Westward Cork Migration by Sail 1815-1860 by John Sutton

PART II EMIGRANT PERSPECTIVE

the dominant image of America’s westward spread, a classic instance of popular myth prevailing over fact” (ibid). A further US transportation event underway by 1820 was the Erie Canal. New York Governor Clinton’s “Big Ditch” was started in 1817 and completed, largely with Irish labor, between 1818 and 1825. Recognized as an engineering marvel, it became one of the nation’s most important transportation highways, connecting the metropolis to the Great Lakes and interior of the country, consolidating New York as the nation’s economic capital. The 363- mile canal bore the economic side benefit of cities thriving along the waterway between Albany and Lake Erie such as the manufacturing centers of Schenectady, Utica, Syracuse, Rochester and Buffalo. 1820. The Missouri Compromise. Controversy over slave states and non-slave states. Congress legislated the admission of Missouri as a slave state while admitting Maine as a non-slave state and placed limitations on slavery in the Louisiana Territory. 1820. The National Road. The Cumberland Road (aka The National Road) ran through Cumberland Maryland and over the Appalachian Divide to Wheeling Virginia. On 15 May 1820 Congress authorized extension of the National Road to St Louis, Missouri. The Road could accommodate Conestoga wagons and proved a popular route for commercial trade. Such was the USA for the Irish emigrant in 1820, expanding urban growth and infrastructure in the east and restless pioneers pushing settlement borders westward to the Mississippi Valley. ***************************** CHAPTER 2A PRE-FAMINE DEVELOPMENTS IN NORTH AMERICA 1820-45 British emigration to North America, which had recommenced with a trickle in 1815, became a steady stream during the 1820s. Between 1815 and 1830 the UK contributed 200- thousand emigrants to BNA's population of one million in 1830, and 150-thousand emigrants to the US population of thirteen million in 1830. And most of those UK emigrants were Irish. The North American economy remained largely agricultural. Lands were being settled, towns were expanding, commercial production increasing, major infrastructure improvements were underway, the restless were migrating westward, and a developing network of ethnic enclaves across America became sources of news analysis, assistance, and cultural support. The majority of Irish emigrants during this period were Protestant. Many purchased farms in areas of Upper Canada that were exclusionary of Catholics, and while not yet overtly hostile to their Catholic fellow-countrymen in their newly adopted countries, they did not mingle freely. Orange Lodges were founded in BNA which, in absence of a notable Catholic threat, served as cultural centers rather than centers of belligerence (this would later change). Still, it is remarkable that 1820s Toronto, the "Belfast of America", had a "Corktown" district, where Protestants and Catholics from county Cork co-existed (ll, 4A). Irish Catholic culture was already well recognized in Montreal, and the first St Patrick's Day parade was held there on 17 March 1824 (ll, 4A). News travelled back to Ireland as fast as the ships that crossed the ocean, and favorable impressions of Irish emigrant groups settled in America provided impetus for continued transatlantic migration. Construction of Transportation Networks (BNA US). Major transportation improvements were made during the 19 th century in both BNA and the USA to enhance security, enable travel, and facilitate trade of manufactured, agricultural, and mineral products.

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