The Irish in America

SAME AS HIST-UA.0187.

From the seventeenth century to the present, Irish people have been crossing the Atlantic to North America. They are one of the most significant ethnic groups to ever migrate from Europe to the United States. Their impact has been disproportionate to their number but this only partially explains our contemporary understanding of “Irish America.” Ethnicity is an imprint and defining feature of American life yet the Irish experience with it over the past five centuries is a story complicated by multiple generations, diversity of class, continuing immigration, and rapid changes in both the homeland and the receiving country. This course will consider the factors affecting emigration from Ireland; examine the impact of the Irish on the development of the United States since the colonial period, particularly on its cities; study the changing Irish image in American popular culture; and consider what the Irish can teach us about the evolution of ethnic identity.

From the seventeenth century to the present, Irish people have been crossing the Atlantic to North America. They are one of the most significant ethnic groups to ever migrate from Europe to the United States. Their impact has been disproportional to their numbers but this only partially explains our contemporary understanding of “Irish America.” Ethnicity is an imprint and defining feature of American life yet the Irish experience with it over the past four centuries is a story complicated by multiple generations, diversity of class, continuing immigration, and rapid changes in both the homeland and the receiving country. This course will consider the factors affecting emigration from Ireland; examine the impact of the Irish on the development of the United States since the colonial period, particularly on its cities; study the changing Irish image in American popular culture; and consider what the Irish can teach us about the evolution of ethnic identity. The ultimate goal of this course is to learn to think historically.