Irish Immigrants In Early America

Before the notorious potato famine, many Irish were moving across the Atlantic to America in hopes of a more prosperous, uncomplicated and trouble-free lifestyle. Irish emigrants looked at America to offer a higher standard of living through high wages and low commodity costs. With the myths of an easily attainable lifestyle existing in America, it is no wonder why later; there were so many potato famine-era immigrants that they established the basis for the significant Irish population and ethnicity in the United States. The emphasis in the last proposition, however, is on the word myth. Many of those fleeing Ireland may or may not have believed that America would offer a prosperous and uncomplicated lifestyle. But most did believe that America offered a better life than that which they were subjected to in their home country.

With the British suppressing Irish citizens and their Catholic religion, a move to America seemed to be the answer to a better life. Irish began relocating in America in search of "the land of abundance". Many referred to the states as the "golden door."

The traveling Irish faced hardships as bad if not worse as they made their way to America. They traveled on ships across the Atlantic under horrendous conditions for an extensive period of time. The ship experience was so horrid that some referred to the ships as coffin ships. Moreover, the land of abundance isn't exactly what the Irish encountered when they disembarked. They were often so poor due to the potato famine that they had no choice but to settle at their port of entry to the states. There, the Irish lived in homes that "reflected both proximity to Irish workplaces and poverty . . . Along the canal corridor and near the docks one found the cheapest housing" (242). Most Irish dwellings had been subdivided to allow several families in one home. The Social Fabric describes American opportunity for the Irish:

Even with the advantage of knowing English, the famine-era Irish had much going against them in America. They had few marketable skills, little education, and no money. Substantial social disorganization, poverty, crime, disease, alcoholism, and family dissolution - accompanied their resettlement in America (241).

Employment wasn't offering an answer to the undesirable living conditions due to the Irish's lack of experience and skills. There was an abundant need for unskilled labor in America but because there were so many people looking for work, the wages remained ultimately low. Pay was often so low that Irish families would supplement their income by selling milk in the cities (242). Because the Irish portrayed an undesirable, under-standard, and unskilled image, job-seekers would commonly see a "NINA" (No Irish need apply) sign in the windows of what could have been prospective employers.

The Social Fabric states that Germans were often found as unskilled laborers also. Actually, Germans outnumbered Irish in unskilled labor positions, but Germans commonly ended up in building, construction or where apprenticeship was available. The Irish rarely saw mobility in unskilled labor jobs (243).

Once a job was found, the working conditions were nothing to look forward to. The pay was very low (around eighty cents per day) and was usually seasonal at that. Predictable hours and shifts were not offered either. Over the course of seven weeks, one man paid his Irish laborers an average of seventy-five cents for a full days work and gave them less than three days work per week (wage records were available on only two of these men). Sometimes men were unable to reach even the average since they were paid on a piece-rate basis (243).

Irish life in America in the early 19th century paints a depressing picture given the working and living situations at hand. The depressing lifestyle of the Irish is a possible reason that the Irish were known for their heavy drinking. "Drinking was deeply integrated both in Ireland and the United States, as part of daily life (246)". Since the Irish often substituted alcohol for meals when they couldn't afford more, or sometimes for religious reasons, it's no wonder why they often turned to drinking to soothe the hardships of their daily lives. The Irish are known by many today as social drinkers, possibly due to the Irish history of social drinking events. Usually males drank socially with other males and women with other females (more common on the male side). The Social Fabric describes a setting where Irish men gathered in a small hut where they could escape the cottages to drink with other members of their social groups: ". . . There was an element of male sport and competitiveness, as well as bonding, about the practice of "treating," by which one established a capacity to drink and spend money." Men were also often provided with whiskey while working because employers wanted to keep them content and occupied at their