Irish and other European immigrants played important roles in Westward expansion in the 19th century. Many Irish immigrants came during the Great Potato Famine and lived in poor conditions in cities on the East Coast. They took difficult and dangerous jobs building railroads and mining in the West that others did not want. While they faced exploitation and discrimination, Irish immigrants ultimately helped settle communities throughout the Western United States through their hard work on railroads and in mines.

1. THE IRISH AND OTHER
EUROPEAN IMMIGRANTS
Important Roles in Westward Expansion

2. CULTURAL HERITAGE
 Irish and some German Roman
Catholics; others from various
protestant faiths
 Many immigrants were very poor
 Most of the Irish came during the
Great Potato Famine in Ireland
 Many initially lived in cities
where they came into the U.S.
 Couldn’t afford to move West
 Usually lived in very crowded,
dirty conditions
 Took jobs no one else wanted
 Dangerous and/or tedious

3. WHERE THEY LIVED
 The largest group of immigrants to the U.S.
before the Civil War were the Irish
 more than 1.5 million total
 1820-1860 they were more than 1/3 of all immigrants
 1840s they were more than ½ of all immigrants
 High percent of the population in Montana, Wyoming,
Nevada and other states in the West
Butte, Montana
developed as a heavily
Irish mining city

4. HOMESTEADING ON THE PLAINS
 Homesteading openly advertised to immigrants
in the cities of the eastern United States and
throughout Europe.
 Many Scandinavians settled in the Upper Mid-
West (Dakotas, Minnesota).
 Today a large portion of white Americans in the
West are of Irish and/or German ancestry.

5. THEIR ROLE IN WESTWARD
EXPANSION
 The Irish and other
Immigrants:
 Helped build the railroads
(especially the Union
Pacific)
 Mined throughout the West
(i.e. California gold mines,
Nevada silver mines,
Montana Copper mines)
 Other manual labor

6. THE AFFECT OF MANIFEST
DESTINY
 Settled in communities throughout the West
 Came by wagon or by train
 In Butte, for example, the Irish helped develop the city and
make a place for themselves in the West
 Exploitation and Discrimination:
 Many men lost their lives working dangerous jobs like
mining and railroad construction, and often for less pay
 Looked down on because they were mostly from the working
and/or poor classes
 Religious persecution (i.e. Catholics)
 Language and other cultural barriers