Irish Immigrants in 19th Century Canada
Of all the ethnic groups to migrate to British North America, theIrish are perhaps the most neglected and ignored in Atlantic Canadianhistory, the reasons for which are varied and complex.[1] The Scottish settlers are widely acknowledge, after all Nova Scotiameans New Scotland, and the French identity is strong from when the areawas united under the title of Acadia.[2] The English have a long Maritimeshistory basing most of the colonial war with the French, and the AboriginalCanadians existed in the area at least one thousand years before any of theothers.[3] However, since European colonization began, the Irish havealways been present, with the largest concentration in Saint John, NewBrunswick, a primary immigration port in the New World, and a city withstronger connections to Ireland than Boston, Massachusetts.[4] In factSaint John was the destination for more than thirty thousand Irish fleeingthe Potato Famine in Ireland between 1845 and 1854, with roughly sixteenthousand of them arriving during 1847, called Black 47 due to the fact thatit was the worst year of the famine.[5] Moreover, a large number of Irishmoved to Miramichi to work in the lumber camps.[6] Miramichi and the res
"[29] According to regulations at Quebec, all passenger ships coming up theSt. '"[26] The Irishimmigrants who had been promised clothes, food, money and told an agentwould pay two to five pounds to each family on arrival to Quebec, wereforced onto Government and private charity. "[12] Still, a large number of Irish made their way tot the islandprovinces of Prince Edward and Newfoundland, two areas which most resembledIreland, especially the coast land of Newfoundland, and were ideal for thetype of agriculture and fishery the Irish were accustomed. [37]By May 29th, thirty-six ships with 13,000 on board, all with fever anddysentery waited and by May 31st, forty ships were waiting at Grosse Isle,extending in a line two miles down the St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 1996, Shelia Copps, Minister ofCanadian Heritage, announced plans for a national historic site to be builtat Grosse Isle to commemorate the thousands of Irish immigrants who diedthere, buried in mass graves. Lord Palmerston, either by himself or his authorized agent should have exposed such a numerous and distressed portion of his tenantry to the severity and privations of a New Brunswick winter. "[8] Although, the Irishpopulation has dwindled through the years due to inter-marriages, eventoday most New Brunswickers can trace their ancestry back to Ireland. [42] Theonly persons who could be persuaded to help were despicable characterswhose only interests were preying upon the weak and robbing the dead. So great was the fear of illness that eventhe nearest relatives abandoned each other whenever they could. [25] Adam Ferric, a member of the Legislative Council of Canada, wrotea furious open letter to Earl Grey, the British Colonial Secretary onDecember 11, 1847, denouncing the landlords and describing the "hordes ofhalf-naked, starving paupers, including aged, infirm, beggars and vagrantswho had been shipped off to 'this young and thinly populated countrywithout regard to humanity or even to common decency. unprovided with the common means of support, with broken-down constitutions and almost in a state of nudity. [15] More than half a million Irish had immigrated to British NorthAmerica by the 1850's and today the descendants of those immigrantscomprise more than ten percent of the Canadian population. [9] Most of the Irish in Nova Scotia lived in Halifax, however, largenumbers of Irish could be found in Pictou, and on Sydney on the island ofCape Breton, and in the village of Arichat on the Isle of Madame aswell. [34] The hospital atGrosse Isle was built to house only 150 cases, however, four days later,eight more ships arrived with a total of 430 fever cases, and more than 200immigrants were forced to stay aboard ship due to the overcrowding at thehospital.
Common topics in this essay:
Grosse Isle,
English Canadian,
Secretary December,
Montreal Gazette,
Irish Atlantic,
North American,
Census Commissioners,
Lord Palmerston,
St John,
Dr Douglas,
grosse isle,
irish immigrants,
british north,
british north america,
prince edward,
saint john,
nova scotia,
north america,
st john,
irish population,
waiting grosse,
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Acceptance Essays
