Irish Immigrants In America

10 Pages 2562 Words

r of Ireland. His reign deeply wounded the Irish by lowering their status to one that was less than human. Their rights were stripped away, and they were left helpless at the hands of the greedy Brits. Gloomily, conditions got worse for the Irish people. They could not contend with the gluttonous British soldiers who took away their property whenever they desired to do so. Wealthy Protestant landowners evicted the Irish from their homes and forced them out on the streets. They struggled dearly to stay alive. They had nothing to depend on—no land, no food and no rights. The Irish people were forced to live like scavengers—eating rotten food and living on the streets. This sparked extreme hatred among the Irish for their British neighbors.
This anti-Irish movement lasted for hundreds of years. Conditions were intolerable and immigrating to America was their only hope for survival. Their journey, referred to as—the American Wake for these people knew they would never see Ireland again, was a long and hard one. For the majority, it meant months of saving up to pay for the boat ride to the New Land. Since most could not afford to send the entire family at the same time, many relatives were separated. For the lucky, it sometimes took years to find their loved ones. But there were lots of unlucky immigrants who never found their ancestors. Those who pursued the exodus to America did so only because they knew their futures in Ireland would be filled with more hardship, poverty, disease, and English repression. America was their last hope for survival. Early immigrant letters described America as a land of surplus and encouraged others to follow them through the "Golden Door." These letters were publicized and read at social events reassuring the young to accompany them in this glorious new country. They did not know if their journey would offer a better life, but the conditions in Ireland were so bad that they continued t...