Introduction to Immigration from 1845–1870

In 1845, the potato crop failed in Ireland. An estimated 500,000-1,000,000 Irish died of starvation. Millions emigrated from Ireland, fleeing not only famine but also oppressive tenancy and inheritance laws. The crisis in Ireland sparked a great wave of immigration to the United States. Many of those who fled the Great Famine immigrated to the United States, England, Canada, and Australia. The mass of Irish migration left an indelible mark on Irish culture in Ireland and abroad.

The story of these Irish immigrants is captured in this chapter through letter, song, and poem. The lyrics of "Poor Pat Must Emigrate" recount the tale of troubles in Ireland that forced many sons to search for work abroad. "No Irish Need Apply" laments discrimination faced by Irish immigrants, though historians debate whether employment ads including the phrase "No Irish Need Apply" were a common occurrence or a cultural myth. "Mise Eire," a recent work describing the difficulty of women making the passage across the Atlantic, demonstrates how the memory of Great Famine-era emigration continues to shape Irish culture.

The mass immigration of Irish also sparked an anti-immigrant backlash. In the United States, anti-Irish violence erupted in New York and Boston. The Know-Nothings, a poltical party advocating anti-immigrant and anti-Catholic policy directed against the Irish, reached their brief zenith. Some Irish-Americans responded in-kind, becoming one of the most organized political forces in New York and Boston during the nineteenth century.

The Irish were not the only immigrants to arrive in the United States from 1845 to 1870. Many German political dissidents sought refuge in the United States after a series of failed democratic revolutions in 1848. The passage of the Homestead Act encouraged immigration and naturalization by promising a free 160 acres of land on the frontier. As depicted in "Departure of a Colony of Emigrants at Train Station," German and Scandinavian immigrants played a key role in settling the American west through the establishment of farming colonies and towns.

Finally, this chapter also highlights non-European emigration. The "California 'Anti-Coolie' Act of 1862" discusses the strong anti-immigrant sentiment surrounding the arrival of the first wave of Chinese immigrants to the west coast. At the height of the slavery debate, some abolitionists advocated African American emigration from the United States to Liberia, an African nation established as a haven for former slaves. "Liberia" and "The Home of the Colored Race" discuss the promotion of Black emigration and the motivations of its champions.