Antonia Research Essay

Submitted By mcman120
Words: 1197
Pages: 5

In the mid-1800s Irish Immigrants left Ireland due to a terrible famine. They decided to come to America for a better life and jobs, but only found racism by the natives and low paying hard labored jobs. In the article “Emigrants from Erin” written by Ronald Takai, he describes the hardships of both female and male Irish immigrants in there working conditions. Even though Irish female and male immigrants both worked long hours at hard labored jobs, the males worked outdoors in terrible conditions constructing canals and railroads and fighting the Chinese for jobs, while the females worked as house servants tending to the children and cleaning the homes of the wealthy while competing with the black females for jobs. Male Irish immigrants did not have it easy in the 1800’s working in the new America because the only jobs they could find were hard labored jobs. The jobs they were given were the first jobs possible. They were either jobs that were outside building railroads or digging in canals while being swarmed by bugs and in knee-deep water. The working conditions were bad and the jobs were so dangerous that a lot of Irish men died. In “Emigrants From Erin” by Ronald Takaki he describes that the Irish were treated bad and that the jobs that the Irish males would do were so terrible that slave owners would not even let there slaves do them because they were worth something. “Indeed, the Irish had high accident rates, for they were frequently assigned to the hazardous jobs” (Ronald Takaki 147). The jobs were hazardous and they were assigned to them because no one else would do them. “ A Connecticut ax manufacturer explained that he employed the Irish as grinders because the death rate due to accidents was so high he had difficulty finding “Yankees” to do this dangerous work” (Ronald Takaki 147). Which left the only people to hire as the Irish. The Irish males were ranked lower than dogs. They worked days and nights for small pay while being looked down upon by the British people and just about everybody else. Not only were the Irish male Immigrants fighting to stay alive while they worked the dangerous terrible low paying jobs, but now they had to face another force that kept them from getting a job. In “Emigrants From Erin” by Ronald Takaki, he explains how the Chinese work force took over the job market. They dominated and left the Irish males with no work and no chance of survival. The Irish attempted to make a Labor Union that went on strike for higher wages, but it ended up not succeeding. “Within three months after their arrival in North Adams, the Chinese workers were producing more shoes than the same number of white workers had been making before the strike” (Ronald Takaki 148). This shows how the Irish were quickly being replaced by another race that would do the same job faster and better at a lower rate of pay. “ Through the use of Chinese labor, Sampson had widened his profit margin: the weekly saving in labor costs was $840, or $40,000 a year” (Ronald Takaki 148). This lead to more and more companies replacing the Irish workers with the Chinese. The Irish than found it hard to survive which led them finding themselves ranked lower than the black people. At the bottom, the Irish tried working with the Chinese and finding a median by joining together in a union that ended up not working out. This led to the Irish with less jobs and hated more by the natives which then lead to the Irish being more racist towards any race that stood in there way. With the Male immigrants struggling to stay alive not just at work, the women Irish Immigrants were getting better and less dangerous jobs. In “Emigrants From Erin” Ronald Takaki, he describes in the 1830’s the woman were starting to America and in more numbers than the males. They found jobs in the servant market and in factories. If they didn’t work in factories they became maids and or house servants for wealthy upper class families, which included more pay, but