Irish Immigrants In Early America Essay - 1351 Words

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†¦show more content†¦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 Ââ€" accompanied their resettlement in America (241). Employment wasnt offering an answer to the undesirable living conditions due to the Irishs 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 offeredShow MoreRelatedIrish Immigration in America Essay1737 Words   |  7 PagesUniversity Journey to America Story of the Irish in Antebellum America HS101 - US History to 1877 William J. McMonigle - 3055083 Friday, October 28, 2005  When many think of the times of immigration, they tend to recall the Irish Immigration and with it comes the potato famine of the 1840s however, they forget that immigrants from the Emerald Isle also poured into America during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 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