Illustration from Southern Illinois University at Carbondale

IMMIGRANTS

STUDENT SECTION TWO

Part A

In this section your team look into reasons why your family might have left Ireland. Please read the fictional Pat’s Story Part 1.

Using the same family that you adopted and described in Section One of this unit, devise a product that describes the reasons why the family you selected decided to leave Ireland. You will have to put yourself in the shoes of these people. You must make decisions as they would, based upon their customs, standards and values. Can you think using their standards and values and not those of today's?

The product could be a skit, series of posters, graphs, diary of one of the family members on board of the five week voyage, song, newspaper interview, puppet show or another product approved by the instructor prior to beginning it.

Investigate conditions in Ireland in 1840 which may have convinced or forced your family to decide to emigrate. In using the following links, please remember to judge the information on the web sites based on:

• Who is the author?
• Is the author affiliated with any organization?
• What year was the work published?
• Is the page up to date?
• Is the date important?
• What is the purpose of the Web Page?
• Who is the audience the author wishes to address?
• What point of view or prejudices does the author seem to have?
• How complete and accurate is the information compare to other information you've seen?
• Does the author use examples to elaborate his/her points?

Ireland the Tragedy-(1180-1855) by Angela Ardary and Sarah Borucki of Mr. Paul Lewis' AP US History classes at Cleveland Hill High School,  Cheektowaga, NY

Robert Peel's Struggle to Repeal the Corn Laws by Jennifer Payne has information on conditions that existed at the time of the famine. (Note, the famine occured in 1846, after your family left for America. Please look at the background of the famine only to obtain clues of why people had to emigrate.)

Plantations of Henry VIII to the Creation of an Irish Republic by Jackie Dana, University of Texas

Short History of Ireland in the 17th Century, Short History of Ireland in the 18th Century and Short History of Ireland in the 19th Century by Jim Kinsella

Views of the Famine by Steve Taylor, Emory University (Note, the famine occured in 1846, after your family left for America. Please look at the background of the famine only to obtain clues of why people had to emigrate.)

Analyzing Data originally prepared by Dr. Joel Mokyr, Professor of Economics at Northwestern University and provided by Professor Thomas J. Archdeacon of the University of Wisconsin - Madison

Accounts of the "Potato Revolution," 1695 - 1845  from the Internet Modern History Sourcebook. Read especially the entries for 1818 and 1841.

Revealing Family Ancestry: Emigrating to the New World by Jon S. Berndt

Questions of the Day : Economic and Social (p.244 - scroll down in the bottom frame) by the William Elder, 1871

Laws that Isolated and Impoverished the Irish from the Nebraska Department of Education.

Racism from the Nebraska Department of Education.

Antecedent Causes of the Irish Famine in 1847 By the Right Rev. John Hughes, D.D., compiled by Liz Szabo, University of Virginia (Note, the famine occured in 1846, after your family left for America. Please look at the background of the famine only to obtain clues of why people had to emigrate.)

Interpreting The Irish Famine, 1846-1850 compiled by Liz Szabo, University of Virginia (Note, the famine occured in 1846, after your family left for America. Please look at the background of the famine only to obtain clues of why people had to emigrate.)

The Great Famine in County Fermanagh by Neil McAtamney (Extracted from The Clogher Record, 1994.) (Note, the famine occured in 1846, after your family left for America. Please look at the background of the famine only to obtain clues of why people had to emigrate.)

Essays on the Progress of Nations p. 291 (scroll down using the bottom frame) by Ezra C. Seaman, 1853

Who were/are the immigrants to the U.S. by Jonathan Lee and Robert Siemborski

Catholic Emancipation by Anthony S. Wohl, Professor of History, Vassar College

Parallels with Irish by Anthony S. Wohl, Professor of History, Vassar College

Sadlier and Irish History by Liz Szabo, University of Virginia

The Irish in America Chapter X, "Emigration -Its Dangers by Land and Sea" pp. 179 -186 (scroll down using the bottom frame) by John Francis Maguire, 1868 (Note: please read through p. 186 by clicking on the "Next Page" icon)

Irish Emigration to the United States : What it has been, and What it is p. 42 (scroll down using the bottom frame) by the Rev. Stephen Byrne, 1873

The Illustrated London News describes the process of emigrating to the New World. Notice the section on the types of provisions people were allowed to take for the journey.

"America has been a land of dreams. A land where the aspirations of people from countries cluttered with rich, cumbersome, aristocratic, ideological pasts can reach for what once seemed unattainable. Here they have tried to make dreams come true. . . ." Daniel J. Boorstin

Using the family that you adopted, now devise a product or products that makes predictions about experiences they expect to have in America. Describe what they hope to find in America. What is pulling them to America? I.e., what is the "American dream" for each family member?

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