1800-1850

Allie Hales & Corrie Haynes

Irish Most were potato

farmers Most were poor and

lacked a decent education

Roman-Catholicism was the main religion

German Uprooted farmers Political refugees Were not nearly as

poor as Irish, and lived in a stable environment

Not a very religious group of people

• They were under British rule• The food they grew was either contributed

to the soldiers, or their land was taken over due to war

• Potatoes became the main crop in order to restore the need for food, because they were not labor intensive and grew quickly

• In the 1840’s, not only were the farms taken over by the British, but also the potato crops began failing, and food became scarce

• Due to this lack of food and governmental issues, over one million people left Ireland

Germany was not a unified nation until 1871

Many people were also involved in politics, but had to leave the job due to the fail of democracy

They left due to crop failure, but were not dependent on it for life, unlike the Irish

IRISH They desired to earn

wages for their families back home

They wanted a change in their surroundings, and new opportunities such as factory labor versus farming

GERMAN Due to political

failure, they were looking for a safe haven, a democratic government, and new opportunities, and America fulfilled all the requirements

They mainly settled in Boston and New York As poor as they were, many were forced to

settle in the slums They desired more of an urban lifestyle, in

hope to get away of the farming lifestyle 2 million Irish arrived between 1830 and

1860 Most Irish stayed together and settled in

one main area

Most Germans settled in the west, particularly in Wisconsin and Texas, Pennsylvania, Indiana and Ohio

They didn’t need to work in the big factories in the large cities, because they had enough money to form farms of their own

The Germans typically spread out more than the Irish, impacting the voting system

The jobs were largely hated in the big cities, and some people refused to hire them (NINA). When they were hired, it was a low pay job in a factory

Some were also forced to work on railroads and canals, where many were killed due to “accidental” explosians

Many picked up farming again once they were settled in the Mid-West

Hardly any Germans took factory jobs because they were Amish, and did not believe in those advancements of technology

Conestoga Wagon Kindergarten Kentucky Rifle Christmas Tree Beer (also from

Irish)

Amish Germans Horse drawn

Carriages Farming without

technology No electricity,

except for at night Prayers during

meals No telephones

They were Catholics, so they were disliked by the Protestants already living in the big cities

They enjoyed alcohol too much

1. Thomas A. Bailey, Lizabeth Cohen, David M. Kennedy, The American Pageant (Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company, 2006), 13.