Irish People in Boston by Michael Wuschke

In 1845, many potato crops in Ireland began to rot during an event known as the Great Potato Famine in which many Irish people began to die of starvation due to a lack of their potato supply. As a result, many Irish people decided to immigrate to the United States in hopes of a new life and finding many new job opportunities that the United States offered during the early-1850's. When they first arrived in the United States, they were treated with hostility and fear by many U.S. citizens, who viewed them as nothing more than violent drunks, and often included cartoons in newspapers that portrayed them in a stereotypical form during the mid-19th century. Many Irish people were also forced to live in squalid conditions by living in homes that were not as neat and elegant compared to other houses in the city and often got sick from various diseases as a result. It was not until the late-19th century that Irish Americans finally managed to gain political and social acceptance in the United States after enduring decades of prejudice and hatred from many U.S. citizens, while playing a major role in many important events in the United States throughout the late-19th century and after the turn of the 20th century.