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Jennifer Davis
History 392-01
Ignatiev Book Review
I found Noel Ignatiev’s book, How the Irish became white, confusing in the way information was presented, it seemed as if it was not interwoven tightly enough with each sub-thesis presented for the individual chapters. ...
Ignatiev’s main thesis stated that the Irish immigrants felt they had to fit into American society and in order to do so; they had to discriminate against the blacks. ... Ignatiev used O’Connell’s plea for abolition as a means to show how dedicated the immigrants were to their new country. ... Ignatiev gave other examples where the Catholic Church was influential in convincing the immigrants that loyalty to America came before loyalty to Ireland. Ignatiev portrayed O’Connell as a strong supporter of abolition in the beginning then becoming confused if it was acceptable to receive money from slaveholders for his own cause, repeal. Many characters which were presented in the book had some sort of confusion as to where their true loyalty lay. ...
Ignatiev’s method worked well for this chapter, it showed Daniel O’Connell as a very active abolitionist unable to convince his former countrymen to join him in his fight. ...
In Chapter Two, Ignatiev explained the discrimination against the Irish in their own country and proved that they learned color discrimination in America; it was not brought over from Ireland. ... Ignatiev gave a good example showing the whites and blacks getting along in close quarters. ... Prison officials treated the men the same, no preferential treatment based on race was discovered in Ignatiev’s research. ...
Ignatiev then used Thomas Branagan as an example of what living in America could do to one’s thoughts. ... Ignatiev stated that the white men refused to work with the blacks as a way of showing that they were above them which would help them gain more acceptance. ...
Ignatiev gave the example of the emergence of factories as a place of employment. ... Ignatiev gave many examples of riots and how law enforcement turned a blind eye and allowed people to get away with murder, “there were 83 riot-related charges between September 1841 and August 1843 which produced 68 indictments and six convictions”. ...
This was a strong chapter for Ignatiev; it showed a whole new people as compared to the quiet Irish who, in the beginning, were afraid of making waves in fear that they would not fit in.
Approximate Word count = 1851
Approximate Pages = 7.4
(250 words per page double spaced)
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