CAPS #2

I have always been interested in Irish American histories however I have never really study the subject and in the course of my schooling did we ever really cover it in depth. For these reason I decided to look at the migration of the Irish peoples to America during the mid 1800’s, one of the largest migrations to America in history.

            In examining the experience of the Irish it is important for move from a history and instead look at a history of the subject. The reasons one must look at histories is in order to fully understand a historic event one must comprehend what exactly was the context of this event. Therefore you cannot just look at one viewpoint or one source because you may get a narrowed view. By exploring many views one can become more fully aware of the context of the situation.

            From 1820-1860 1,956,557 Irish migrated to America, about 75% of which was after the Great Famine that occurred between 1845-1852. Many of these people took up jobs canal building, lumbering, and civil construction works. The Irish also found themselves congregating in neighborhoods in big cities that would quickly become tight nit communities for those who decided to migrate to America. Cities like Boston, Philadelphia and New York, among others, became a hub for the Irish to settle and establish a community in. The Civil War would begin not to long after this great migration and the Irish made up a sizable portion of the Army on both sides.

            By shifting for history to histories we are able to better understand the context of an event. For example if one was to look at American press during the time of this Irish Migration it would appear as though the Irish were lazy, incompetent and troublesome. However this was very far from the truth, not only did they help build the infrastructure of many cities but they also become nuns, teachers and law enforcement. By fully understanding the context we can understand why the American press saw the Irish as they did while at the same time seeing the major contribution Irish Americans have made to our country.