Discrimination Irish Catholics and Free African Americans - Essay Example

Discrimination against Irish Catholics and free African Americans Discrimination against Irish Catholics and free African Americans were fostered before the United States Revolution. There were several reasons that discrimination followed these two groups specifically. The three primary reasons for discriminations against Irish Catholics were attitudes carried from the old country (English Protestant against Irish Catholic), religious and immigration issues. African Americans were discriminated against largely due to their color, outspokenness against slavery, and threat to the slave trade business. Nativist considered being American as citizens born in the United States, white, and Protestant. The discrimination against Irish Catholics lessened during and after the Civil War, but the discrimination against free African Americans during and after the Civil War increased. Before, during, and after the American Revolution up until the American Civil War Irish Catholics were discriminated against. The first reason for the discrimination was attitudes carried from Europe. Since the Reformation spread in England, resulting in Henry VII breaking off with the Pope, Protestants clashed with Catholics. Protestants were the majority of settlers and founders in the United States. The government, schools, and social aspect of the United States was built upon Protestant values. This attitude led to the discrimination against Irish Catholics. The second attitude concerned the Irish and English long standing dispute over the English rule in Ireland. These attitudes from the old world carried over into the new world. Religious differences also were used to justify discrimination against Irish Catholics. Protestants were frightened that the Pope would try and conquer or exert control over the newly formed United States if the Irish Catholics settled in the new land. For the Protestants practicing Catholicism meant disloyalty to the United States, due to a Catholic’s allegiance towards the Pope. The United States had just held a successful revolution against a king; they did not want to be subjects of another one. Even though this logic seemed far fetched, many Protestants feared Catholic domination. Finally, other ethnic groups wanting to fit in with the Protestants discriminated against the Irish Catholics in order to be more American. For example, German Protestants would discriminate against Irish Catholics to fit in better with the new Protestant society. It did not matter what ethnic group an individual was from in the United States, but whether or not the group agreed with the Protestant inspired government. Free African Americans were discriminated against for several reasons as well. The first reason was their color. Most Europeans were white. The founding fathers were white. The white man did not see the black man, free or slave, as equal. To acknowledge that free African Americans were equal to the white man would be condemning slavery. This would imply that slavery was wrong, even though practiced in the Southern states. This meant that black individuals had to be inferior in the eyes of Americans before the Civil War. The free African American’s color set him apart, staining them from blending into society. Free African Americans were also discriminated against due to their anti slavery stance. In the South, some free African Americans owned slaves, but mostly free African Americans only bought family to free them. The majority of free African Americans believed slavery was wrong. This meant that they worked to free other African Americans. This went against society norm, especially in the South. Free African Americans were paid salaries. Repugnant, morally, as it sounds during that time slaves were a commodity, property to be bought and sold. If all of the slaves became free, then a lucrative business would go bankrupt. Slave owners would lose their way of life. Their workers would have to be paid. They would also lose the slaves’ monetary value. Slave traders, before being stopped, brought slaves into the United States and make hundreds of times what it cost to transport the slaves from Africa. Free African Americans contradicted the foundations of this trade. Discrimination on this basis was frequent. A movement came about called Nativistism. Nativists were Protestant, white, and born in the United States. They were against immigration, Irish Catholics, and free African Americans. Nativists believed that immigration would flood people without Protestant values into the United States, thus changing the societal and political structure. Since Irish Catholics were a close knit group, Nativists believed that they would take over and push their values off on the Protestant society. Free African Americans should be returned to Africa in the Nativists’ opinion. Some of the Nativists’ arguments are used today in arguing for tougher immigration laws. The American Civil War brought about changes in attitudes toward the Irish Catholics and to an extent the free African Americans. Irish Catholics, despite popular beliefs, were patriotic. Many joined the Union army, fighting and dying alongside their fellow Protestant neighbors. This show of loyalty allowed for discrimination to lessen against this particular group. Another cause for the lessening of discrimination against Irish Catholics was the lower immigration rate. The Civil War tightened restrictions on immigration. The Civil War also made it less desirable for immigration. The bloodshed in the United States was like nothing the war had ever seen, no one wanted to immigrate and end up going or sending someone to fight and die in this brutal war. While the discrimination against the Irish Catholic diminished during and after the Civil War, discrimination against free African Americans escalated. Once the Proclamation of Emancipation freed all slaves, African Americans became hated. In the North, people blamed the African Americans for the war that killed so many. In the South, people blamed the African Americans for destroying their way of life. Until the Civil Rights Movement, Jim Crow laws put the discrimination on the law books. African Americans were considered not equal to whites. Just because slavery ended did not cause attitudes to change. Even today discrimination against African Americans exists. Laws can try to make every citizen equal, but until attitudes change, discrimination will always exist. All that can be done is to teach one’s children to value a man by their thoughts and not their skin. Irish Catholics and free African Americans never felt the same discrimination. Although hated, Irish Catholics were white. They could blend in if they chose to. Free African Americans could not assimilate due to their skin color. This is probably another reason for the lessening of the discrimination against Irish Catholics during and after the Civil War, but also the reason for the escalation of discrimination against free African Americans. Discrimination against Irish Catholics and free African Americans were a problem for the beginning of colonization in the North American Continent. The reasons for discriminations against Irish Catholics were attitudes carried from the old country, religious and immigration issues. African Americans were discriminated against because of their color, outspokenness against slavery, and threat toward the slave trade business. Nativist considered being American as citizens born in the United States, white, and Protestant, despite the fact Americans come in all colors and ethnic backgrounds. The discrimination against Irish Catholics lessened during due to the loyalty show in the Civil War, but the discrimination against free African Americans during and after the Civil War increased due to the hardships endured during the Civil War. Reference Gjerde, J. (1998). Major Problems in American and Ethnic History: Documents and Essays. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company. Read More