They braved the perils of the sea and
trusted to luck in the great new world. The journey in itself was no
small adventure. There were some sailings directly from Ireland; but
most of the Irish immigrants were collected at Liverpool by agents not
always scrupulous in their dealings. A hurried inspection at Liverpool
gained them the required medical certificates, and they were packed
into the ships. Of the voyage one passenger who made the journey from
Belfast in 1795 said: "The slaves who are carried from the coast of
Africa have much more room allowed them than the immigrants who pass
from Ireland to America, for the avarice of captains in that trade is
such that they think they can never load their vessels sufficiently,
and they trouble their heads in general no more about the
accommodation and storage of their passengers than of any other lumber
aboard." When the great immigrant invasion of America began, there
were not half enough ships for the passengers, all were cruelly
overcrowded, and many were so filthy that even American port officials
refused a landing before cleansing. Under such conditions sickness was
a matter of course, and of the hordes who started for the promised
land thousands perished on the way.[22]
Hope sustained the voyagers. But what must have been the
disappointment of thousands when they landed! No ardent welcome
awaited them, nor even jobs for the majority.
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