Over 4.000 enlisted men in Washingtons Army had Irish surnames. The Carroll family of Maryland produced the first signer of the Declaration of Independence. However. the immigration of Irish in the mid1800s was of unprecedented proportions and of a different nature. While many of the earlier Irish refugees were educated people who had fled for political reasons. the newcomers were usually unskilled. povertystricken. and semiliterate. As they crowded into our large urban centers they found that America was not yet ready to accept them on an equal basis with Americans who had arrived earlier. The Irish became very easy targets for those who sought to further their own political fortunes by arousing the prejudices of others against them.
Identified stereotypes
Generalization about Irish immigrants being unskilled, poverty-stricken, and semiliterate.