The United States has always been known as "The Land of Immigrants." People from all parts of the globe have traveled to America, to be free from oppression, disease, and hunger, or simply to start a new life. Many different people of different culture, race, and religion have made their mark and helped to shape the American culture. One of the most influential immigration movements in American History is the Irish Immigration.During the 18th century the Irish slowly began their migration to America. Centuries of oppression from Protestant English rule had forced them to live very poor lives under strict rules, in some cases having to renounce their Catholic beliefs and having to abandon their Gaelic language (Watts 23). There were few Irish in America until 1845, when a disease struck the potato crops of Ireland, wiping out the chief, and in some cases only, source of food for many poor farmers. This continued for the next five years, killing over 2.5 million people. Many Irish said "God put the blight on the potatoes, but England put the hunger upon Ireland." The Irish farmers did have other crops and livestock but they were all shipped to England as rent for the landlords. Without the rent money the starving Irish would not even have a home (Considine 50).In the years to come, hundreds of thousands of Irish immigrants saved all the money they could to send a family member on the journey across the Atlantic. It was their pain and suffering which powered them and gave them the strength to survive. The ships were overcrowded with immigrants, where disease and hunger followed them and many more died on the journey. Upon arrival at the ports of the United States, the immigrants were described as being "demoralized and confused" (Walt). The Irish men fought, in many cases physically to get labor jobs of long hours and low pay. The women worked manly as servants called "Brigets," to upper class families. In the south, mainly...
