Kelley Foley

                                                                                                                        4/14/2003

                                                                                                                        Place Course

 

The Irish Famine and the Impact on Boston Immigration

 

 

Essential Questions:

 

  1. How did the Irish Famine and the resulting flood of immigration impact the city of Boston?
  2. What was the experience of a typical Irish Immigrant in Boston?
  3. How can events thousands of miles away impact a person’s local community?

 

Enduring Understanding:

 

  1. The Irish Famine began a trend of emigration out of Ireland.
  2. One of the locations that Irish immigrants selected to travel to was Boston
  3. This increase in immigration had a lasting impact both on the immigrants that made the journey as well as on the city itself.

 

Objectives:

 

  1. Students will understand the factors leading to the wave of immigration from Ireland to Boston in the 1840s.

State Standard US I: 27.b  The causes and impact of the wave of immigration from Northern Europe to America in the 1840s and 1850s.

 

  1. Students will understand the conditions under which immigrants made the trip to Boston.

Connection to English Language Arts: Standards 8 and 13 Understanding an Informational/Expository Text and non-fiction)

 

  1. Students will understand the impact that this wave of immigration had on the city.

State Standard US I 31.C the influence of these trends on the reaction of Protestants to the growth of Catholic immigration.

State Standard US II.2 C The expansion of cities

 

  1. Students will understand the experience of Irish immigrants in Boston.

History Theme: The influence of economic, political, religious, and cultural ideas as human societies move beyond regional, national or geographic boundaries.

 

Primary Sources:

 

  1. “The Search for Missing Friends”: Irish Immigrant advertisements placed in the Boston Pilot 1851-1853. Location: Lynnfield Public Library
  2. Acts and Resolves: Immigration laws passed in Massachusetts as a reaction to the increase in new Immigrants.  (Laws are from 1848-1853). Location: Massachusetts State Archive Boston, MA
  3. Ships Manifests: Ocean Monarch (May 23rd 1848), Brig Lively (May 23rd, 1848), Brig R Marker (May 23rd 1848) Location: NARA Waltham, MA
  4. 1850 census – Federal census from Boston Ward 1 Location: NARA Waltham, MA

 

Activities:

Activity #1:

 

Objective: Objective 1

 

Activity: Students will do web based research at the following three sites:

 

http://www.people.virginia.edu/~eas5e/Irish/Famine.html

http://vassun.vassar.edu/~sttaylor/FAMINE/

http://www.historyplace.com/worldhistory/famine/index.html

 

Assessment: After completing the web based research, students will be asked to write a short (1 page) paper discussing the Irish Famine.

 

Student will be assessed based upon evidence of the following issues being addressed in the essay

    1. Reasons for the famine
    2. Economic impact of the famine
    3. Political impact of the famine
    4. The great hunger – what the famine meant for the average Irish family
    5. How these economic and political changes affected emigration patterns in Ireland.

 

Activity #2

 

Objective: Objective 2

 

Activity: Students will look at three ship logs and compile answers to a set of questions in order to develop a better picture of the immigrants who were traveling to Boston. 

 

Assessment: Students will be assessed based upon answers to the following questions:

    1. Did immigrants come alone or with family? If immigrants did travel with travel with family, what is the range in size of family groups?
    2. What is the age range of the Passengers?
    3. What are some of the listed occupations?
    4. Other than Ireland, what are some of the other places of birth for the ship passengers?  What is the proportion of Irish to Non-Irish travelers on these ships?
    5. Are the passengers predominantly of one gender, or are there an equal number of men and women?

 

Activity #3

Objective: Objective 2

 

Activity: Students will read an excerpt from Robert Whyte’s Journal of an Irish Coffin Ship (1847). Although the destination of the ship discussed in this journal was not Boston, the experience of the writer is typical of the experience of many Irish immigrants traveling on similar vessels in this time frame.

 

Assessment: Students will write a one to two paragraph reflection on the excerpts.  Specifically, students will be asked to write their reaction to the conditions on board the boat that Whyte describes.  In addition, since so little is known about Whyte, students will also be asked to reflect on whether they think the descriptions could be accurate or whether they think some of the information was fabricated.  Students are expected to provide support for either view point they take.

 

Activity #4:

 

Objective: Objective 3

 

Activity: Students will look at the Census records from 1850 from Ward 1 in Suffolk County.  Students will look at column 9/place of birth to locate individuals born in Ireland. Students will then look for information such as age, occupation, and number of family members living in that dwelling.  Since records are listed in order of visitation, students should also look to see if there were clusters of people living in the same area with similar places of birth.

 

Assessment: Students will be assessed based upon their answers to the following questions:

    1. What is the ratio in this census record of people born in Ireland as compared to individuals born in other locations?
    2. What are some of the occupations of people listed as being born in Ireland?  Is this similar to the information you found when looking at the ship manifests? Are these occupations similar in nature to the occupations listed for individuals born in other countries?
    3. How many people tended to live in the same dwelling?  Were immigrants living with extended family, with other families, independently, etc?
    4. In addition to Ireland, what are some other places of birth listed for individuals in this census record? Based on the records does it appear as if Irish families tended to reside close together or does it appear as if individuals with different places of birth are evenly dispersed throughout the record?

 

 

Activity #5

Objective: Objective 4

 

Activity: Students will read the “Search for Missing Friends Advertisements” in order to better understand how immigrant families were impacted by the decision to emigrate. 

 

Assessment: Students will create a chart from the advertisements listing where the person placing the ad was located, as well as where the person that was being searched for was thought to be. Students will then mark these locations on a map.  This visual aid should provide students with a better sense of how dispersed families became as a result of the famine and the decision to emigrate.

 

Activity #6

Objective: Objective 4

 

Activity: Students will read excerpts from Faces of Community: Immigrant Massachusetts, 1860-2000, Irish Americans, and Fiona's McGilray's Story: A Voyage from Ireland in 1849(historical fiction)

 

Assessment: Students will discuss the information they learned by reading the excerpts about Irish immigrant experiences in Boston.  Students will be assessed based on discussion participation

 

Activity #7

Objective: Objective 4

 

Activity: Students will read information taken from the Massachusetts Acts and Resolves. Specifically they will read immigration laws passed in Massachusetts between 1848 –1854

 

Assessment: Students will outline the changes created by these laws and will address the question of why these laws were passed in this time frame.  Students will be assessed based upon this outline and how they address the question of why these laws were passed. 

 

 

Culminating Activity

 

Students will put together a comprehensive diary from the point of view of a Boston Irish immigrant. This diary must have at least 4 entries covering different periods of the immigrant’s life.  These 4 entries should cover the following periods:

     

1.      1847 – You (the Irish immigrant) are still in Ireland.  You are living through the famine and deciding whether to emigrate. Discuss the conditions in Ireland and the pros and cons for emigrating.

2.      1848 – You decided to leave Ireland for Boston and are in the process of making the journey aboard a ship.  Describe the crossing.

3.      1849 – You have been in Boston for six months.  What is life like?  Where are you living, have you found a job, what has your reception been like in this city?

4.      1855 – You have been in Boston for a few years.  How have things changed?  Has your experience matched the expectations you had when leaving Ireland? What opportunities have you found and what obstacles have you had to overcome?

 

Students will be assessed based upon a rubric. (See attached)

 

Assessments:

 

Assessments for each smaller activity (activities 1-7) will count as either a homework or class participation grade. The grade for the culminating activity will count as a test grade.