Quebecois Immigration to New England

The selection from the reading that I've chosen to discuss is the following:

Industrialization, well under way by the 1860s, created a stiff demand for workers in the textile and boot and shoe industries. Laborers were also needed in building construction and in canal and railroad work. The native and Irish-immigrant labor force present in New England in 1865 could not meet the labor demands of industry.[1]

The context in this case is that of economic expansion due to industrialization in post-Civil War New England. Although these jobs, primarily in textile factories, were taken by native-born working-class laborers or relatively recent Irish immigrants, the sheer growth of the industrial economy in Lowell elsewhere following the war provided more jobs than the existing demographic groups could fill. Therefore, they were hired for these jobs. The result was that, despite some resistance to their arrival, the Quebecois established themselves in the Lowell area and were even able to support increased immigration from their home because there was a steady supply of jobs available to those who decided to come to the United States.

To me, this excerpt is important because it demonstrates the extent to which an immigrant group can become successful by virtue of coming to occupy a niche in the existing economy or a role in the growing economy. As we see in the United States today, immigrant groups are sometimes resented due to the impressions, whether real or imagined, that they will take the jobs of existing jobs away from longer-established immigrant groups or native-born citizens. In the same way as Latin American immigrants work in niche jobs such as those in California's agricultural regions, Quebecois coming to Massachusetts in the 1860s onward obtained employment in a specific industry in a specific place.

In terms of the reasons for the Quebecois influx, the article is abundantly clear that a lack of industrialization in rural Canada led to the immigration of Quebecois to New England, where industrialization was already going ahead at a rapid rate. Some of the points mentioned by the author later in the article, such as marriage trends between Quebecois immigrants and the Irish population, would be interesting to learn more about. She notes that there was actually a surplus of Quebecois women in Lowell, so Quebecois men did not have to return home to marry or risk cultural and linguistic eradication by marrying American Catholics [2]; however, it is not clear what the case was outside of Lowell.

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     [1] Frances H. Early, "Mobility Potential and the Quality of Life in Working-Class Lowell, Massachusetts: The French Canadians ca. 1870," Labour / La Travaille, 2 (1977): 218.
     [2] Ibid, 227. The selection from the reading that I've chosen to discuss is the following:

Industrialization, well under way by the 1860s, created a stiff demand for workers in the textile and boot and shoe industries. Laborers were also needed in building construction and in canal and railroad work. The native and Irish-immigrant labor force present in New England in 1865 could not meet the labor demands of industry.[1]

The context in this case is that of economic expansion due to industrialization in post-Civil War New England. Although these jobs, primarily in textile factories, were taken by native-born working-class laborers or relatively recent Irish immigrants, the sheer growth of the industrial economy in Lowell elsewhere following the war provided more jobs than the existing demographic groups could fill. Therefore, they were hired for these jobs. The result was that, despite some resistance to their arrival, the Quebecois established themselves in the Lowell area and were even able to support increased immigration from their home because there was a steady supply of jobs available to those who decided to come to the United States.

To me, this excerpt is important because it demonstrates the extent to which an immigrant group can become successful by virtue of coming to occupy a niche in the existing economy or a role in the growing economy. As we see in the United States today, immigrant groups are sometimes resented due to the impressions, whether real or imagined, that they will take the jobs of existing jobs away from longer-established immigrant groups or native-born citizens. In the same way as Latin American immigrants work in niche jobs such as those in California's agricultural regions, Quebecois coming to Massachusetts in the 1860s onward obtained employment in a specific industry in a specific place.

In terms of the reasons for the Quebecois influx, the article is abundantly clear that a lack of industrialization in rural Canada led to the immigration of Quebecois to New England, where industrialization was already going ahead at a rapid rate. Some of the points mentioned by the author later in the article, such as marriage trends between Quebecois immigrants and the Irish population, would be interesting to learn more about. She notes that there was actually a surplus of Quebecois women in Lowell, so Quebecois men did not have to return home to marry or risk cultural and linguistic eradication by marrying American Catholics [2]; however, it is not clear what the case was outside of Lowell.

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     [1] Frances H. Early, "Mobility Potential and the Quality of Life in Working-Class Lowell, Massachusetts: The French Canadians ca. 1870," Labour / La Travaille, 2 (1977): 218.
     [2] Ibid, 227.

Irish-Americans, Baseball, Whiteness

Here's my first discussion post for HIS-200: Applied History.

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The selection from the text that I've chosen to discuss is the following:

In contrast, the other main non-English immigrant group of the period, the Germans (Cohn 1995), assimilated much more easily. While language was a problem, they were more highly educated and skilled than the Irish. In 1860 German men were most highly concentrated in skilled crafts, in contrast to the Irish, who were disproportionately made up of unskilled laborers (Conley and Galenson 1998: 471). Also, German immigrants had been preceded by numerous fellow "countrymen" during the previous century who had paved the way by establishing themselves economically and socially in America. The stereotypical German was hardworking, disciplined, earnest, and frugal (Gerlach 2002: 39).[1]

I chose this passage because it demonstrates to me not only aspects of the change over time in perceptions of the Irish, but also of the Germans. On the one hand, as the readings and common sense indicate, the Irish were grossly and negatively stereotyped, and this perception of the Irish -- and, in fact, their "acceptance" into the larger American "white race" -- changed radically as immigration from other parts of Europe increased and as emancipation of African Americans resulted in increased competition for unskilled labor. The case of Germans reflects even more changes. For some Americans, their initial interaction with Germans was in the form of Hessian mercenaries who fought for the British in the War for Independence. While this experience might have cast Germans in a negative light initially, the passage makes it clear that the economic circumstances of German immigrants, as well as the Lutheran faith of many (but not all) of them, eased their transition despite the language barrier that they faced. Germans ultimately came to make up the majority of Midwesterners and Plains residents owing to the Homestead Act, and even with periods of negative perceptions of Germans during both world wars, Germans now make up a plurality of all white Americans, indicating a highly successful immigration experience overall.

As indicated above, part of the integration of Irish Americans is the process of their being made "white" by the surrounding society and culture. As I already noted, much of this transition involved not only the economic upward mobility of Irish Americans, but also the immigration of other, presumably even less "white" people from southern and eastern Europe and competition between Irish and African Americans post-Civil War. The article on Irish players in baseball offers addition, econometric and statistical information to substantiate how Irish Americans were mainstreamed. By proving statistically, including in tables,[2] that Irish American players were essentially forced to be better players in order to overcome discrimination, the visibility of Irish American players increased in the public eye and normalized Irish Americans among non-Irish fans. Interestingly, the author also shows that German players were comparatively less talented than Irish players,[3] demonstrating less of a need to overcome prejudice in hiring. In any case, the Irish overcame prejudice in the United States through a variety of means, and mainstreaming via major league baseball played a not insignificant role.

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     [1] E. Woodrow Eckard, "Anti-Irish Job Discrimination circa 1880: Evidence from Major League Baseball," Social Science History, 34, no. 4 (Winter 2010): 410.
     [2] Ibid, 425, 427.
     [3] Ibid, 432.

A New Year and a New Term

I finished my World War II class back in December and had a couple of weeks off before starting my second-to-last history class, one called Applied History. It's a lower-level class, which I'll follow with a thesis writing class. Since I started a new job in late November, and I'm currently teaching two literature classes to boot, I wanted to give myself a bit of a break for now.

Discussion posts from Applied History to follow over the next six or seven weeks.