Irish Immigration To North America Essay

519 Words3 Pages
During the 1800's, the Irish people relied on the farming and eating of potatoes grown on land that was not owned by them. The land they grew their crops on was owned by strangers. In 1845, a horrific disease hit potato crops all over Ireland. The wilting of all potato crops lasted five years and brought them starvation, disease, and death. This brought the immigration to North America. These immigrants from Ireland came to New York,Quebec, Boston, Baltimore, and Philadelphia. They settled on the east coast of the United States and in the British North America.With them, the Irish brought their heritage, customs, and religious backgrounds. The potato was healthy and easy to grow in the wet soil along with the oats and wheat in their diet. More…show more content…
During their journey across the Atlantic many Irish people did not make the trip. They would travel by themselves in order for them to save money and then send money to the families that would later join them. This way many were able to come to North America. Many were then treated like servants because of their poor start. They would work for factories,maids,cooks and other servants so they could learn the value of trade or so they could pay off their debt from traveling. Although the weak economy lead to the immigration,the famine was an important reason why millions of Irish people left their homeland.There was a growing demand for workers in Britain and in North America and many felt that history would only repeat itself and decided to leave quickly. But this caused the North American living to be poor since so many had this idea. The house they lived in were few and far between and also they housed many families at a given time. The ones that were available were extremely expensive. This caused many families the share with one and another meaning some would live in each others backyards or even the alleys that surrounded the houses in the city.Life was difficult in North America for the early
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