1840s and 1850s-

Irish and German ImmigrationTo American Cities

But first I have a question…

Who in here is Irish?

Who in here is German?

The Reasons-Irish

In 1845, there was a rather warm summer in Ireland. Everyone was expecting a huge

potato harvest. However, a potato

blight had found the Irish. A disease had attacked the potato

crop and caused almost all the

potatoes to rot.

There was one main issue with the potato famine-

most people of the lower class depended heavily on the potato as their main

food staple! Because of this major loss of food, many Irish began to starve to death. By 1952, over 1

million Irish citizens had died of starvation. Many

Irish fled to the New World to escape this horrible

famine.

The Reasons-

German

The German immigrants were not truly German- Germany did not exist at

that time. They were really from different

kingdoms around Germany, such as Hesse and Prussia. In these

kingdoms, the monarchs ruled with iron fists. The

common people were paid little, had few rights, and could not find other

jobs.

After the commoners had been fed up with this tyrannical form of government, they

attempted to overthrow their leaders. The revolution was a failure and the leaders began

to persecute their people; many Germans fled to America

to escape this prejudice and persecution.

Some famous descendants of Irish immigrants you might

know…Andrew Jackson- the 7th president of the United States. He was also Scottish.

John F. Kennedy- a completely Irish descendant. He was the 35th president of the United States.

Tom Brady- a quarterback for the NFL. Also an Irish descendant.

Derek Jeter- a person of African, Irish AND German descendant, who is also the shortstop for the New York

Yankees. Michael Phelps- an Olympic swimmer who is of Irish

descent.

Some famous descendants of German immigrants you might

know…Sandra Bullock- the award-winning actress is of German

descent.Daniel Tosh- the host of Tosh.O also has German heritage.

Elvis Presley- “The King of Rock and Roll's” ancestors are originally from Germany

Steve Jobs- the late co-founder and CEO of Apple was of German ancestry, too.

Neil Armstrong- the first astronaut to step foot on the moon had German heritage, also.

Coming to AmericaThere was only one way to get to America- by ship. Posters were hung all around towns, saying a ship left every certain day of the week. Ship companies posted these to entice lower class citizens into traveling to America to gain a better life. In Germany, ships tended to leave from ports like Bremen and Hamburg. Irish immigrants left from Belfast and Londonerry .

Coming to AmericaThe condition on these ships were horrible. There was no space. A family of four was usually wedged into a 6’ by 6’ bunk and forced to stay there. Any child under fourteen was considered half an adult, just so many more people could be crammed onto these ships. For each week, one passenger was given 7 pounds of a grain, and 3 quarts of water. Continuously, since the quarters were so packed, many people became very ill and died on the journey. Most of the time, the passengers were not allowed onto upper deck for fresh air.

Arriving in AmericaAfter a ruthless 40-day journey across the Atlantic Ocean, immigrants would arrive in ports all over the East Coast to be accepted into America. Two of the most memorable ports immigrants disembarked at were ports in New York City and New Orleans.

When immigrants arrived in these ports, they were given physical examination to check for illnesses. If there was any true illness, the passenger was deported to keep the disease from spreading into America. Then the immigrants are given a test to see if they can read, write, and work. They must also have $25 on them.

Adjusting to AmericaOnce inside the border of America, many immigrants began searching for work immediately. Many took low-paying jobs such as bakers, blacksmiths, and tobacco workers. Most women who did not have infants to care for took jobs as maids for rich families or as seamstresses. A good portion more were domestic servants, that did a variety of jobs. These domestic servants could work as many as 16 hours a day.

Very few were hired as workers in skilled professions such as physicians or retail shopkeepers. Just as an example, less than .7% of all doctors in New York were German immigrants. This is out of 31,457 immigrants from 1840-1855.

Indentured servantsThough many Irish and German immigrants came to America searching for work, some didn’t even have the money to pay for the ship ride. Some immigrants had to sell themselves to a richer person for their passage; they would become an indentured servant for as long as 7 years. They would work for no pay for this set amount of time and be given the bare minimum by their master- food, clothing, and shelter.

After researching, it is seen that as many as half the immigrants who emigrated from Germany were indentured servants.

Most immigrants lived in wretched conditions-they weren’t very private, there wasn’t proper ventilation, nor was there comfort. Since both immigrant groups were forced to take low-paying jobs, it was difficult to rise above these conditions and move up among the social ladder.

The reason behind the forcibly given jobs to immigrants was to protect the native-born citizens of the United States. Many natives feared losing their jobs to the immigrants. Books, even, were written about how immigrants were destroying and harming the U.S.

NativesIn 1849, many natives formed a party called a Know-Nothing Party. The reason for the name is because when the members of this party were asked questions by outsiders, they would simply reply “I know nothing.” There were two goals of the Know-Nothing Party: exclude Catholics and immigrants from political office. They also wanted to outlaw any immigrant from becoming citizens before they had lived in the states for 21 years.

The End