Verified Document

Famine To Five Points The Story From Essay

Related Topics:

¶ … Famine to Five Points The story From Famine to Five Points is based on experiences of Lansdowne's people and their immigration from Europe to North America's Most Notorious Slum. Tyler uses individual's experiences to highlight the social, economic and political transformation of this population from the famine and disease stricken mountain region of Kerry to the Most Notorious area in New York. Tyler Anbinder tells the story of Ellen Holland and her journey from Kerry parish of Kenmare to New York. An English nobleman Henry Petty Lansdowne made it possible for the Irish immigrants including Holland as he financed the emigration program in Europe. He was an influential politician serving in whig cabinet and owned large tracks of land from which all those emigrants he assisted came from. The Lansdowne tenants especially those who lived in the mountain regions, were the poorest. In the summer, they would leave their cabins to walk long distances through the counties in search of work. In the autumn, they would go begging in the low country as it was the harvest season. By 1848, the living conditions in this region was dire, the cabins here were filthy with the occupants clothed in tatters.

The potato blight attack on the farms made things worse there was wide-spread famine. People were emaciated...

Theft and plunder became the order of the day the cholera epidemic sweeping Europe in 1849 also struck them due to overcrowding.
As a result of Lansdowne's discussion with his estate agent, William Trench offered emigration to everybody. This came as good news to the masses who rushed to leave the country. Almost everybody in Lansdowne left with only 50 tenants choosing to forgo the emigration offer.

Tyler Anbinder also tells the story of Tim Sullivan's encounters to depict the daily encounters of this immigrant community. These Irish immigrants came to North America to escape the famine in Lansdowne. This historic relocation commonly called the famine immigration to America; saw the immigration of about 2 million Irish people from Emerald Isle to America. They were determined to build better lives for themselves in America. Most of these Lansdowne immigrants settled in New York's Five Points neighborhood, a slum with drunks, prostitutes, plenty of other immigrants all living in one of the worst tenement blocks in the world. However many of these immigrants were determined to rebuild their lives after years of unemployment. They were eager to work the lowly jobs available such as menial day laborer and washer person. Lansdowne immigrants lived in dilapidated and…

Sources used in this document:
Tim Sullivan the son of Daniel and Catherine Sullivan, living in Baxter Street, saw an opportunity in politics taking advantage of the numbers as well as the unity of the Irish-Americans. New York had many opportunities for the immigrants from Lansdowne; at the age of seven in 1870 worked as a bootblack and as a newspaper boy. Due to the nature of his newspaper delivery job, Tim Sullivan established a wide network of contacts among the newspaper boys in the city. When he reached his teenage years, Sullivan moved to the news plants. However, the distribution managers knew about his sales network, associated benefits, and made him one of them. He got a distribution opportunity in every newspaper that was rolled out due to his network of news dealers all over New York City. He got significant income from his operations that by the time he reached his late teens he opened his first saloon and owned three or four by his early twenties.

Sullivan became very popular such that by twenty-three he was elected to the state assembly of New York without any law experience. Despite the fact that he was chosen as an insurgent running against Tammy Hall, he made gainful connections with him and moved up through the ranks. He became a member of the state senate and even the United States House of Representatives. Things changed so fast that soon Tim Sullivan became the political icon of downtown New York popularly called "Big Tim." Many considered him one of the most powerful politicians in New York with the like of Tammy "boss" Richard Croker.

Many observers considered Sullivan a very wealthy man though some critics claim that his fortune was a s a result of payoffs from illegal businesses such as gambling and prostitution syndicates in his area of representation. However, Sullivan vehemently discredited these accusations repeatedly reiterating that he had never taken a bribe and that his income was a result of his investment in legitimate businesses. Observers note that no matter the source of his income, he never forgot his humble origins and always shared his wealth with the less fortunate members of his constituency by giving them thousands of pairs of shoes and dinners every Christmas. In a time span of 60 years, the Irish immigrants had risen from the streets to be leaders of New York City.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Famines and Political Unrest in
Words: 2118 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

The deprivation of the locals was ignored, and the government kept itself involved in the corrupt practices, 'since 2000, the government has been accused of transference of most of Zimbabwe's white-owned agriculture land to black political elites with no interest in, or aptitude for, farming' (Steffen, 2005), such measures resulted in the massive downfall of the agricultural goods. This is not to be considered a natural famine, instead an

Love Triangle Story Lines of Lancelot, Arthur
Words: 2110 Length: 7 Document Type: Research Paper

Love Triangle Story Lines of Lancelot, Arthur and Guenivere to Tristram, King Mark and Isolde from Malory's Morte Darthur When Melanie McGarrahan Gibson says of the "Tale of Sir Gareth" in Sir Thomas Malory's Morte Darthur that "in the happiest ending of all of Morlay's tales, love and marriage triumph" (Gibson 220), she is touching on more than just the wholesome and happy nature of the tale. Though unique in

How Pictures Shape the Story in Syria
Words: 3718 Length: 10 Document Type: Essay

The Role of a Photojournalist in Shaping the Syrian Narrative Summary This paper discusses the role of the photojournalist in shaping the Syrian narrative. The images that photojournalists create are used by a variety of media outlets, both mainstream like CNN and alternative like social media uploaders, to develop a narrative that promotes a perspective on events and advocates for a reaction from the public—either support for intervention or condemnation of the

Aeneid Is Essentially the Story
Words: 1479 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Book seven marks the second half of the poem, showing a new revitalization of purpose in both the writing and the journey. Recognizing that they have finally reached their promised land by fulfilling a curse from the Harpy, Aeneas finds himself in Latium, where the daughter of the king is fated to marry a foreigner. For thus Anchises prophesied of old, And this our fatal place of rest foretold: When, on a foreign

Gangs of New York: A
Words: 580 Length: 2 Document Type: Term Paper

" This was to show that Tweed was tough on crime. it's no wonder that Bill, the Butcher, leader of the Natives, is so violent. In the course of becoming a mentor to Amsterdam, he explains, "You stay alive with fear. Fear," he says, "preserves the order of things." His gang wreaks most of its violence on the Irish whom they place at the bottom of the social scale along with

Issues in Ethiopia
Words: 2700 Length: 8 Document Type: Research Paper

Ethiopia and their effect on U.S. Interests REASONING ASSESSMENT OF ISSUES IN ETHIOPI Cultures within Ethiopia Ethiopia and their ability to influence a Local Issue 5 Ethiopia Influence on Regional Issues Issues in Ethiopia and their effect on U.S. Interests interests inside the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa Area of Operations This essay explores Ethiopia and the elements of reasoning, assess the cultures within Ethiopia and their ability to influence an issue of local, regional,

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now