants to the New World (5, 9). For centuries, German farmers had split up their land between all their sons, but, eventually the plots became so small that they could no longer provide enough food for their families. Because the German states had little manufacturing, most of the disgruntled German farmers came to the United States to find their own land and start farms (8). Many settled in Wisconsin, which had a similar climate and soil to that in Germany (9). The greatest push, however was the political instability, resulting from the failed revolution to unify the German states in 1848. German immigrants poured into the United States by the thousands; 215,000 immigrants came in 1854 alone (5). The allure of prosperity and freedom in America, combined with the hardships in Germany, persuaded large numbers of Germans to restart their lives in the New World. Unlike the Irish, German immigrants typically came prepared with enough money to travel farther inland and buy property (8). Although New York City, on the coast, retained some 100,000 Germans, Chicago boasted over 130,000 immigrants, and many other mid-western cities had high German populations (9). The heart of German settlement lay in the triangle between St. Louis, Milwaukee, and Cincinnati, and the Germans made up the majority of the whole population in this area (8). Fewer Germans settled in the South, and of the 70,000 who did, almost a quarter lived in New Orleans (9). By 1860, 1.3 million immigrants to the US had been born in Germany, and they published over two hundred magazines and newspapers, in German, to communicate and broadcast information. Many influential Germans immigrated, and lead very successful lives in America. For example, Charles Schurz, who immigrated in the early 1850’s, eventually became a union general in the Civil War, a US senator from Missouri, and the secretary of the Interior under Rutherford B. Hays. The thousands of Germans who immigrated to the US found success mostly as farmers in the mid-west, and occasionally as businessmen and politicians.