read 3 articles and answer the question

Immigration and Social Reform; Atlantic Canada

Class 09

Hist. 260

15 November 2016

Irish Immigration: Themes and Issues

1. Push and Pull Factors

1. What are the factors contributing to the high levels of Irish immigration to Canada?

2. How do those differ from other examples of immigration after 1760?

2. Immigrant Cultures in British North America

1. To what extent, and in what ways, was Irish culture in North America shaped by “Old World” issues (based on circumstances and conditions in Ireland) and “New World” issues (based on conditions in North America)?

Pre-Famine Emigration (1815-45) u Political status of Ireland: Part of the United Kingdom

u Act of Union (1800) after the United Irishmen Uprising

u Active nationalist movement fighting for independence

u Political nationalists supported by the Catholic Church

u Emigration driven by changes in agriculture u Most significant area = Northern Ireland

u Protestant (75%)

u Emigrate from Northern Ireland (history of plantations)

u Largely Middle Class

u Significant family emigration (as family units)

u Settle in rural areas (largest concentration = Upper Canada)

u Catholic (25%)

u Emigrate from south and west

u Chain migration (individual leading to family emigration)

u Working class (unskilled – lowest ranks of working class)

u Urban concentration in North America (esp. Toronto)

Great Famine and Emigration

u Ireland’s vulnerability to Famine in 1840s u Severe overpopulation [extremely limited landholding]

u Almost total reliance on potato cultivation

u Evolution of the crisis u Crop failure and government response [1845] u Escalating crisis [1846-47]

u Complete crop failure u Inadequate government response

u Soup kitchens

u Laws aimed at re-shaping Irish landholding u Spread of disease (workhouses)

u Crisis stabilizes by 1848 u Young Ireland Rebellion

u Regional patterns u Famine much worse in west and south rather than north u Northern Ireland least affected

Irish Emigration during the Famine

u Large-scale emigration starts in 1846 u Canada the cheapest overseas destination

u Grosse Ile Quarantine Station (Quebec) u Established in 1832 (Cholera epidemic)

u Completely overwhelmed by influx of Irish Famine emigrants

u Pressure on Canadian Government to enact restrictions u Discriminatory tax placed on ships from Ireland

u Deflects Irish emigration to the United States

u Significance of the Famine Emigration u Greater balance between Protestant and Catholic Irish populations

u Introduces Irish nationalism as a political force in Canada

u Greatly increases tension between Irish Catholics and Protestants u Nine-tenths of the community have been frightened, not only out of their wits,

but what is worse, out of their humanity (20 August 1847, The Mirror)

u Competition for jobs [drives wages down]

u Outbreaks of disease in major cities

Orange Order in Canada

u Loyalism and the nature of Irish Protestant Identity

u Rooted in history and status as a vulnerable minority in Ireland

u Key elements = Protestant faith and intense loyalism to British crown

u July 12 Marches

u Sworn to gather and march under arch

u Celebrates victory of Protestants in Ireland (1690)

u Established in Northern Ireland (1795)

u Born out of Catholic/Protestant violence of 1790s

u Active throughout Ireland by 1810s

u Order spreads throughout British Empire

u Soldiers and other immigrants

u Ontario becomes centre of Orange Activity

u 103 lodges in British North America by 1830

u 90% in Ontario (Grand Lodge in Toronto)

u No longer exclusively Irish (English, Scottish Protestants)

Functions of the Orange Order

u Ritual

u Widely popular in 19th Century

u Sociability

u Hub of social activity (esp. rural areas)

u Mutual Aid

u Health benefits, life insurance, funeral benefits

u Immigration

u Ease transition for immigrants

u Access to jobs

u Network of information

u Becomes powerful factor in English Canadian politics (esp. Ontario) u All but three of Toronto’s mayors (1840-1950)

u Most premiers of Ontario

u First three Prime Ministers

Irish and the Catholic Church: Toronto u Ireland:

u Catholics overwhelming majority of population

u Church supports nationalist movement

u Toronto: u Catholics a minority of overall population (25%)

u Church refuses to support Irish nationalism

u Priorities of Irish Catholic immigrants: Church should… u Community protection (can’t trust police force)

u Irish nationalism (support independence of homeland)

u Priorities of Catholic Church leadership: Church should u Prove that Catholics can be good, respectable citizens

u Counter dominant negative stereotypes of Irish Catholics

u Attract newly arrived immigrants to church

u Central problem: u How to attract new immigrants to church AND project image of loyalty to

Canada/Empire?

St. Patrick’s Day

u Significance of St. Patrick’s Day among overseas Irish populations u Day when Irish Catholic population ‘represents’ itself to broader population

u Manner of celebration reflected the priorities of the Irish population

u Irish immigrant priorities: u Show of strength on the streets

u Publicly declare support for Irish nationalism

u Attract support of fellow Irish immigrants

u 1850s (immediate post-Famine): St. Patrick’s Day parades openly and strongly nationalist

u Catholic Church priorities: u Demonstrate respectability of Irish population

u Publicly declare loyalty to Canada

u Early 1860s: Church bans nationalist parades

u Immigrants march in defiance of Church leaders u Demonstrated weakness of leadership over parishioners

u Forces Church to openly support Irish nationalism

Irish Canal Workers u Transportation Revolution (1820s-50s)

u Widespread canal construction to keep pace with United States

u Irish Catholic immigrants the #1 source of labour

u Nature of canal labour:

u Extremely dangerous work [explosives]

u “well, you wouldn’t expect them to do that job if they were sober, would you?”

u Terrible living conditions [disease, no stability]

u Seasonal nature of work [often unemployed during the winter]

u No protection vs. layoffs or failure to pay wages

u Resistance strategies

u Catholic Church (‘respectable’ protest and resistance)

u Secret society model (rural Ireland) adapted to industrial North America

Urbanization and Immigration u Urbanization:

u Nature of 19th-century cities (unhealthy)

u Gap between rich and poor most visible in cities

u Moral anxiety:

u Urban living contrasted with rural living

u Increased immigration after 1815

u State assistance for ‘pauper’ emigration

u Decreased cost of transportation [= poorer emigrants]

u Natural period of adjustment

u Need to find a job quickly [women especially vulnerable]

u Immigration and Urbanization

u Immigrants often went to cities to find work

u Lived in poorest areas of town

u Strong association between immigrants and urban problems

u Montreal: 57,000 u Quebec: 42,100 u Toronto: 30,800 u St. John: 22,700 u Halifax: 20,700 u Hamilton: 14,100 u Kingston: 11,700

Population of Major Cities [1851]

Poor Relief in British North America

u Up to 1830s: private concern [state should have no role]

u Generally viewed as a moral rather than economic condition

u Attitude towards ”Deserving Poor”

u Society for the Relief of Strangers [Stranger’s Friend Society]

u Established in York [Toronto] in 1817

u Reaction to increased # of poor immigrants

u Funded by private donations (prominent citizens, clergy]

u Provided assistance to new arrivals and people unable to work

u Emigrant Temporary Asylum (Toronto, 1828)

u Partially funded by the state (increased demand on poor relief)

u Meant as a short-term solution

u Immigrants could get assistance for one month

u Concerns about ‘pauperization’

Houses of Industry (1837) u Shift towards state control of poor relief (1830s)

u Growing market economy

u Transportation Revolution (canals, later railroads) creates seasonal work

u “Winter transformed the labouring poor into a seasonally exploited class, dependent on relief and demoralized by the insecurity, distress and drinking habits of the pre-industrial economy”

u Poor Law reform in England (1834) u Overturns traditions of state assistance in place since early 1600s

u Institutionalizes poverty (workhouses)

u Moral and spiritual regulation

u Houses of Industry emerge in Canada (1834-40)

u “the needful support of the destitute, the employment of the industrious poor, the inculcating and encouraging of principles and habits of industry and moral virtue”

u Houses of Industry Act (Upper Canada, 1837)

The Demon Rum

u Alcohol and Canadian Culture:

u Tavern was central to leisure time

u Women and ‘medicinal’ prescriptions

u Working-class culture

u Part of daily work routine

u Often distributed as reward

u Paternalism (identification with employer)

u Rise in alcohol consumption (1820s)

u Cost of alcohol drops sharply

u Temperance societies arrive in 1830s (from United States)

u Sought the limitation/prohibition of alcohol

u Promoted alternative entertainment

u Framed crusade in terms of family violence

Impulses Driving Temperance

u Evangelical (Protestant) Christianity

u Middle Class Identity

u Distinguish middle class from upper/lower

u Economic Improvement

u Effort to get alcohol out of work routines

u Working-class drive for respectability

u Gender and the Cult of True Womanhood

u Piety, Purity, Submissiveness, Domesticity

u Based on idea that women had higher moral calling

u Women use as excuse to get involved in reform movements

u From Persuasion to Control

u Political campaign underway in 1840s to prohibit alcohol

u Opposition (economic, political, cultural)

u Very limited success (New Brunswick, 1855)

Temperance is a virtue of very extensive application, and implies not only that bodily appetites are properly controlled, but that all the powers and affections of the mind are properly regulated. The truly temperate man desires to eat and drink as much as will render his body strong and healthy, and his mind active and cheerful. His desires after any worldly goods are moderate. He is patient under afflictions, and submissive to the dispensations of providence - Temperance Magazine (1838)

Prince Edward Island u Review of Landholding system

u 67 Townships granted to landlords (reward)

u Recruit Protestant settlers and pay “quitrent”

u Foundations of the Protest Movement (late 1700s)

u Precedents from other parts of British North America [Carolina]

u Failure of landlords to fulfill obligations

u Nature of early protest

u Petitions, protests, refusal of militia service

u Organizations dismissed by authorities as dangerous and revolutionary

u Population growth

u British immigration (after 1815)

u Increases pressure on the government to address the land issue

u Legislative Assembly protest

u Representatives call for ‘Escheat’ (state seizure of delinquent land)

u Governor sides with Assembly and puts Escheat in motion

u Vetoed by British government (leads to violence)

Escheat Movement [1830s]

u Tensions rise (1830s)

u Rising land values (higher rents)

u Landlords still not carrying out obligations

u Organize into Escheat Movement

u Draw upon wide range of strategies/influences from Britain

u Element #1: Political movement

u Elect members to assembly (Escheat Party)

u Push for Escheat in Assembly

u Element #2: Rural protest movement

u Boycott rents

u Secret society intimidation

u Movement peaks (1837-38)

u Proposals rejected by the British government

u No willingness to compromise (1838)

New Brunswick u Timber and the transformation of New Brunswick:

u Shipbuilding

u Immigration (cargo holds, wage-earning for new immigrants)

u License required to participate in logging (1824)

u Expensive and exclusive

u Industry dominated by small # of wealthy men

u Creates resentment against timber barons

u Licenses gave governor an independent source of revenue

u Completely undercut power of the Leg. Assembly

u New Brunswick Reformers:

u Control over license revenues

u Greater Assembly input in government appointments

u British government backs down in 1837

u Demands of reformers not radical

u Webster-Ashburn Treaty (1842)

u Diplomatic turning point in Canadian-American relations

Newfoundland

u Uncertain status of settlement

u Compromise between migratory and settled fishery (1699)

u Governed under the ‘Admiral System’

u Stability after Treaty of Utrecht (1713)

u More stable colonial government established [1729]

u Limitations of the system

u Significant population growth (40,000 permanent settlers by 1830)

u Continued tension between Irish and English populations

u Catholicism made legal in 1784

u Irish develop significant stake in colony’s success

u Booming economy [1790s-1815]

u Demand for cod

u End of French and American competition

u Diversification

u Sealing, whaling, inland fishery

u Decline of migratory fishery

Newfoundland

u Growth/prosperity leads to demands for reform

u Legal reform

u Civilian rather than naval justice (1826)

u Political reform

u Year-round governor (1818)

u Crown colony status (1824)

u Rising demands for elected assembly

u Taxation for infrastructure

u Elected assembly granted (1832)

u Extremely liberal voting laws

Fate of the Beothuk

u Year-round fishery and settlement intensifies conflict

u Beothuk driven deeper inland

u Cut off from resources of the ocean

u No recorded contact with Beothuk between 1650s and 1760

u Lack of stable government

u No government representative to mediate between Beothuk and English settlers

u English activity in Newfoundland’s interior

u Fur trapping

u Inland fisheries

u Result

u Intensified conflict with Beothuk (no harmonious trade relations)

u Fewer resources available to Beothuk

u Efforts by some Newfoundland authorities to establish good relations with Beothuk

u Cut down on armed conflict

u Pressure from aboriginal protection movements (early 19th century)

Fate of the Beothuk u Multiple expeditions to try and open up peace negotiations with the Beothuk

u One captive (Shanawdithit) successfully taught English

u Beothuk Institution Established by William Epps Cormack (1827)

u Goals of the institution

u Open up successful peace negotiations

u Study Beothuk culture and society

u Cormack attempts to us Shanawdithit as mediator

u Reports that she knows of no other settlements

u Interior expedition of 1828-29

u Cormack and others explore Newfoundland’s interior

u Find only deserted camps