1

[student]
[university]
[Instructor]
[Submission date]
 2

It is estimated more than 1.5 million adults and children left Ireland to seek refuge in American
between 1845 and 1855(Klein,2017). The primary reason they left was due to disease and
hunger. Their crops had been destroyed by disease, and they were at risk of starvation and
death. It is believed that more than one million Irish died due to famine, and there was
bitterness and anger against the British because they did little to ensure their Irish subjects
were protected. Even though they moved to the Americas seeking better opportunities, their
living circumstances were very difficult. Ireland was not an industrialized country, and the
majority of its citizens lived in abject poverty. When they arrived in the United States, they
were dressed in tattered clothes, drawing discrimination from the locals. The Irish would arrive
sick, and the government would put them in distilled filled quarantines. The Americans
perceived them as sub-humans, and this made the process of the Irish settling and got
assimilated more arduous.
This Irish immigration to the United States is significant because initially, there was little
immigration to the United States between 1770 and 1830. However, there was a sudden surge
of immigrants to the US from Europe in the 1830s(Moran,2016). The main attraction to the US
was the availability of cheap farmland. Many immigrants were artisans and skilled factory
workers because the US had just begun its industrialization era. The economic conditions in
Europe were poor, and the US was the only option for a better life. The first wave of Irish
immigrants to the US began in the early 1700s, and most of them settled in the upland
interiors. They took part in the American revolution and had west established community by
the 1840s when the second wave of Irish arrived in the US. The second wave escaped the
potato famine and poverty. As more Irish immigrants arrived in the US before the civil, natives
born found themselves competing with the new arrivals for the scarce jobs available. In Lowell,
daughters of New England farmers found themselves competing with daughters of the newly
arrived Irish farmers. The new arrivals were exploited by employers because they were offered
poor wages and working conditions, but they could not complain. The Male Irish immigrants
also accepted poor payers, which meant the natives would have to accept the same if they
were to keep their jobs. Work became deskilled, and any person could easily get a job. The
locals felt their livelihoods were under threat from the Irish migrants, which caused a lot of
general hostility towards the Irish.
The Irish had a huge effect on American society. Even though the US is a country whose
foundation was established by immigrants, there was a general fear against immigrants. The
country made every effort to ensure their entry to the US was restricted. The Nativists felt
threatened by the immigrants because their influence in American society continued to
increase over the years. In the 1840s and 1850s, a sustained anti-catholic, anti-immigrant and
xenophobic society created a political party known as the Know-Nothing Party. It sought to
tame the influence of Irish Catholic immigrants. When the Irish arrived in the US, they sought to
maintain their cultural identities by living in the same neighborhoods. The Natives were not too
pleased because they saw them as the unnecessary competition out to steal their job. The
immigrants were seen as job stealers, criminals and drunks, and worst of all, Roman Catholics.
 3

Religion was the primary factor that causes conflict as a result of immigration. The majority of
the Irish immigrants that arrived in the US were Catholics. This reignited the war between the
Catholics and Protestants that had played out for so long in Europe. The Protests in the US
viewed the Catholics as a threat because they felt their fealty was not the US government but
rather the pope in Rome(Murphy,2010). The Nativists assert the primary goal of the immigrants
is to overthrow democracy and establish a Monarchy. Nativists' organization sprouted, driven
by anti-Catholicism rhetoric. They embraced laws that ensured taming of the Irish immigrants
that were catholic. A law was passed that banned whisked, which was a cherished drink among
the Irish immigrants. The arrived immigrants vehemently opposed this law that was specifically
targeting them. This was during an important historical period in US history. Emerging battles
had emerged between Democrats and Whigs. The primary areas of conflict were the laws
concerning banking and the abolition of slavery. This eventually led to the collapse of the Whigs
party. The Northern Whigs and Democrats were now in a state of Limbo and were shocked a
the pro-slavery policies of the southern Democrats. They banded together in their nativist
organizations and forged a national movement. They form the Know “Nothing party."This was a
covert organization influencing legislation at both the state and national levels. Their
operations were shrouded in secrecy, and they went on to establish branches in almost every
city in the United States. Their main aim was to infiltrate political parties into elective positions
and push for immigration restrictions against Irish immigrants. They look to run for political
office as either democrats or Whigs, and this would only discover when they were already in
office.
In conducting my research on this topic, I hope to answer the following questions: How did the
American party, the Know-Nothings, and their elections of president Millard Fillmore further
affect the Irish assimilation in the 1850s-1860s? Why did Millard Fillmore condone the Know-
Nothings? How was much of their agenda did he accept and believe? Did the "Know Nothings"
pressured into political decisions? What happened during the 1854 St.Louis Riots to further
affect Irish Immigrants?
The search term used for my research includes: American party, Know Nothing, Fillmore,
Millard, Election, Irish assimilation, Irish immigrants in the 19 th century, 1854 St.Louis Riot.
The first secondary source I found is VOLUME 2: THE NEW AMERICAN IDENTITY: Declaration of
Principles of the Native American Convention. Defining Documents: Manifest Destiny & the
New Nation (1803-1859), pp 477-485, by Anna Accettola. August 2013. This article will help to
show how the American Party, the "Know-Nothings," helped push their political agenda to
further their anti-immigration cause.
An additional secondary source is Millard Fillmore: The Limits of Compromise. Thomas J
Rowland. Nova Science Publishers, Inc, 2013. This biography will show, in-depth, the decisions
that Millard Fillmore made before, during, and after his presidency.
 4

The two articles discuss the expansion agenda of the white agenda and their efforts to reinforce
the anti-immigration sentiment against immigrants. The Americans believed it was the God-
given duty to civilize the rest of the world and, as a result, made a deliberate effort to expand
into other territories such as Mexico. However, they strongly believed that the immigrants
would become an impediment towards their efforts and, as such, passed legislation that
ensures the number of immigrants to the United States was limited. President Millard Fillmore
was at the forefront to ensure the anti-immigration policies successfully tamed the influence of
the immigrants. The information gleaned from the secondary sources is very important and
relevant to students and general American society. The United States is experiencing a lot of
racial tension largely fueled by misguided political rhetoric similar to when the Know-Nothing
party was formed. Americans need to be made aware that such rhetoric only seeks to cause
division and unnecessary hatred towards one another, which had far-reaching implications on
the development of the American economy. Everyone must be aware that ethnic group is
superior because the US as a country was built on migrant labor. The target audience for this
article is literate people with a college-level education, so they need to explain history
terminology will not be necessary. The most effective way to communicate with the audience is
to use examples that draw similarities between current events and historical events.
References
Accettola A.(2013). The New American Identity: Declaration of Principles of the Native
American Convention. Defining Documents: Manifest Destiny & the New Nation (1803-
1859).
Rowland, T. J. (2013). Millard Fillmore: The Limits of Compromise. Nova Science Pub.
Klein, C. (2017, March 16). When America despised the Irish: The 19th century’s refugee crisis.
HISTORY. https://www.history.com/news/when-america-despised-the-irish-the-19th-
centurys-refugee-crisis
Murphy, A.F.. (2010). American Slavery, Irish Freedom: Abolition, Immigrant Citizenship, and
the Transatlantic Movement for Irish Repeal. 1-286.
Moran, G.(2016), “Shovelling out the paupers: The Irish Poor Law and assisted emigration
during the Great Famine.” In The Famine Irish: Emigration and the Great Hunger, edited
by Ciarán Reilly, 22-40. Dublin: The History Press Ireland, 2016.