Primary Sources : Historical Society of Pennsylvania

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Primary Sources

"Mr. Calvert has an objection to an Irish Man..." Letter from John Muir
The Know Nothing and American Crusader From the Balch Collection

Anti-Immigrant Images

The Pope’s Dream
This cartoon references anti-Catholic attitudes common throughout the 19th century that Catholics were anti-democratic and loyal primarily to the Pope. Here the pontiff dreams of presiding over "A Catholic America" that values "The Church First -- The Country Afterwards." From the Balch collection
Uncle Sam’s Lodging House
This cartoon, published in Puck in the 1880s, reinforces the stereotype of the Irishman as an essentially combative troublemaker. Uncle Sam reprimands him, "Look here, you, everybody else is quiet and peaceable, and you're all the time a-kicking up a row!" The editorial that accompanied the cartoon asserted: "the raw Irishman in America is a nuisance, his son a curse. They never assimilate; the second generation simply shows an intensification of all the bad qualities of the first. . . .They are a burden and a misery to this country." From the Balch collection
The Irish Declaration of Independence, May 9, 1883
This cartoon, published in 1883, portrays a stereotypical image of the Irish American woman who is large, with big feet and muscular arms and a violent, domineering temper. Like the image of the violent pug-nosed Irish man, this image of the Irish woman as large, coarse, and vulgar reinforces the idea that the Irish are unnatural, measured by their deviance from normative gender roles. From the Balch collection
The Usual Irish Way of Doing Things," Harper's Weekly, Sept. 2, 1871
This anti-Irish cartoon by Thomas Nast . An angry Irish man sites on a barrel labeled: "Uncle Sam's Gun Powder." The caption reads: "Everything obnoxious to us shall be abolished, Our liberty has been taken away (killing Orangemen), We must rule." From the Marchand Collection at UC Davis
“American Gold,” Puck, May 24, 1882
One criticism that was and is still made against immigrants is that they import poverty to the United States. Here, the lazy Irish back in Ireland wait for money, while in America, immigrants are forced to work for it. The accompanying editorial applauded Irish men's and women's hard work in America but deplored "naturalized citizens who pretend to be Americans," supporting radical troublemakers in the "turbulent old home"--the box in the right-panel inset is labeled "agitation and disturbance fund." From the MSU Appel Collection
“Our Self-Made Cooks: From Pauperism to Potentates,” Puck, January 30, 1881
Immigrants were often attacked as well as celebrated for their aspirations to the American Dream. Here, an Irish servant moves from a life of destitution in Ireland to become an uppity, domineering servant who terrorizes her American household. The small caption in the left panel reads: "They are Evicted in the Old Country." Right panel: "But in America They Do All the Evicting Themselves." From the MSU Appel Collection
“The Mortar of Assimilation,” Puck, June 26, 1889
Like Uncle Sam's Lodging House, this cartoon comments on the seemingly inherent tendency of the Irish to be violent and disorderly. It also surmises that the Irish are incapable of assimilating to mainstream American culture and unsuitable for citizenship -- they are essentially deviant Others, "the element that will not mix." From the MSU Appel Collection

Riots of 1844
The following materials have been shortened for classroom use. Extended versions of some of these materials are also provided.

Kensington

Southwark

Images of the Riots

From A Full and Complete Account of the Late Awful Riots in Philadelphia. Philadelphia: John B. Perry, 1844.