EFFECTS ON THE COUNTRY
-TODAY-
Today, we still feel the effects of the Irish immigration. From the large Irish population to the Catholic institutions, the remnants of the great Irish immigration still surround us.
Political Examples of Irish-Catholic Success
Despite the biases towards Irish in the nineteenth century, their children and grandchildren still managed to affect America in political ways.
- Two important examples of Irish-Catholics in the modern day political world were John F. Fitzgerald and John F. Kennedy
- In 1905, the mayor of Boston, Patrick Collins, died in office
- John F. Fitzgerald became a contender for the position (O'Connor, Bibles 136)
- He had been promoting himself for the position for some time
- He was the son of two Irish immigrants
- In the election of 1905, he became the first American-born son of Irish parentage to ever reach that position
- The largest political achievement of the Irish-Catholics was the presidential election of 1960, the election that made John F. Kennedy, grandson of Mayor John F. Fitzgerald, president of the United States
- In the words of Chet Huntley, news commentator on NBC news, the election of 1960 was a "cliff hanger" (Dolan, Irish 271) because of the remaining biases towards the Irish Catholics
- This was shown especially in the Wisconsin primary in April, 1960, when the vote was prominently split by religion
- Kennedy defended his religion in one of his speeches during his election, saying that "the real issues in this campaign have been obscured" and it was necessary that he needed to remind everyone of what was truly important, "not what kind of church I believe in, for that should be only important to me, bust what kind of America I believe in" (Dolan, Irish 273)
Both of these elections were high points for Irish Catholics, and both of them, especially President Kennedy's, continue to influence us today.
Religious Effects on America
The great Irish immigration left the United States with the Catholic religion, which was previously disliked by the dominantly Protestant population
St. John Cantius Church, of Chicago
- The majority of the Irish that arrived in America in the 19th century were Catholic
- Many of these Irish Catholics were victims of discrimination, in both Ireland and America, because of their religion
- The Catholic Church still managed to survive and grow
- In 2012, 66.3 million Americans claimed the Catholic religion
- This was about 22% of the total population of the United States
St. Stephen's Church (Boston, Massachusetts)
- In addition to the large Catholic population, the Irish immigration left us with about 260 Catholic colleges, as well as the many Catholic elementary and secondary schools (collegestats.org)
- Also, this past March, the election of the Pope was on news stations across the United States
Economic Effects on America
The Irish arrived at a very important time in
American history - the Industrial Revolution
A cotton mill during the American Industrial Revolution
American history - the Industrial Revolution
- The large numbers of the Irish immigrants helped to fuel the growth of the Industrial Revolution
- The Industrial Revolution was one of the most important events in American history
- Without this event, we never would have adopted the modern industrial way of production, so we would not be able to manufacture a many products as we do today
- The Industrial Revolution increased the over all economic value of the United States, as a result from the mass production
- If not for the great numbers from the Irish immigration, the Industrial Revolution would not have been as effective and influential as it was