conspiracy’ on this side of the Atlantic.” Violence was breaking out at times in the city. However, this was only the beginning. The disastrous potato famine in Ireland brought new waves of immigrants seeking shelter in the New World. They came in by the tens of thousands, during what we know call the “Black Forties.” They would use their life savings to make the journey from Ireland in the dark, putrid holds of cargo ships, and would arrive in Boston penniless, destitute, and sick. In 1847, the city opened its doors to over 37,000 new immigrants - over seven times the four to five thousand immigrants a year that Boston had previously had. This new wave of Irish Americans was not as sturdy or skilled as the last wave. They were looked even more down upon because of their sickly and weak conditions. Without any schooling or training, the Boston Irish became what one historian called “a massive lump in the community, undigested and undigestible.” Yet, in spite of this adversity, the Irish immigrants began to triumph. As more and more Irish populated the city of Boston, the more power they began to have. Many Protestants felt threatened and smushed in the city that they built. They began to retreat to the suburbs and the Irish moved into the areas they vacated, such as the movement into South Boston. With these moves to other parts of the city, they created demands for new services for themselves and their families. With this increased population of Irish immigrants came new found strength with in the community. One could begin to see many more Irish-Americans in the political scene and in the community as a whole – “they were a maturing community, becoming conscious of their power and assertive of their rights.” This was the beginning of the Irish-Catholic political dominance of Boston politics that is still present today. Before the Civil War, there had only been one Irish man on ...
