Underlying Factors to the Irish Emigration to America
Numerous factors led to the Irish immigration to America in the nineteenth century. Overpopulation is an underlying factor in emigration as it creates pressure on the land. Approximately two-thirds of Ireland’s land was for small-scale farming, following the adoption of farming practices from grazing by the proprietors between 1785 to 1815 (Pooley & Whyte, 2021). The priests of that era also championed small tillage by embracing tenantry. The increase in food production and income from the war led to increased fertility rates among the Irish. During that period, the population of Ireland increased from four million to more than eight million, decreasing the land’s ability to sustain it.
The post-war period caused hardships for most native Irish. Several people lost their source of income through unemployment and subsequent reduction of wheat prices. Many were evicted and hence rendered homeless, making emigration an attractive option. The availability of passage fees is also another factor that made emigration possible for most impoverished Irish. The Great Famine that ravaged Ireland because of potato blight led to massive Irish emigration to America.
The abrupt end of the war in the early nineteenth century precipitated the emigration. The soldiers who had been drafted into the war found themselves without an income. Additionally, the war-induced high wheat prices declined suddenly while the landowners refused to lower their rental fees (Pooley & Whyte, 2021). Several inhabitants had no homes and no steady income, forcing them to leave Ireland for America. The Great Famine also precipitated the event as the shortage of the staple food resulted in deaths of more than a half a million Irish.
Course of the Historical Event
Some Irish Catholics moved into the USA as early as the 1700s. However, the first massive wave of emigration occurred between 1820 and 1840 (Kenny, 2019). Many people left their native country to move to America due to poverty that encompassed tenants due to post-war effects. They could neither sustain themselves from their livelihood nor pay rent. The second wave occurred during the period of the Great Famine that killed one million Irish. 1.6million Irish immigrants moved to the USA between 1841 and 1851 and comprised almost half of the residents in the host country (Kenny, 2019). The number of Irish immigrants almost tripled in 1933.
Proprietors were key participants during this event as they refused to lower their land rates despite the dwindling wheat prices as they led extravagant lifestyles. Landlords had access to the House of Commons, with some holding political positions hence influencing policy on rents and dispossessed tenants of their lands (Pooley & Whyte, 2021). Additionally, property owners offered to pay for the passage fee of their impoverished tenants to move to America (Pooley & Whyte, 2021). Middlemen leased land from landlords and exacerbated the already high rental fees (Pooley & Whyte, 2021). Since most tenants could not pay the rent, the intermediaries evicted them and relet the property.
The landlords and middlemen looked for profits to sustain their exorbitant lifestyles while tenants were concerned with meeting their basic needs with decreased incomes. The different pursuits led to the eviction of many tenants and their subsequent poor welfare. The ejected tenants harbored hatred for the intermediaries and saw the new tenants as threat to their prosperity (Pooley & Whyte, 2021). They set up uprisings that frustrated the new tenants by burning down their produce and killing their livestock. There were no established laws and substantial evidence to attain justice for the new tenants (Kenny, 2019). The unrest worsened Ireland’s economy and provoked emigration.
Immediate and Long-Term Consequences of Event to American Society
The immediate consequence of Irish emigration to America was religious conflicts. Most of the Irish immigrants were Catholics, and the born Protestant Americans considered them a threat to their religion and treated them mercilessly (Doyle, 2021; Ruist, 2021). The Irish immigrants also presented a threat to labor conditions among the natives. The Irish were willing to work at lower-than-average wages, worsening the labor conditions for the natives (Ruist, 2021). The emigration also led to increased racial segregation among the former immigrants. The Irish are Nordic, a class superior to the southern and Eastern Europeans (Kenny, 2019). The ranking granted them cozier access to occupational and educational opportunities, climbing the social ladder. Currently, the Irish domineer the Catholic Church and American politics.
Historical Evidence Supporting Impact of the Event
The religious conflicts led to riots and the destruction of property. In 1931, the Protestant Americans set the St. Mary’s Catholic Church ablaze in New York City to discourage the Catholic faith (O’Hanlon, 2017). The Protestant Americans and other immigrants who moved to America before the Irish formed associations such as the nativist American Party to respond to the threat of culture dilution from foreign influences (O’Hanlon, 2017). The party was against foreigners and Catholics and led many uprisings against them, especially in Philadelphia, resulting in their deaths in 1844 (Doyle, 2021). The upper caste of Irish granted them privileges that helped them gain social standing and political influence despite discrimination. In fact, in 1960, John F Kennedy, an Irish, was elected as president of the USA (Kenny, 2019). The priests, ordained workers, and board members of most Catholic churches in America are Irish.
References
Doyle, A. (2021). Irish speakers and their experience of emigration to North America. Roczniki Humanistyczne, 69(11), 63-88. Web.
Kenny, K. (2019). Two diasporic moments in Irish emigration history: The famine generation and the contemporary era. A Journal of Irish Studies, 9, 43–65. Web.
O’Hanlon, O. (2017). Models for movers: Irish women’s emigration to America. Irish Studies Review, 25(4), 518-520. Web.
Pooley, C. G., & Whyte, I. (2021). Migrants, emigrants, and immigrants: From Irish countryside to American city. Routledge.
Ruist, J. (2021). Causes and consequences of global migration. Anthem Press.