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When America Despised the Irish: The 19th Century’s Refugee Crisis
The History Channel ^ | March 16, 2017 | Christopher Klein

Posted on 02/06/2018 7:19:26 PM PST by Az Joe

Today, 32 million Americans—10 percent of the country’s population—celebrate their Irish roots. There was a time, however, when the thought of Americans honoring all things Irish was unimaginable. This is the story of the prejudice encountered by refugees from Ireland’s Great Hunger and how those Irish exiles persevered to become part of the American mainstream.


TOPICS: History; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: america; fartyshadesofgreen; immigration; ireland; irish
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The refugees seeking haven in America were poor and disease-ridden. They threatened to take jobs away from Americans and strain welfare budgets. They practiced an alien religion and pledged allegiance to a foreign leader. They were bringing with them crime. They were accused of being rapists. And, worst of all, these undesirables were Irish.
1 posted on 02/06/2018 7:19:27 PM PST by Az Joe
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To: Az Joe

Did they learn English when they got here?


2 posted on 02/06/2018 7:21:15 PM PST by HereInTheHeartland (I don't want better government; I want much less of it.)
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To: Az Joe

They were undesirable because they were poor and disease-ridden, bringing with them crime, taking jobs away from Americans, practicing an alien religion, and pledged allegiance to a foreign leader.


3 posted on 02/06/2018 7:22:17 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Az Joe

The Irish were no allies in WWII. Screw them.


4 posted on 02/06/2018 7:22:41 PM PST by farming pharmer
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To: Az Joe

Blazing Saddles.....

L


5 posted on 02/06/2018 7:22:42 PM PST by Lurker (President Trump isn't our last chance. President Trump is THEIR last chance.)
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To: akalinin

They were neutral during WWII. I suspect because they hated the British.


6 posted on 02/06/2018 7:32:23 PM PST by Maine Mariner
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To: Az Joe

Were those the Catholic Irish in the north eastern USA. Or are they talking about the Protestant Scotts-Irish who were the rulers of the South-East?


7 posted on 02/06/2018 7:32:40 PM PST by Trumpet 1 (US Constitution is my guide.)
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To: akalinin

Lord Haw Haw was an American-born Irishman.


8 posted on 02/06/2018 7:34:57 PM PST by dfwgator
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To: Trumpet 1

The southerners of whom you speak were not immigrants. They were colonists.

And also of different lineage.


9 posted on 02/06/2018 7:35:05 PM PST by BenLurkin (The above is not a statement of fact. It is either satire or opinion. Or both.)
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To: Az Joe

They weren’t planning to kill “the infidels”.


10 posted on 02/06/2018 7:37:40 PM PST by RushIsMyTeddyBear (Screw The NFL!!!!!! My family fought for the flag!)
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To: Az Joe

Bump


11 posted on 02/06/2018 7:38:45 PM PST by foreverfree
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To: Az Joe
The last of my foreign ancestors,all Irish,arrived here in 1882.My Dad's older brother,born in Boston in 1905,would tell stories of discrimination...including signs at factory gates and in store windows stating "No Irish Need Apply".Uncle Joe absolutely *hated* the British (and their supporters).

My ancestors...distant and recent...worked for a living,obeyed the law,served in the Armed Forces,paid their taxes,spoke English,and didn't demand charity of any sort.

I'm an American,through and through.I'm proud of my brave,hard working Irish ancestors but I see the Ireland of today as just another foreign country...and just another European cesspool at that.

Contrast that to today's moslems and Mexicans despoiling ours shores.Assimilate? "RACIST!...NATIVIST!"

12 posted on 02/06/2018 7:39:26 PM PST by Gay State Conservative (Obama & Hillary: The Two Most Corrupt Politicians of My Lifetime.)
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To: HereInTheHeartland

“Did they learn English when they got here?”

They tried. Still don’t. :)


13 posted on 02/06/2018 7:39:37 PM PST by CodeToad (CWII is coming. Arm Up! They Are!)
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To: Trumpet 1

The Scotch-Irish arrived here largely in the 17th and 18th centuries, many of whom were indentured servants, who then worked off their term of indenture and headed west into the then-frontier backcountry on the eastern side of the Appalachians, then into the Appalachians and beyond after the US became a nation. Being largely Presbyterian they were not particularly liked by the establishment Church of England types so they had motivation to leave as well as something of a predisposition for hilly country. So west they went.


14 posted on 02/06/2018 7:40:09 PM PST by RegulatorCountry
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To: Az Joe

I was grown before finding out I am Irish through both my parents. St Patrick’s Day was just another day in year. That’s assimilation with a hard nose. My family must have experienced some of this silliness first hand for it to preserver a century.


15 posted on 02/06/2018 7:43:01 PM PST by sparklite2 (See more at Sparklite Times)
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To: sparklite2

preserver = persevere


16 posted on 02/06/2018 7:46:47 PM PST by sparklite2 (See more at Sparklite Times)
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To: Az Joe

Oh, for crying out loud.

They were shooting Americans of German Descent in Montana during WWI.

The federal government supplied court space for vigilante courts against Americans of German Descent.


17 posted on 02/06/2018 7:50:13 PM PST by blueunicorn6 ("A crack shot and a good dancer")
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To: Az Joe
The Simpsons - St. Patrick's day

Blnk
18 posted on 02/06/2018 7:51:48 PM PST by minnesota_bound
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To: Az Joe
"Bog Irish" was not a term of endearment! The second image shows this feeling was not Universal with all Americans of the time.

Worse, the Irish were mostly (gasp) Catholic. Keep in mind the Catholics and local Kings/ et al in the Eu zone had a very long history of political war-fighting.

Also, this anti-Catholic is a long running meme - remember how JFK was pilloried for being (not much of a ) Catholic?

Crap like "The Pope will run America" and so on was floated in the mass media at the time.

As the second cartoon shows, not all immigrants were unwelcome.

however, it wasn't until the 1960 and the God of the Dems (JFK) and the Dem party opened up immigration into the US. (https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5391395)

Maybe time for "Everything old is new again?"

19 posted on 02/06/2018 7:55:48 PM PST by ASOC (Having humility really means one is rarely humiliated)
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To: Az Joe; ransomnote; Whenifhow; null and void; aragorn; EnigmaticAnomaly; kalee; Kale; ...

PING to the Irish!


20 posted on 02/06/2018 7:57:54 PM PST by bitt (We dont need an electric chair, we need electric bleachers.)
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