Exploring Irish Immigration: From Famine to Five Points Slum Life

This essay examines the migration of Irish immigrants from famine-stricken Ireland to the Five Points neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in the 19th century. The Five Points was notorious for poverty, crime, and exploitation, exacerbated by poor living conditions and disease outbreaks linked to contaminated water and infertile land. Landowner Lord Lansdowne encouraged Irish tenants to emigrate to North America. The influx of malnourished Irish immigrants led to social and economic tensions in America, sparking nativist opposition and anti-immigrant violence. Political parties and native-born Americans feared the growing influence of immigrants, leading to riots and the burning of Catholic churches and schools. The essay highlights how these events shaped American attitudes toward immigration and the separation of church and state.

Running head: FROM FAMINE TO FIVE POINTS
From Famine to Five Points
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1FROM FAMINE TO FIVE POINTS
The Five Points of Lower Manhattan in New York is notorious for 18th century’s Irish
famine, poverty, exploitation, slavery and crime. In this area there was a large pond, which was
filled in terms of developing rental housing. Moreover, in the Five Point there was burial ground
where African slaves and black people buried their dead. For all this reasons the land of the area
was infertile. Only potatoes could be farmed in that land. Hence, the main livelihood of the
people was potato cultivation. Lord Lansdowne was the owner of this area. Nearly 1321 Irish
immigrants would live here like beasts (Spiering and Menno). They live in tiny mud house with
the roof of straw and sods. For the chimney of the house there was a hole in the roof. In the
house there was no furniture except a straw made bed where a whole family used to sleep.
Industrial revolution caused the pond water of Five Points to be contaminated. The farming skill
of the uneducated tenements was medieval. As a result, the buried potatoes in the land would
produce methane gas. As tenements were completely depended on potatoes and the pond water,
infectious diseases like cholera, diarrhea broke out in the slum area (Anbinder 351-387). Then
for avoiding poor tenants, Lord Lansdowne showed them the way of fleeing to North America
with pocket change.

2FROM FAMINE TO FIVE POINTS
Figure: Potato Dinner
(Source: Spiering and Menno)
Due to great famine, from New York a large number of Irish people immigrated to North
America during 1830s to 1850s. Political parties and natives of America violently opposed the
Irish immigration (Hurwitz and Nathan). It is because the increment of the malnourished Irish
Immigrants caused a social and economic depression in America. They dared if the outsiders
would occupy the employments in America or seize the political power of America. In 1844,
riots broke out in Philadelphia. The catholic churches, catholic schools were burnt in terms of
diminishing the Irish immigrants.

3FROM FAMINE TO FIVE POINTS
Figure: Thinking of Native Americans
(Source: Anbinder 351-387)
Separation of church and state is the major concept in all the images. Certainly these
imageries affected the way Americans thought about immigrants. The nativists started to think
that the immigrants would occupy the seats in school, colleges and workplaces and gradually the
immigrants would establish their dominance over them.

4FROM FAMINE TO FIVE POINTS
Reference list
Anbinder, Tyler. "From Famine To Five Points: Lord Lansdowne's Irish Tenants Encounter
North America's Most Notorious Slum." The American Historical Review 107.2 (2002): 351-
387.
Hurwitz, Nathan. "The Development of American Identity Defined by the Outsider in the
American Musical Theatre." (2016).
Spiering, Menno. "The Essential Englishman: The Cultural Nature and Origins of British
Euroscepticism." The UK Challenge to Europeanization. Palgrave Macmillan, London, 2015.
17-32.