L’EXPERIENCE DES IMMIGRANTS

L’EXPERIENCE DES IMMIGRANTS

The Great Famine of 1845 is a particularly difficult period for the Irish ... The farmers see their fields parasitized by the mildew, a mushroom making the potato unfit for consumption, plunging the population into an unprecedented food shortage. Soon, the Irish suffer from undernutrition, get sick, and live in extreme poverty. Cholera epidemics are spreading, while famine has many victims following severe anemias ... Between 500,000 and one million Irish die everywhere in Ireland due to this phenomenon. From then on, the rich British landowners seem to take advantage of the situation by expelling their land Faced with such a situation, the Irish are turning to America, continent of all hopes and dreams. They then see in this New World the idea of ​​a new beginning and the possibility of perhaps access to the American Dream, this famous dream where any project becomes possible ... Fleeing a horrible Ireland, they are several thousand Irish to cram into cargo ships, or small transport boats to America to start a new life that will be better than that if. Some die without reaching the United States, because of violent storms or experiencing terrible epidemics following a trip too long and the disastrous hygiene in the cellars of the boats because of the crowding of all the world, the lack of nouriture and other. He leaves their country leaving their memories and their business to start again, like a second chance. They are still 2 million to set foot in the United States, forming a true Irish diaspora ... arriving in the immigration hall. They settle down massively in New York or Boston, find work, open shops, enlist in the local police, or accept any position as long as the latter is paid ... Very quickly, the "irlando- Americans "end up adapting to their new life, they start a family, enjoying the benefits and the wealth of the United States ... It does not forget Ireland, always torn by hunger and misery, and only by the British abuses insidiously taking advantage of the situation ... Some Irish-Americans still have family in Ireland, and send them regularly all the possible money to help them in their miserable daily lives ...

...