The Assimilation of the Irish: An Historical Look

The potato famine in the 1840s in Ireland caused more than 1 million Irish immigrants to immigrate to the United States (Baba, 2007). Along the way, the immigrants were forced to face harsh conditions, such as small living quarters and poorly cooked food (Baba, 2007).

Once they arrived in the United States, things were even more chaotic. Peddlers boarded the ships to deal directly with the immigrants and cheated the Irish out of their money, selling them tickets to the wrong destination. Ellis Island was opened after Castle Garden Receiving Station was charged with allegations of corruption. However, Ellis could only process around 5,000 people each day, forcing several thousand to remain on the ships for several days until they had room for them at Ellis Island. (Baba, 2007).

Once the immigrants had been accepted into the country, they lived in conditions where they shared rooms with at least one other family. Often these places had no indoor plumbing or running water. Sewage collected in outhouses attracted rats, which then spread disease to the children (Baba, 2007).

When the Irish tried to find work, they were given only the lowest paying jobs which required little skill. The pay was often under 75 cents for a 10-12 hour day of demanding work. Irish women were only allowed to work one of two types of jobs, a domestic servant or a factory worker. Although the domestic servants worked longer hours, these were preferred over the factory jobs, often considered dangerous and low-paying (Baba, 2007).

As many more immigrants came to American, the hatred toward the Irish among Americans grew. Irish were thought of as lazy and stupid and were called by the term "Paddy", which was a derogatory term. Cartoonists drew the Irish looking like apes, with jutting jaws and sloping foreheads, which contributed to the discrimination that the Irish received (Baba, 2007).