Journal Entry of a Subordinate Group
Kathy Oceguera
ETH/125
May 13, 2012
Kevin Hall

Journal Entry of a Subordinate Group My lifelong journal entry of my voyage to America and the struggles that came with the journey. My Journey to the United States was a dream never thought of, it was a tremendous sacrifice for my family. We traveled the Atlantic from Ireland to New England to flee the famine “to a better life as from almost certain death” (Richard T. Schaefer, 2012, pg.126). We were forced to migrate with what little we had; a fungus wiped out the potato crop of Ireland. “Potatoes are particularly central to our lives; it is almost as if starvation had begun (Richard T. Schaefer, 2012, pg.126). Death has been particularly higher among the poor in the more agricultural area. We brought what little we could to new land more than 2 million of us fled to England and some continued to the United States. We left England on a ship so crowded, with conditions so terrible. By the time we arrived to the United States about 3.2 Million people had fled Ireland. We arrived at the New York port, most of us settled in New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Illinois, Ohio, and New Jersey. In order to pay for the voyage to the United States my parents became indentured servants for cost of the voyage, followed by 4 years of servitude. As soon as we left the Port of New York we settled at the Port arrival section as poor immigrants with no means of moving on. We were often found begging every street. Later we moved to a neighborhood called a “shanty town”. At the “Shanty towns” we stayed with my other brothers and sisters, at times all of my brothers and sister would work at factory. This little income would help my parents pay for food and what little to pay the voyage. We were often forced to live in cellars and were discriminated against because of our illiteracy. It was hard to find jobs, often employment ads would say “No Irish need apply.” "My master is a great tyrant; he treats me as badly as if I was a common Irishman." The writer further added, "Our position in America is one of shame and poverty." No group was considered lower than an Irishman in America during the 1850s. One newspaper wrote “The Irish fill our prisons, our poor houses scratch a convict or a pauper, and the chances are that you tickle the skin of an Irish Catholic. Putting them on a boat and sending them home would end crime in this country (The Chicago Post)." At times life was rough we begged and worked in factories; although life was rough we never gave up in our faith and allegiance to Ireland. We would attend Catholic mass every, Sunday in order to keep our faith and will to this country our prayers kept us going. Work was difficult for my parents my mother would find work as a servant but was in constant competition with African American servants. It was often by Early Americans disdained this type of work, fit only for servants, the common sentiment being, "Let Negroes be servants, and if not Negroes, let Irishmen fill their place." The Blacks hated the Irish and it appeared to be a mutual feeling. They were the first to call the Irish "white nigger." Time went by we paid off the debt and my father started to work as a laborer needed to construct railroads canals, and roads. When the civil war came father left to fight side by side the Americans. Irish men gladly fought in the wars fiercely for what they thought was right, our faith guided our father in war and brought them home. I t was not until then the signs for “no Irish need apply” had ended. We even had our own St. Patty’s day parade after 1870. The parade had replaced the violence and discrimination towards us Irish. Now every St. Patrick’s Day everyone wants to be Irish for the day. As many struggles as we had our faith was there never weakened us but rather gave us strength where we were one day frowned upon now we can stand proud of our Irish ethnicity.

Reference
Racial and Ethnic Groups, Thirteenth edition, by Richard T. Schaefer. Published by Merrill Prentice Hall. Copyright © 2012 by Pearson Education, Inc. John Kinsella’s, Clan Kinsella’s History of Ireland (1996). Retrieved from http://www.kinsella.org/history/histira.htm Retrieved from http://www.udel.edu/soe/deal/IrishImmigrationFacts.htm