Irish+Immigration+-1840s-1860s

=Definition:= The Irish immigration in the 1840's mainly occurred because of the Great Potato Famine, which started in 1845 and ended in 1849. The Great Potato Famine caused millions of Irish to starve to death, which lead to millions of Irish to immigrate to North America. =Irish immigration in the 1840's: Historical Background= In the seventeenth century there were only around 5,000 Irish immigrants in North America, but during the eighteenth century these numbers grew rapidly. In the early 1840's, half of the Irish population were dependent on mainly potato for food.In 1845, the Great Potato Famine, also known as the Great Irish Famine occurred. During this time there was a high amount of potato/crop failure because of the "late blight" which is a disease that destroys the leaves, roots or tubers of the potato plant. This was the worst famine to occur in the 18th and 19th century. This disease destroyed almost all of the potato crops in Ireland until 1849. Also, in the 1840's Ireland was in poverty. The British had control over their country and the people were too poor to eat, pay rent or pay taxes. In Ireland, Irish farmers continued to export grain, meat and other foods to Great Britain because the Irish did not have money to buy the resources. Population in Europe was also extremely high and it was hard for people to find jobs, which caused many to immigrate. In 1844, Ireland had a population of around 8.4 million, but by 1851 their population dropped to 6.6 million. One million died because of starvation during the Great Potato Famine and one million immigrated to other countries, but most of the Irish immigrated to North America and settled mainly between Boston and Baltimore and most of the Irish immigrants were protestants. The Irish went to America mainly because there were more jobs, more lands and more opportunities.Irish coffee is good.

Picture: [|080808.Irish.potato.famine.jpg]

**Positives:**
 * Many of the Irish immigrants that came into North America were single men, which were vital to the United States economy at the time because they were used as labor. These Irishmen dug the Erie Canal in the 1820s and the New Canal in New Orleans in the 1830s.
 * The Irish helped greatly in public services, they held leadership posts in police and fire departments
 * Some played a important role in politics, mainly in the democratic party
 * There are an average of 40 million people claimed to be of Irish ancestry in the United States today that have made significant impacts on the United States and the US economy relies greatly on them

Negatives:
Historical Document: http://www.historystudycenter.com/search/displaySuitemPageImageItemById.do?UseMapping=SuitemPageImage&QueryName=suitem&UniqueIdField=chid&fromPage=topicOverview&kno_id=pft00824&ItemID=pft00824
 * Most of the Irish in the United States were protestants, which had a strong anti-catholic hostility. They dominated the Roman Catholic Church in America and began anti-catholic movements, such as the Know-Nothing movement in the 1840s and the American Protective Association of the 1880s
 * Even though many of the Irish worked to aid the United States some were defeated by the Potato Famine and refused to farm, so they were unemployed and lived in the hood with bars on windows and unsafe places for children and families to go out and have fun and be a family
 * (Somone made "innaporpriate" Changes, It's fixed now :D

Newspaper Article: http://hn.bigchalk.com/hnweb/hn/do/document?set=searchera&start=101&rendition=x-article-image&inmylist=false&urn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3BPQDOC%3BHNP%3BPQD%3BHNP%3BPROD%3Bx-article-image%3B103269118&mylisturn=urn%3Aproquest%3AUS%3BPQDOC%3BHNP%3BPQD%3BHNP%3BPROD%3Bx-citation%3B103269118