dings here I cant endure since here no longer I can stay.I take my lot and leave this spot and try the land of liberty.(Takaki, 142)One of the major incidents leading to the Irish immigration to America was the Great Famine, also known as the Potato Famine. Many Irish citizens who refused to leave their country obtained small lots of land to grow potatoes. Many Irish existed in poverty and existed on a diet based almost solely on potatoes. However, in 1845, a new blight destroyed about 40 percent of the potato crop in Ireland.(Takaki, 143) The potato disease reappeared annually and led to the eventual death of approximately one million people.As a result of the famine, many Irish families were unable to come up with the money to pay their rents and they were evicted, giving the landlords more area for livestock production. The famine continued, and the death rate increased. Professor Takaki states So many people died that corpses were placed in reusable trap-coffins with hinged bottoms. For the living, the choice became clear: emigrate or suffer destitution and death.(144)Between 1855 and 1920, three million Irish immigrated to America.(Takaki, 146) The Irish immigrants joined in the competition with the immigrants from other various countries for jobs in the New World. They had been promised a land of opportunity, yet they had a long road ahead of them. The Irish were responsible for working on projects such as the National road in Pennsylvania, and waterways such as the Enfield Canal, the Blackstone Canal, and the famous Erie Canal in New York. While the Irish helped to construct the young United States, the Americans labeled the immigrants as inferior and discriminated against them often. They were continuously given jobs which had been proven to be the most dangerous, simply so that a white American would not have to perform the task. Irish women and girls had no choice but to find jobs in cluttered, windowless factori...
