Casket Ships to President

From Casket Ships to President


Ice laced wind bit clear through the rail thin, sick woman as she and dozens of others huddled on the docks waiting to board another ship bound for the United States. Starved, weak children clung to equally starving parents or siblings to hungry and cold to cry or fuss. Famine and death descended upon the land of Ireland like a Biblical plague sweeping over the potato crops and kissing them with soft dewy like mold destroying the main staple food of the Irish. Millions suffered in long lingering misery before embracing death’s cold grip. Others scrapped what strength they had left and headed to the Land of Plenty.
The journey across the ocean was long, hard, and many died at sea. The bowls of the ship where they were crowded together was hot, windowless, lacked sanitation, ventilation and exploded with bacteria, disease and still, there was not enough food or water. Those who died were tossed over board without a second thought. Still millions did make the journey and survived.
New York and Boston were the main ports the immigrants first stepped on American soil. Boston at the time was a predominately puritan city now being over run by Roman Catholics and many feared this to be a plot between the Pope and the Irish to over take the United States and convert the nation to Catholicism (Peck, 1988 p.12). In 1884, deadly riots over religious unrest between the Irish Roman Catholics and the Anglo Saxon Puritans rocked the Boston streets for three days. Two Roman Catholic churches burned. Arch Bishop John Hughes, fearing the same kind of violent outbreak in New York dropped in on the Mayor and firmly told the Mayor that if even one of the Roman Catholic churches in the city was harmed then the Irish would see to it that the entire city of Manhattan burned. Not one church was touched (The History Place 2000).
It was soon discovered that these new arrivals were willing to work hard, were loyal and didn’t back down when challenged. Soon a rivalry between the Irish and the Blacks flared over the menial, unskilled, hard labor jobs. The settling of the Irish into the American melting pot was not a quiet blending. Jobs were scarce and with “NO IRSH NEED APPLY” signs in every place of business, stress, competition and hostility were thick. It was in the hot, dog days of summer, in July of 1863 when tempers were at the prickliest that once again the Irish and Blacks clashed in deadly force resulting in eighteen Blacks beaten and murdered and over five million dollars of property damage in the city (The History Place 2000). The chance for these two snarling groups to clash once again came when, due to a lack of jobs the Irish joined the military by the thousands and fought in the Civil War.
The desire to join in the war was not simply to clash with the Blacks. Since they arrived on US soil, Irish immigrants were forced to live in squalor, filth and sub-human conditions. The anti-Irish sentiment resulted in thousands of homeless. An estimated 1500 sick, starved children begged and roamed the streets. Crime exploded as these unattended children sunk into stealing, fighting and drinking. Those who did find shelter had it no better. Slumlords took the homes of the rich landowners that fell on hard times due to the war and turned each room into living space then, crammed as many humans into the space as possible. At the time, no regulations existed thus no fire and safety codes were enforced, no sanitation, no ventilation, no utilities were provided. Those “lucky” enough to have a roof over their heads were charged an outrageous dollar and a half sometimes per week. In such unsanitary conditions cholera and disease infested these cramped communities and was rare for children born in this time to reach their sixth birthday and those who immigrated rarely lived longer than six or seven years after reaching America (Peck 1988).
Since the time of the Knights of Templar, Irish men were known for their militant strength and fierce battle skills. In New York an all Irish militant group known as the 69th New York Regiment marched into the Civil War battle and helped bring victory at Bull Run, Antietam, and Gettysburg. The war was the turning point in the settling of the Irish. New respect and attitudes developed as they proved their strength in the war. Soldiers who returned who once toiled in backbreaking jobs such as building the railroads, canals and coal mining, gave way to more skilled labor of running factories, holding political offices, and many using skills they had in the military found positions in the police and fire departments. The Irish have a deep love of news and current evens and many newspapers popped up over the cities where the Irish were fanning out and re-settling.
The Irish brought with them a rich tapestry of theater, story telling, music, dancing and this was not strangled in the Irish’s struggle for survival. Indeed, it strengthened their love for merriment. Tight Irish communities centered on their strong Catholic faith and the church. They grew and became tightly woven even to the point of reverse discrimination. Outsiders were not welcomed into these communities with open arms. Irish women were strong, God fearing ladies that worked equally as hard as their men folks. They took jobs as maids, cooks, nannies, nurses, and tended the elderly. Despite poor wages and hard times, Irish women were shrewd bookkeepers and gave generously to the church. Which in turn, their gifts resulted in the development of charity banks and schools. Irish children were taught very well.
The Irish developed a strong political interest and understood that to survive and move up the racial food chain they needed power. Intelligent and knowing that by sticking together they could accomplish impossible feats, the Irish campaigned and won many political positions. Their ultimate victory rested on the great grandson of a potato farmer Patrick Kennedy who immigrated to the US from the Mother land in 1849. The great grandson was not raised in luxury. Indeed he was raised humbly in a farmer’s house. He attended mass and was educated in one of the Irish schools. The great grandson, John Fitzgereld Kennedy became the first Roman Catholic to take the reigns of the United States of America’s White House when elected as the 35th president.
Out of all other minority groups to immigrate to the US, and starting at the very lowest rung in the US social structure the Irish represent what America is all about. They did not wait for the US to accept them and make room for them. No. They hiked up their skirts, rolled up their sleeves and pulled themselves up by their boot straps and whipped butt. They stuck together and put their foot down when pushed. America is the richer and the stronger for it. Even in modern day, Irish immigrants are considered the cream of the crop. They do not have the communication barriers a lot of immigrants experience. The majorities are well educated and have very marketable skills. They are heavy newspaper readers, well informed and not at all shy about jumping in and contributing to society as productive members. US hospitals, facing an alarming lack of qualified nursing assistants have begun recruiting nurses and assistants directly from Ireland (Kraft 1993). Indeed, the Irish have arrived and with them have blessed the world’s melting pot with a rich and vibrant potpourri of skills, folklore, theater, art, and culture.



References

Irish Potato Famine, Gone to America (2000). The History Place. Retrieved December 14, 2005 from www.historyplace.com

Kraft, Susan (1993, March). Listening to America’s Irish Echo. American Demographics. Retrieved December 12, 2005, from http://web1.Infotrac.galegroup.com

Peck, Ira (1988, May 6). How Three Groups Overcame Prejudice. Scholastic Update. Retrieved December 12, 2005, from http://web1.Infotrac.galagroup.com