american black

             Midterm Essay #2: Topic #2 "Irish and African Americans"
             In the period of vast immigration into the United States and within it, the Irish and African Americans are very closely related in their experiences as immigrants and their experiences during and after their immigration. Their origins, flows, economic incorporation in the United States, settlement and socio-political adaptation was a little different but it had some similarities. Both groups were "pushed" and "pulled" out of their native lands by the same type of factors, and the problems that they faced were similar. The Push Pull theory and the Network Theory can explain their experiences as immigrants.
             The Irish migration to the United States was caused by many factors, but there were a few major ones that caused most Irish citizens to consider the migration to the new world. The Irish came from Ireland to escape many hardships that plagued them. First and foremost was the potato famine that was wide spread throughout Ireland. A fungus ate away most of the potato crop (I, 146) and since most of the economy was based on agriculture and the potato crop was a key product, the economy took a tremendous hit. Widespread unemployment, food shortages ran rampant throughout the country. Also the colonization of Ireland by the English government did not help the situation at all. The government was oppressive and did very little to ease the problems of Ireland during this harsh time. But also outside factors pulled the Irish to come to America. Labor recruiters from the United States ran ad campaigns and sent recruiters to Ireland to get the citizens to pack up and leave for America. They promised steady jobs, high wages and a quality of life that was far superior to that of Irelands (I, 146). So not only were the Irish being "pushed" out of the country by hardships, but also they were being "pulled" into America by th...

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