Would other immigrants (or even the Irish without the desparation caused by the famine) have been willing to work for as many hours, for as low wages, or in such unsafe factories? Would other immigrants have pushed their children into the workforce?
Since it's the 19th century, probably.
 
Would other immigrants (or even the Irish without the desparation caused by the famine) have been willing to work for as many hours, for as low wages, or in such unsafe factories? Would other immigrants have pushed their children into the workforce?

French-Canadians could - in fact they were often accused by other working-class people (especially, guess what, Irish-Americans) for acting like scabs to drive down wages and provide an incentive for management to not improve conditions. Add onto that a foreign language and other factors and you can guess what happens next. Though I have to say a Catholic Church with mixed French-Canadian and Portuguese heritage would definitely be different from a Catholic Church with Irish/Irish-American heritage.
 
I wonder: Without the xenophobic reaction to the immigrants who arrived as a result of the Potato Famine, would there ever have been a push for alcohol prohibition? If not, would women's suffrage have ever happened?

Without the workforce provided by the Irish immigrants, would the Gilded Age have ever happened?

I'm not sure what anti-Catholic prejudice itself has to do with women's suffrage, TBH: there were both Catholics and Protestants who supported it, as well as opposed it on the other side. And yes, barring the possible-if highly unlikely-rise of a dictatorship of some sort, there will be women's suffrage at some point.

A thought I just had. The Greek War of Independence fails. The Greeks begin to migrate due to the Ottoman Empire cracking down on Greece. But whoever the people are you need to have a large enough base population to start with.

That's an idea.

Aaron Burr's Mexico then. Perhaps it buys both oregon* and alaska* while keeping central america on board. Basically we'd have something like Sobel's USM but bordering a US/canada/belize instead of the CNA.

* For the brits to spite the americans
* California gold buys alot

Interesting thought as well, though how would they be able to convince Irish immigrants that Mexico was the place to be?
 

I think it would depend here on how the POD makes the famine not happen. There were other foods that could have been given to the Irish to keep them going if the British had made a great effort to substitute for the potatoes loss. If so then there more then likely a famine will not occur in the future as the world economy changed.
 
The Famine accelerated the rate of Irish immigration but it had already started pre-famine and was only set to get larger as shipping technology improved. C19th Ireland could have industrialised a bit more than OTL, notably had a larger woolen industry (the Ulster linen industry already expanded to the point where it could satisfy the global market OTL) but is hampered by the limited quality and amount of domestic coal supplies. And agricultural improvement is already dictating increasing farm sizes pre-famine too. The Irish would have gone elsewhere rather than stayed at home. They wanted a better life just like everyone else and emigration was seen as the best method of achieving this. Have a listen to Murshin Durkin (reputedly written pre-Famine) and, again if the song is to be believed, Katy Daly's father got shot pre-Famine as well. OTL Britain, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and South Africa had Irish immigration and would get more. TTL, Brazil, Argentina and probably Belle Epoque France would get some too.
 
Northern Ireland did industrialize OTL along the large navigable rivers of the Bann and the Lagan. However this was despite a number of disadvantages compared to England and Scotland. Firstly Irish coal reserves are much less and of inferior quality. Secondly much less iron and copper to be mined (though reasonable quantities of lead and zinc) and no tin. Thirdly much lower levels of ceramic quality clays (though enough around Belleek to support one major pottery). Fourthly, sheep farming levels were relatively low pre- Famine which meant there wasn't an indigenous wool supply compatible to that available in Yorkshire. Given these disadvantages (Northern)Ireland did very well. Textile firms like Dunbar McMaster and McCrums were world class and the Belfast Rope Works the largest in the world. And a generation or two later on Harland and Wolff were world leaders in shipbuilding. However there are problems with primary resources that OTL limited significant industrialization to the North and Dublin.
See my earlier post on the topic of why why Ireland didn't industrialise in the C19th
 
Without Irish immigrants, there's going to be less demand for canals, lumber, and railroads. So the answer is, nobody will be hired for those projects, since they won't happen.

Poor white and black Americans would've been hired, and would've had more bargaining power to get higher wages.
 
I wonder who the Democratic Party's base would be outside the South. From 1860-1928, the Democratic Party mostly consisted of Irish immigrants + the South.
 
I wonder who the Democratic Party's base would be outside the South. From 1860-1928, the Democratic Party mostly consisted of Irish immigrants + the South.
The Democratic Party's base was not just the Irish, but Northern Catholics in general, as well as White Southerners. Blacks started voting for Democrats in the 1930s, and White Southerners flipped to the GOP in the 50s and 60s, with White Catholics voting mainly Republican by the 21st century.
 
I am thinking that maybe Mexico will attract some of the Irish settlers to the north as long as they do not bring conflict with the natives and they adapt to the languages and so on. The Catholic connection is there
 
What if the need for labor in the USA and the desire for political freedom, leads to greater German immigration to the USA. Would a larger population of German descendants, reduce the chances of the USA entering WWI?
 
The Irish American population wasn't what you might call pro-British. So a higher German American population would probably not have been decisive as they would just replace the Irish as an anti-British constituency.
 
If we avoid mass fatality in the Potato Famine, might the result end up being not less, but more Irish immigration to America? After all, the POD means there are more Irishmen, and thus even greater pressure on marginal farming land and so even greater emigration.

But assuming, for some reason, that we see less Irish immigration than OTL, might we see more Portuguese immigration than historical? While not nationally significant, there is a large community in New England, which is made up mostly of people who came through the Azores and Madeira, and now Cape Verde. Or, in the 19th century, is the pull of Brazil just too overwhelming for any would be Portuguese migrants?
 
If we avoid mass fatality in the Potato Famine, might the result end up being not less, but more Irish immigration to America? After all, the POD means there are more Irishmen, and thus even greater pressure on marginal farming land and so even greater emigration.

But assuming, for some reason, that we see less Irish immigration than OTL, might we see more Portuguese immigration than historical? While not nationally significant, there is a large community in New England, which is made up mostly of people who came through the Azores and Madeira, and now Cape Verde. Or, in the 19th century, is the pull of Brazil just too overwhelming for any would be Portuguese migrants?
I think that the pull of Brazil for Portuguese emigres would be too strong for many to go to the U.S., similar to how there wasn't a lot of Spanish immigration to the U.S., as the pull of Latin American countries like Argentina was too strong.
 
I think that the pull of Brazil for Portuguese emigres would be too strong for many to go to the U.S., similar to how there wasn't a lot of Spanish immigration to the U.S., as the pull of Latin American countries like Argentina was too strong.

Agreed. If they have the chance to go to Brazil, both Catholic and Portuguese-speaking, it's a bit of a no-brainer for most Portuguese emigrants. And Brazil is warmer than New England! And what about some of the Irish going to Brazil as well, as anothrt Catholic country they might find hospitable?
 
Agreed. If they have the chance to go to Brazil, both Catholic and Portuguese-speaking, it's a bit of a no-brainer for most Portuguese emigrants. And Brazil is warmer than New England! And what about some of the Irish going to Brazil as well, as anothrt Catholic country they might find hospitable?

Ireland to Brazil is a bit difficult to decide. They could closer go to Mexico if namely that the USA is closer by. Hmm...
 
Agreed. If they have the chance to go to Brazil, both Catholic and Portuguese-speaking, it's a bit of a no-brainer for most Portuguese emigrants. And Brazil is warmer than New England! And what about some of the Irish going to Brazil as well, as anothrt Catholic country they might find hospitable?
I think that the Southern Cone (Argentina, Uruguay and Chile) would see more Irish immigration than Brazil due to the more hospitable climate (heck, one of the Founding Fathers of Chile was of Irish descent https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernardo O'Higgins), although Southern Brazil could see some Irish immigrants.
 
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