Immigrating to the United States during the 19th century was not the
magical solution for the majority of the newcomers. Many ethnic groups ran into prejudice in
America; with stereotyping being a major problem. The
Irish especially faced this problem in America, often being depicted
as hot-headed, old-fashioned,
and drunkards. During the 19th century, political cartoons were widely used to express
the widespread negative opinions about Irish immigrants.
Often the full stereotype meaning of the cartoon was subtle and could be missed by the casual
reader, while other times it was cruelly obvious.
The Irish were stereotyped as uncivilized, unskilled and
impoverished and were forced to work at the least desired occupations
and live in crowded ethnic ghettoes. Irish immigrants often
found that they were not welcome in America; many ads for employment
were accompanied by the order "NO IRISH NEED APPLY."
Throughout the 1800s, as hordes of technologically and agriculturally
unskilled Irish immigrants settled in the major cities of the east,
several anti-immigrant groups began to develop. Nativists
reacted to increased Irish immigration with violent riots and
increased demands for limits on immigrants' rights. These
nativist groups considered the immigrants as a threat and regarded the
Catholicism of the Irish as an alien and rebellious religion and
culture. During the mid-nineteenth century anti-Catholic riots struck
the major eastern cities and vandalism against Catholic institutions
became such a common practice that many insurance companies refused to
cover Catholic schools and churches.
Many nativists urged policies that would limit Irish political
power and immigrants' rights to vote and to hold public office, to be
passed. In 1849 The Order of the Star-Spangled Banner, a clandestine
society of nativists, emerged; its members pledged to only support
native-born Protestants for public office, to fight the Roman Catholic
Church and to support an obligatory 21-year waiting period for
naturalization. This society, later reformed into the American
party, when asked about their anti-immigrant activities would simply
reply "I know nothing," earning them the name the
Know-Nothings. This party with its motto "Americans Shall
Rule America" won many city and state elections throughout the
1850s and produced a multitude of political cartoons depicting the
Irish as a barbaric civilization.
