Presented by Ian Delahanty, PhD
Associate Professor of History

In the mid-1800s, many Americans blamed a recent influx of immigration, especially from Ireland, for the major social, economic, and political problems of their time.  According to these anti-immigrant nativists, everything from increased crime rates to the decline of native-born Americans’ prospects in the labor market to the divisive partisanship in national politics were the result of too many poverty-stricken foreigners crowding American cities. Immigrants fleeing from famine and political strife in their homelands, the nativists argued, were simply incapable of becoming true Americans. Sound familiar?

In this talk, Delahanty examines the rise of anti-immigrant nativism in 19th-century America, particularly amid immigration from Ireland during the Great Irish Potato Famine. He explains how nativists attempted to enact their anti-immigrant political agenda and what Irish immigrants did to challenge nativists’ charges against them. Ultimately, Delahanty shows, Irish immigrants proved nativists wrong not simply by becoming Americans but by doing so on their own terms. Delahanty’s talk draws from parts of his recently published book, Embracing Emancipation: A Transatlantic History of Irish Immigrants, Slavery, and the American Union, 1840-1865.

This event, presented by the Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, is free and open to the Springfield College community.

For questions or more information, contact Wendy Franz at wfranz@springfield.edu. If you have disability and require a reasonable accommodation to fully participate in this event, contact Franz to discuss your accessibility needs.

A Wellness Passport Event