Written Assignment #2: Where are we

going?
A Day in the Life of an Irishman
By: Hussain Atieh

Atieh 1
Hussain Atieh
Professor Kevin Ball
HON 1000
22 October 2014

I stare at the deteriorating calendar crudely hanging from a rusty nail above my eldest
brothers bed; January 12, 1891. Looking back on the farm life that my family and I use to have
back in Ireland, I recount how nightmarish my life was back then. Ten years ago, our small
potato farm in west Ireland was plagued by potato blight. The hunger quickly became
unbearable, we had no more money to afford the simplest necessities, and we were desperate for
a solution (Redpath 1)1. Fearing starvation, my family and I immigrated to Philadelphia in
Pennsylvania, USA, in hopes of finding job opportunities that would put bread on the table
(Kennedy)2. My family of 12 men started out with nothing except for the clothes on our backs
and our life savings of $50. We had managed to find our current place of residence, an
apartment, in the slums at the edge of the city. The apartment has broken furniture and bad
water damage, but the rent is cheap, which is all that matters right now (Ward)3. My life in
Philadelphia, on the other hand, has been characterized by the poor conditions and instability of
my jobs, the local Americans

Primary source; Redpath talks about the horrors he witnessed that Irish people experienced during the 1879
Famine
2
Secondary Source; Kennedy speaks about the consequences of the 1879 famine and crop failure due to blight
3
Secondary Source; Ward speaks about the poor and congested living conditions found in the slums that
immigrant groups, such as the Irish, had to deal with

Atieh 2
prejudice towards my ethnic group working, and the cynicism I hold towards my social status
(Immigration to the United States)4.
I realized I was getting lost in my thoughts of the past. I decided to instead try to focus on
the present, and the job ahead of me today. A sensation of numbness washed over me as I sat up
from my bed; it was pretty unusual for me to be alone in this usually cramped apartment. But
then again, it was 7:00 am, which meant that my family and everyone else was already at work,
working the early shift. For all 28 years that I have been alive, I cant recall a time where I have
ever felt comfortable in my living conditions. Farm work was always grueling work and it
always seemed that we never had enough to eat. I figured that if our family left Ireland, we
would also be leaving those conditions behind. But it seems that these conditions followed us
overseas to Philadelphia as well. I made my way to the rotting door leading to the unforgiving
outside world. I thought, as I turned the barely functional door handle, today will be just like any
other day; hard work, little pay, little certainty, and no choice (Immigration to the United
States)5. The only thing that will be different today is my job. I was employed and fired from
two different jobs in the last month alone: railroad construction and mining. My current job for
an indefinite amount of time will involve building another railroad terminal for the fat cats at the
Philadelphia and Railroad Company (Vanmeter, Orr)6. I know that once the building is complete,

Atieh 3

Secondary Source; This document highlights the poor pay, and job competition immigrants faced during the
1880s
5
Secondary Source; The document talks about the gruesome conditions and how employers would take advantage
of the desperate immigrants
6
Secondary Source; During this time period (early 1891), the construction of a railroad terminal in Philadelphia
using immigrant labor was taking place

or when Im of no use to them anymore for any reason, theyll fire me without a moments
hesitation, and Ill once again have to wander around the city to find another eager employer
wanting to make as much money off of me as possible. They know that I have no choice but to
accept their terms and conditions for the backbreaking jobs they offer me; there are plenty of
other immigrants to choose from who need the job just as badly as I do, and will put up with the
gruesome conditions just to be able to put a little bit of food in their familys mouths
(Immigration to the United States)7.
With these thoughts racing through my mind, a cold shiver runs through my body, and I
look out at the city in front of me. Everything about the way the city looked seemed so
deliberate. The buildings were built tall and they were placed in ever so specific locations to
ensure that they would save the most money, not so that they appealed to the eye. I assume this
deliberate style of the city is what the architects believe to be the most appealing to our eyes, but
I think theyre thinking of the citys structure as more appealing to wallets than to our eyes
(Rybczynski 148)8. I finally muster the strength to get my legs moving towards the tall, restless,
and seemingly condescending city in front of me. The three mile distance from the apartment to
my new job provides me with plenty of time to reflect on my thoughts, unfortunately for me. As
I walk against the harsh wind beating against me, I begin to think about when my family and I
first came to this new country, and just how lucky we were. Unlike the many other families that
were on the boat traveling to this country with us, we Irish folk were one of the few with an

Atieh 4

Secondary Source; This document talks about how immigrants had to compete with one another in order to
maintain or receive a job
8
Book source; Rybczynski talks about the arrangement and size of buildings during this time were intended to be
economically efficient rather than aesthetic

advantage over the other families; we spoke English. With the employers having a diverse
population of unskilled and desperate workers to pick from, we were usually the first choice
since we spoke English and were actually able to communicate with them (Clark)9.
Unfortunately, some of the other immigrants forced me and some of my family members to give
up our jobs to them, just so that they can have a chance to feed their own families during that
time (Martelle 81)10.
Just because we spoke English, however, didnt automatically make life easy for us. My
family and I faced a great deal of resentment from the locals. Since my family and I were so
desperate for jobs, we were all willing to work more hours for a cheaper wage than what the
local Americans were usually paid. To them, we were thieves who alienated the hard working
American and their right to a reasonable wage (Clark)11. When I first felt the cold stares and
stinging insults the locals threw at me when they saw me working on a railroad, I was
dumbfounded. I felt as though I was building a city that resented me. However, as my body aged,
my conditions unchanged, and the resentment remaining unrelenting, I became apathetic towards
those who spat venom at my face. It seems this emotional apathy makes me more appealing to
employers; they want someone who is going to be submissive to their demands and focus only
on the important task at hand; the job. My employers could care less about their own workers
mental well-being, as long as we make them money thats all that matters.

Atieh 5

Scholarly Article; Clark addresses the advantage of the English-speaking Irish in the work force
Book source; Martelle speaks about how some immigrants used force to steal jobs from other immigrant
workers. This fact pertains to the competition for jobs that immigrants faced.
11
Scholarly; Clark talks about how Irish immigrants use to face discrimination due to the fact that they worked for
lower wages
10

Crowded City Street in Philadelphia in 1897 (Campbell)12

I finally arrive at the city and immediately begin fighting my way through the busy
streets. The city is always busy, always in a rush, because as long as there is money to be made,
people will always be in a rush. Jobs dont remain available forever, and they certainly dont
wait for people who take their time, so theres never a reason to not be in a rush. After much
pushing and shoving, I finally arrive to my workplace; an undeveloped piece of land waiting to
be transformed into a useful railroad. I survey the area and see the rest of my family members
already working on constructing parts of a railroad tract. My eldest brother comes up to me and,
without saying a word, hands me a hammer and flashes me a smile. I smile back, and chuckle.
Funny to think that the people literally building the city are the ones toted by the local Americans
as bringing it down. However, somebody has to do the job, and it just so happens that my ethnic
Atieh 6

12

Primary Source; This image taken in Philadelphia during the 1890s shows how claustrophobic the streets can get,
relating to the pushing and shoving demonstrated by the character in the paragraph following the image.

group is part of the ones doing the job. I understand that this city has much growing up to do,
construction wise and society wise. I fix my gaze on the road in front of me as I walk towards
my working family, and a Im filled with a rare sense of optimism; Im building the city for a
better me and for a better America, so I better get started. (Clark)13.

Atieh 7

13

Scholarly Article; Clark discusses how the Irish workforce during the industrial age of America was vital to
Americas growth.

Works cited
1. Redpath, James. Talks about Ireland. New York: P.J. Kenedy, 1881. Print.
2. Kennedy, Robert C. "On This Day: February 28, 1880." The New York Times. The New York
Times Company, 2001. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
<http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/harp/0228.html>.

3. Ward, David. "Population growth, migration, and urbanization, 1860-1920."North

America: The Historical Geography of a Changing Continent. Savage(1990): 299-319.
4. "Immigration to the United States." Library of Congress. Library of Congress, 2014. Web. 26
Oct. 2014.
<http://www.loc.gov/teachers/classroommaterials/presentationsandactivities/presentations/ti
meline/riseind/immgnts/>.

5. Vanmeter, Paul, and Mark Orr. "Philadelphia & Reading Railroad

VIADUCTgreene." Philadelphia & Reading Railroad VIADUCTgreene.
VIADUCTgreene, 2014. Web. 29 Oct. 2014. <http://viaductgreene.org/philadelphiareading-railroad/>.
6. Rybczynski, Witold. City Life: Urban Expectations in a New World. New York: Scribner, 1995.
Print.

7. Clark, Dennis. The Irish in the American Economy. Irish Studies 4. (1985): 231-251.
America: History& Life. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
8. Martelle, Scott. Detroit: A Biography. Chicago, IL: Chicago Review, 2012. Print.