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  1. Irish Americans

  2. Most of the 19th-century Irish Catholic immigrant families settled primarily in the Northeast and Midwest port cities such as Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Buffalo, or Chicago.

  3. In the beginning of the early 19th century, many Irish migrated individually to the interior for work on large-scale infrastructure projects such as canals and, later in the century, railroads. http://www1.assumption.edu/ahc/irish/overview.html

  4. They often became precinct leaders in the Democratic Party Organizations, strongly opposed abolition of slavery, and generally favored preserving the Union in 1860, when they voted for Stephen Douglas.

  5. Irish in the South.

    1. Although most began as unskilled laborers, Irish Catholics in the South achieved average or above average economic status by 1900. David T. Gleeson emphasizes how well they were accepted by society:

      “Native tolerance, however, was also a very important factor in Irish integration [into Southern society].... Upper-class southerners, therefore, did not object to the Irish, because Irish immigration never threatened to overwhelm their cities or states.... The Irish were willing to take on potentially high-mortality occupations, thereby sparing valuable slave property. Some employers objected not only to the cost of Irish labor but also to the rowdiness of their foreign-born employees. Nevertheless, they recognized the importance of the Irish worker to the protection of slavery.... The Catholicism practiced by Irish immigrants was of little concern to Southern natives.”
  6. Irish immigration had greatly increased beginning in the 1820s due to the need for labor in canal building, lumbering, and civil construction works in the Northeast.

  7. The large Erie Canal project was one such example where Irishmen were many of the laborers. Small but tight communities developed in growing cities such as Philadelphia, Boston, New York and Providence.

  8. What cause the reason to leave Ireland and immigrated to America?

    1. Many of the Anti-Catholic Penal Laws were repealed in the 1790's and Catholic Irish were able to immigrate to America. Irish Immigration to America significantly increased in the early 1800's, inspired by the American ideals of "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness". Shipping company agents placed immigration advertisements in Irish newspapers and journals. Posters were displayed in Irish towns and villages.

    2. Irish Immigration to America in the 1800's rocketed as Ireland was devastated by the Irish Potato Famine (1845-1849) and the potatoes in the fields of Ireland turned black and rotted in the ground. The devastation of the Irish Potato Famine, the 'Great Hunger' is hard to imagine. People were faced with death by starvation. Thousands of men, women and children resembled skeletons with wasted limbs and emaciated faces. Ireland was filled by the endless crying of malnourished, starving children. The Irish Potato Famine led to terrible associated diseases such as typhus and dysentery. Highly contagious typhus was named the 'Black Fever' as it blackened the skin. The Irish Potato Famine was made even worse by unusually harsh weather conditions as Ireland was subjected to bitter cold gales of snow, sleet and hail. Between 1845-1849 the population of Ireland dropped from 8 million to 6 million due to death from starvation or emigration.
  9. Prejudice and Discrimination had followed the Irish Immigration to America, especially against those who adhered to the Catholic religion. The massive Irish presence across the nation and the political power they held the cities concerned many Americans who had been highly influenced by the British aristocracy's view that the Irish were ignorant, uneducated and volatile people who had to be kept under control. The belief in Nativism fuelled prejudice and discrimination against immigrants from Ireland and led to xenophobia, the irrational fear of foreigners leading to racism and ethnic conflict. The US government had passed laws restricting immigration which appeared to support and sanction Nativism. The prejudice and discrimination towards Irish Immigration to America was based on the fear of foreigners, unemployment, the Catholic religion and customs. The integration of Irish migrants with Americans was slow, due to the establishment of the "Irish" neighborhoods in the towns and cities and the prejudice of American workers fearful of losing their jobs.

  10. Over 7 million Irish people immigrated to the United States, the majority of which were Catholic. It is estimated that 40 million Americans can trace their ancestry to Ireland and nearly all the population of Ireland have relatives in the United States.

  11. https://www.pbs.org/destinationamerica/usim_wn_noflash.html

  12. https://www.irish-genealogy-toolkit.com/Irish-immigration-to-America.html

  13. https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and...to-the-us-a-brief-migration-history-1.2409960

  14. Major Irish American cities:

    1. Philadelphia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Irish_Americans_in_Philadelphia

    2. Boston - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Irish_Americans_in_Boston

    3. Louisville - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Irish_in_Louisville

    4. Buffalo - http://buffaloah.com/h/irish/
  15. Now for this scenario, presume if the potato famine didn't happened, and many people who fled Ireland immigrated to Canada, Australia, South Africa, Argentina, and New Zealand for more economic opportunities. What might’ve replaced the Irish if the Irish never have emigrate to America? Who would be hired as laborers on canal building, lumbering, and civil construction?
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