Class and Religious Background in Ireland

Class and Religious Background in Ireland

According to Fogelman (1998), the significant presence of Irish Immigrants in North America started in the 17th century with a small anonymous trickle of immigrants, less than 5.ooo people. The numbers started to soar in the 18th century. This author points out that curiously, most of the immigrants from Ireland were not the Irish Catholics who were impoverished but were the Scottish immigrant descendants who were largely Presbyterian. The Scottish immigrants had settled in a place known Ulster at the beginning of the 17th century. The first significant wave of immigrants into North America took occurred from 1717 to 1718 and was mostly comprised of Ulster Presbyterians (Fogelman, 1998).

What motivated them to come to America?

Older histories have stressed the political and religious discrimination which the Presbyterian women and men experienced for not being subscribers of the church of Ireland (Miller, 1998). Besides the political and religious discrimination back at home, the Ulster’s Presbyterians also faced economic-related changes that further pushed them into perceiving North America as a better alternative. The growing burden of hyped Ulster rents in the 18th century, as well as a severe depression at home in the linen industry, particularly in the 1760s and the beginning of the 70s, also contributed significantly to their immigration to North America. Linen trade affected the Irish people psychologically and culturally and encouraged them to leave their lives as peasant farmers. Since they traded with North America in the linen business, they were more aware of the possibilities lying in this new colony. The regular trading between Northern Ireland and the colonies provided them with ships used to escape to North America. Back at home, they also experienced occasional excessive cold and droughts. For these reasons, they periodically emptied in the 18th century (Wilson, 1995).

How they maintained their ethnic heritage

Despite the numerous pressures that made pushed them to forget their ethnic heritage and which made the Irish-American identifications optional, they never stopped to consider their identity as being Irish-Americans. Instead, they found other meanings for their Irish identity (Doyle, 1989). They discovered their identity and heritage in the republican nationalism revival, especially with the increasing cases of Northern Ireland conflicts. A wave of new immigrants escaping economic troubles from home also brought with them unique Irish identity definitions from the generation of previous immigrants and those born in the new land. As a result, the Irish people started to understand their identity and heritage through each other’s form of Irish culture. Moreover, in the 1950s, the traditional Irish dance and music almost disappeared but was rejuvenated with the folk-music boom that took place in America in the 1960s. As a result, Irish people’s folk dance and music became prominent in North America and the entire America in the 20th century. The Irish culture further became popular owing to Irish University study plans and the increasing importation of their fiction and drama from 1980 to 1990 (Doyle, 1989)

How they adjusted and assimilated into the Anglo-based American Society

According to local political landscape or configurations, the immigrants influenced the American Revolution by playing essential roles (McGowan, 1999). The Scotch-Irish in New Jersey and Pennsylvania were considered to be patriot zealots while those in California as being ambivalent concerning the conflict. The revolution helped the Irish Presbyterians break down the barriers to their success, which they had known since 1776. This revolution helped ease their assimilation into the new land’s society. In 1900, more than half of the immigrant women were domestic servants, while one-quarter of the Irish-born men were day laborers and unskilled workers (Diner, 1983). Only a small number of immigrants had white-collar jobs. The second-generation Irish immigrants were unique from their parents because they were better skilled and did blue and white-collar jobs. To further ease their way into society, the second generation had intermarriages with Americans and embraced the popular emerging urban American culture (Ferrie, 1999).

How they gained Political Power

In 1798, some Irish emigrants or refugees united or brought together an Irish Rebellion, impacting the new nation powerfully. This group rapidly became the Jeffersonian Democratic-Republicans leaders. The leaders wrote pamphlets, books, and edited newspapers, organized political campaigns, and clubs, which made it possible for them to secure triumph for their political party against the Federalists (Erie, 1999).