England and Wales Birthplace as a Percentage of the U.S. 1880 Population & U.S. 1880s Railroads
Ireland Birthplace as a Percentage of the U.S. 1880 Population & U.S. Major Rivers
Based on these maps, a pattern emerges that shows a higher population of English and Welsh individuals settling near railroads, whereas the Irish population appears to be settling closer along the rivers.
In particular here, the Irish population is especially near the Hudson River, seem to be settling closer to the locations of the major rivers, you can also see a higher density where the Erie Canal is in Upstate NY. It is not on the map, but the location of the canal aligns exactly with a darker percentage of Irish born individuals. Alternatively, the English and Welsh born individuals align quite closely with the railroads in use in 1880. This is easily seen in the West, and on the Northern border. Notice how the highly English and Welsh populated area in the West is almost complimentary to the locations where the Irish born individuals were populated in the West.
Likely, English settlers followed this path for convenience, as railroads sprung up after the Civil War (1865). The Library of Congress's timeline explains how many economic opportunities awaited individuals in the West, but English also settled in the East along railroads as well (The Library of Congress). Of course, rivers also provide transportation, so why is it that the Irish chose rivers over railroads? There are mentions of Irish working on waterways, such as in the CT River Valley, and also of farming. The Irish also went West for the Gold Rush (Irish Central).
This data set is not perfect, for instance, we cannot know from this what the occupations of these individuals were or if they were individual or in family units. All of this could be helpful in understanding the settlement patterns of individuals from these birthplaces. I imagine the Midwest is missing a lot of data, as well as the west in general. This may be because of a higher population of indigenous individuals who may not have been counted very well in the survey, if at all.
Overall, a pattern may be seen between the locations of where English and Welsh born individuals lived in 1880 versus where the Irish born individuals were. In the maps, one can see that higher percentages of English/Welsh are found near railways and Irish are near major rivers. This could be due to a lot of reasons, but I argue that it has to do with the farming, textile, and employment opportunities that rivers have to offer for Irish born people. English/Welsh born individuals may have an easier time assimilating to the U.S. and so instead they follow the railroads which offer lots of opportunity.
Sources:
“The American West, 1865-1900: Rise of Industrial America, 1876-1900: U.S. History Primary Source Timeline: Classroom Materials at the Library of Congress: Library of Congress.” The Library of Congress. Accessed September 5, 2024. https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history-primary-source-timeline/rise-of-industrial-america-1876-1900/american-west-1865-1900/.
Bureau, US Census. “1880 Census: Volume 1. Statistics of the Population of the United States.” Census.gov, December 16, 2021. https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1883/dec/vol-01-population.html.
“The Contribution of Irish Labor in the US Following the Great Famine.” IrishCentral.com, September 2, 2024. https://www.irishcentral.com/roots/irish-labor-great-famine#:~:text=The%20contribution%20of%20Irish%20labor%20in%20the%20US,men%20and%20women%20...%208%20Immigrant%20women%20.
Bonus:
Some of the missing data may be due to the fact that many of the locations were still territories when the data was collected, or perhaps because some of the locations were designated for only indigenous individuals. For instance, on the document we were given, around page 525, we see that Oklahoma is not there, which at this point was Native American territory.
(https://www.census.gov/library/publications/1883/dec/vol-01-population.html)
I absolutely love these maps and analyses Rachael! I think it is soo cool how you found a distinction between water and railroad travel by different groups of people. Connecting this to assimilation and labor perspectives was really interesting.
ReplyDeleteThis is super interesting. I like the combination of the 2 maps with a different variable represented on each. I analyzed settlement patterns of Scottish-born immigrants, and it is cool to see the similarities and differences between our maps as well.
ReplyDeleteNot only are your maps clear in the connection between population diaspora and railroads and rivers, you have also thoroughly sourced your conclusions. This allows any viewer to clearly see the justified connections you have drawn. Furthermore, your maps are aesthetically pleasing.
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