Though it was hard to live in Ireland in the 19th century, living in America wasn’t any better. The Irish knew that coming to America they were leaving Ireland never to return there again. They had no idea what was a head for them. They boarded ships to America called Coffin Ships. Once they docked in America they realized that this was going to be a battle for survive.
Once in America there were these men who would swarm aboard the ships and they would grab immigrants and their bags trying to force them to their tenement house and then they would fee them for their services. As the poor immigrant had no means of moving on, they settled in the port of arrival. Almshouses were filled with these Irish immigrants. They begged on every street. They were not wanted in America. Ads for employment often were followed by "NO IRISH NEED APPLY." They were forced to live in cellars and shanties, partly because of poverty but also because they were considered bad for the neighborhood...they were unfamiliar with plumbing and running water. These living conditions bred sickness and early death.
The Irish came to America just in time. The country was growing with all the different people from around the world coming. There was a demand for men to do the “heavy work”. The Irish did most of this “heavy work”. The heavy work they did was building bridges, canals, and railroads. This work was hard and dangerous. A lot of Irish men died under these unsafe conditions. The Irish women would chamber maids, cooks, and the caretakers of children. The early Americans said "Let Negroes be servants, and if not Negroes, let Irishmen fill their place..." America also called for unskilled factory workers. The Irish children would be sent off to work in factories instead of going to school. So as you can see the Irish weren’t treated the best.
So why in the world would the Irish want to come to America? The conditions they had to live under weren’t good here at...