1.  Fleeing the Irish Potato Famine  Most immigrants from the British isles during that period were Irish.  In the mid-1840’s, Potato Blight a disease that causes rot in potatoes.  More than a million Irish people died of starvation or disease.  Even more fled to the United States

2.  Most Irish immigrants settled in big cities such as Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania  They worked unskilled jobs in the cities or on building canals and railroads. Irish women worked as domestic servants for wealthy families.

3.  Germans also came over during this time period.  In 1848, some German had staged a revolution against harsh rule. Some educated Germans fled to the U.S. to escape persecution caused by their political parties.  However, most Germans came for Economic reasons

4.  The U.S. seemed to offer both greater economic opportunities and more freedom from government control.  Most Irish immigrants were catholic, German immigrant groups included Catholic, Jews, and Protestants.

5.  Nativists – Those Americans and others whom opposed immigration.  1849 nativists founded a political organization, the Know-Nothing Party, that supported measures making it difficult for foreigners to become citizens to hold office  The Middle Class – a social and economic level between the wealthy and the poor

6.  Tenements – poorly designed apartments buildings that housed large numbers of people  Transcendentalism – The belief that people could transcend, or rise above, material things In life.  Utopian Communities, groups of people who tried to form a perfect society

7.  Assessment 1 Page 442  Questions – 1a, 1b, 2a, 3a, 3b, 3c  Assessment 2 Page 445  Questions – 1a, 1b, 2a, 2b,