The Paddy Camps: The Irish of Lowell, 1821-61 - Softcover

Mitchell, Brian C.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 025207338X ISBN 13: 9780252073380

Publisher: University of Illinois Press, 2006

Synopsis

The growing Irish population of the Lowell, Massachusetts, paddy camps in the nineteenth century proved a tempting source of cheap labor for local mill owners. This work demonstrates how the Irish community in Lowell overcame adversity to develop strong religious institutions, an increased political presence, and a sense of common traditions.

About this title

Book Description:

The dramatic story of the fights and compromises that shaped an Irish community

Disdained by many Yankee residents as Catholic lowlifes, the growing Irish population of the Lowell, Massachusetts, “paddy camps” in the nineteenth century proved a tempting source of cheap labor for local mill owners, who took advantage of the immigrants’ proximity to exploit them to the fullest. Displaced by their cheaper labor, other workers blamed the Irish for job losses and added to their plight through repression and segregation.

Now in paperback and featuring a new preface, Brian C. Mitchell’s The Paddy Camps demonstrates how the Irish community in Lowell overcame adversity to develop strong religious institutions, an increased political presence, and a sense of common traditions.

About the Author:

Brian C. Mitchell is president of Bucknell University, Lewisburg, Pennsylvania. 

About this edition

• Publisher: University of Illinois Press
• Publication date: 2006
• ISBN 10: 025207338X
• ISBN 13: 9780252073380
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 247