Irish immigrants often entered the workforce at the bottom of
the occupational ladder and took on the menial and dangerous jobs
that were often avoided by other workers. Many Irish women became
servants or domestic workers, while many Irish men labored in
coal mines and built railroads and canals. Railroad construction
was so dangerous that it was said, "[there was] an Irishman
buried under every tie."
As Irish immigrants moved inland from eastern cities, they found
themselves in heated competition for jobs. The audio recording,
Immigrant
Laborers in the Early 20th Century, describes how West Virginia
coal operators fired union laborers and gave the jobs to Irish,
Italian and African-American workers because, [the] coal
company owned them. This competition heightened class tensions
and, at the turn of the century, Irish Americans were often antagonized
by organizations such as the American Protective Association (APA)
and the Ku Klux Klan.
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