1. Chapter 8, Section 2

2.  Since the 1700s, poor people of Ireland relied on the potato as their major food crop 1845-1849 – a disease struck the crop making it very difficult to grow Results were devastating British government wouldn’t provide relief  Ireland’s poor faced famine By 1850, 1 million died during the Great Irish Famine  More than 2 million left Ireland 1.5 had settled in the US

4.  Mid-1800s many Germans immigrated Some fled economic depression and overpopulation (made it difficult to get a job) Others left to escape religions persecution, harsh tax laws, or military service Some left after a failed revolution  Many came to the US in search of free land and business opportunities

5.  Push-Pull Model of Immigration Factors that cause people to leave their homeland are called pushes Factors that cause people to move to a particular country are called pulls

6.  Irish immigrants were discriminated against and treated harshly More than 1.3 million Irish immigrants arrived between 1846-1855 Americans viewed the influx of so many people from a single foreign country as a threat to their way of life

7.  Irish were resented because of their poverty Desperate Irish immigrants would work for very low wages – a threat to American workers  Resented because they were Roman Catholic US was predominantly Protestant Believed Roman Catholicism conflicted with democracy

9.  As Irish immigrants grew, nativism grew Nativism – opposition to immigration  For generations, immigrants had been welcomed Influx of poor, Catholic, Irish immigrants in such a short time changed views Regarded immigrants as a threat to their way of life

10.  Know-Nothings – a secret organization Well-funded and well-organized social and political group with anti-immigrant sentiment  Reorganized themselves into a political party – the American Party Eventually disagreements over slavery fractured the party and ceased to exist by the Civil War

11.  Germans did not encounter the hostility that Irish immigrants did Most Germans were middle class and Protestant  German immigrants were spread across the country Many settled in the midwest Worked as farmers, artisans, factory workers, and other occupations

12.  Arrival of Irish immigrants contributed to growth of cities  Irish immigrants were not able to afford to travel far from where they landed – settled in the Northeast  Irish immigrants accounted for ¼ of the population of NYC and Boston

13.  Vast majority of Americans and cities were poor City dwellers lived in tenements – poorly made, crowded apartment buildings Lacked adequate light, ventilation, and sanitation – very unhealthy places to live  Tenements sparked efforts at reform Boards of health established, but only in wealthier neighborhoods  Conditions in poorer districts remained unsatisfactory through the mid-1800s

14.  1820-1860 – Percentage of Americans who worked in manufacturing rose 5%- 30%  Factory workers were wage earners Instead of earning income from their own enterprise, they were paid a set amount by business owners Instead of making the things they needed, they had to buy them using their wages

15.  Many Americans were leaving farms to work in cities New social class – Urban Working Class Most were poor, uneducated, immigrants  Business owners want to maximize profits Low wages, long hours, unsafe working conditions Workers began to form groups for higher wages, shorter hours, safer working conditions  The start of the Labor Movement

16.  Started in the 1820s  Most organizations were local and short- lived  Some successes: 10 hour movement New Hampshire the first state to limit the work day