Irish Immigrants to the United States of America - Research Paper Example

Those who chased and sought after this pathway did so merely because they understood their impending future in Ireland would only be filled with more impoverishment, malady, and English subjugation. Accordingly, America became their ultimate dream, and for many, their last opportunity in having a better and brighter life. Many Irish emigrants suffered greatly as they travelled to this land, which they believed to be a land of hopefulness, opportunities, but most importantly, a land of complete freedom and happiness.

In The History Place, it is said in an article about the Irish people’s experience, that the Irish emigrants to the United States arrived in masses on overcrowded ships, branded Coffin Ships because the conditions were so deplorable; these ships were, for the most part, not even sea worthy. The coffin ship owners stipulated hardly any food, water, and occupying space. They provided only as little as was lawfully doable, if they followed the laws at all. These people boarded the ships to escape The Great Irish Famine, a time of mass famine, illness and migration that started from 1845 until 1852.

In addition, many who were on board were also on the ship to escape the Highland Clearances, the enforced dislocation and slaughter of a substantial number of Scottish Highlanders throughout the 18th and 19th century. The Highland Clearances was an outcome of an agronomic revolution or enclosure implemented by the British administration and Scottish property-owners. Although coffin ships were the most inexpensive method to traverse the Atlantic, death percentages of 30% onboard the ships were widespread.

Many people have said that sharks were observed shadowing these ships, since there were exceedingly countless bodies tossed overboard. When they finally stepped foot on American soil for the first time and lived their lives in America as immigrants, adversity and suffering did not get any easier or lesser. America hated them. The Americans were in dismay of their arrival. No group was regarded and treated more inferior than an Irish in America all throughout the 1850s. They were tricked and deceived by many.

Before arriving, landlords had assured them of money and provision. They promised an agent who would come to the ports to meet and give them money. However, no agents ever did come. Promises of provision such as basic food and water had been outright fabricated. Their lack of familiarity and know-hows of the nation evidently led to being frequently defrauded and cheated at every turn, overpriced for scanty accommodation and poorly paid for labor. They were taken advantage in every conceivable way.

In America, free land did not entice them. They cast off the land as the land casted them off. The Irish gripped together in clusters. These immigrants were evidently unwanted in America. They were left with no other choice but to dwell in basements and crude shacks, partially because of paucity but also because they were deemed unhealthy and unfit for the community. As they resided