The Irish immigrated to the United States in large quantities during three separate intervals in history. The first period was during the 1700’s. The majority of emigrants during this time were young Irish men who left Ireland in search of the land of opportunity. These men disembarked on their journey by boarding ships headed for North America with destinations such as: Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. By 1776, approximately 250, 000 of these early emigrants had succeeded in making way to America. (The History Place, 2000)
The second wave of emigrants took place from 1815 to 1845. During the 30 year time period, practically one million Irish had successfully immigrated to the United States. These Irish emigrants had come to America for the same reason as earlier emigrants. They had high hopes of finding better labor and living conditions then what was present in their homeland. For at that time Ireland became more and more impoverished and oppressed. (The History Place, 2000)
The third surge of emigrants came during Ireland’s potato famine. During this era the Irish had no choice but to leave Ireland due to a failure of their main crop, potatoes. These emigrants knew if they chose to stay in native lands the ultimate sacrifice would be death. So yet again the Irish began another venture to unfamiliar lands. Throughout the famine years another one million Irish emigrants made their way to the United States, escaping starvation that would have eventually led up to death. (The History Place, 2000)
All the while the Irish became victims of prejudice, segregation, and racism; for these immigrants were not only Irish but catholic as well which made matters far worse for these individuals in a new land. There was much division and racism present, due to the many differences the Irish had in comparison to others. The immigrants unwillingly became segregated because the only housing they could afford was poorly constructed huts and shacks. Despite all the racism...