Thesis on "Easter Rising of 1916 and Irish American Involvement"

Thesis 10 pages (2868 words) Sources: 10 Style: MLA

[EXCERPT] . . . .

Easter Uprising

American influence on events in Ireland have always been strong, just as the Irish influence on political and social events in the United States. Unlike many immigrant groups, the Irish immigrants were more likely to participate in politics and were especially mindful of events taking place in their homeland. This is as true today as it was in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In fact, one of the earliest evidences of Irish organizations in America can be found in the Irish Charitable Society that was founded in 1737. Other societies such as the Ancient and Most Benevolent Order of the Friendly Brothers of Saint Patrick and the Society of the Friendly Sons of Saint Patrick for the Relief of Immigrants were also formed at about the same time.

One of the most influential groups throughout the years was founded in America by some of the leaders who had left, or had been forced to leave, Ireland.

Upon their arrival in America, unlike most immigrant groups, the Irish were seen as the one group that would return to their homeland at some future point. Most American citizens believed that the Irish would return to Ireland when British rule of the island was rescinded. One of the organizations included The Fenian Brotherhood founded by John O'Mahoney, one of the leaders most friendly to James Stephens, who together were key figures in the 1848 Rebellion.

The 1848 Rebellion was brought about primarily as a byproduct of many of the other revolutions that took place that year. The 2nd French Revolution and revolutions in Berlin, Rome, Prague and Vienna were all factors in the attempted revolution in Ireland.



Some of the revolutions were relatively free of violence, and the leaders of the Young Irelanders believed that the same event could take place in Ireland.

What these revolutionaries forgot was that the British was using their island as a source for essential materials, and secondly that their fellow citizens had not all bought into the concept of a free and unfettered Ireland. The 'revolution' was quickly brought to a close by the authorities. John O'Mahoney and James Stephens both left Ireland for safety reasons and John immigrated to the United States in 1853. Shortly thereafter he founded the Fenian Brotherhood as a sister group to the Irish Republican Brotherhood and other groups in Ireland. Initially the group was named the Emmet Monument Association. The Association firmly believed that Great Britian would be at war with Russia and they proposed to the Russians a back-door method of hurting Great Britian through an overthrow of British control of Ireland. The Russian assistance never materialized and the EMA was disbanded. Two years later John O'Mahoney rescesitated the group, naming it The Fenian Brotherhood looked to foster support for the goal of an independent Ireland. Along with other groups, the Fenian Brotherhood set about raising money and awareness amongst American citizens, establishing chapters in a number of the larger cities. The establishment of the Fenian Brotherhood provided yet another group for Irish immigrants and exiles to flock to in America in order to satisfy many of their feelings of disenchantment. Initially many of these immigrants were treated poorly by Americans due to their prominent Catholic religion and their emigrant status.

However, most of these immigrants did not forget why they had to come to America in the first place. "In fact, one purpose of the famed 'Irish Brigade' of the New York state militia during the American Civil War was to gain training, equipment and battle-hardening necessary to return to fight for Ireland's freedom" (Kautt, 1999, pg. 16).

Many of these individuals were patriotic to a fault and the groups they belonged to sought to take advantage of that patriotism by offering them a way to voice their displeasure with the Irish situation. One of the primary problems with having so many groups seeking to be the 'voice' of the Irish-Americans is that each group had different goals, values, objectives and ideas of how to accomplish their goals, even when their particular goals were closely aligned to another group's stated objectives. Ir was about this same time that James Stephens promoted an idea of preparing Irishmen in Ireland for a rebellion. At the same time Michael Doheny, John O'Mahoney, Joseph Denieffe, Owen Considine and Michael Corcoran contacted leaders in Ireland to guage any interest in Irish-American troops traveling to Ireland as foot soldiers for a rebellion.

All the groups were aligned one with another, including the organizations based in America, and the groups with their home in Ireland. Not all the groups believed that an independent Ireland was the highest priority. Some of the groups were more worried about jobs, education and a free society.

As an example, the "Young Irelanders believed primarily in the rule of the virtuous and the educated, regardless of what class the virtuous and educated may belong to" (McGee, 2005, pg. 19) but individuals such as the Manchester Martyrs were down and dirty dealers in violence who believed that their use of violence was the only solution the British would understand. The Manchester Martyrs were men who attacked a police van carrying Fenian prisoners in Manchester and in the process killing a police sergeant. Other leaders such as Charles Stewart Parnell ended up in Kilmainham Jail accused of being a ringleader in the Ireland Republican Brotherhood who advocated witholding rents from British landlords by Irish farmers.

Parnell believed that Ireland was capable of managing its own affairs and while he abhorred violence he also realized that education was a standard that was to be implemented if the Irish were to ever have a free society. Parnell knew that "access to education was the key to greater social mobility" (McGee, pg. 329) and that another key in regards to establishing an independent Ireland was to control the media. "Irish Tory papers generally represented Fenianism as any threat to the existing social order posed by the proverbial rabble (McGee, pg. 328). The Irish were hobbled by the fact that even their homeland newspaper(s) downplayed any idea of a free and independent nation and they had limited access to the benefits of education.

These daily hinderances were not in place across the globe in America. Americans were prospering and growing in record numbers.

Funds were plentiful and the weapons such funds could purchase were available and easily obtained. The British knew that American groups offered an advantage over the groups in Ireland and used their intelligence gathering capabilities to keep a watchful eye on events taking place in America. One article states, "government authorities in Dublin Castle were able to distinguish between the two (organizations), seeing the IRB as a secret revolutionary body...and the FB as an auxilliary whose mission was to provide the sinews of war" (O'Broin, 1976, pg. 3). John O'Mahoney viewed the two organizations as one in purpose, and a continuation of the Emmet Monument Association though the British viewed the groups as two separate organizations. This could be due to the often-bickering groups and the many various ideas and objectives the various groups would present.

This bickering and in-fighting between the groups was addressed by Jerome J. Collins who found another group in an attempt to combine all the groups into one. This newly created group would ultimately wield a strong influence on both the homeland and in the New World. The group was called the Clan Na Gael, created on June 20, 1867 which was Wolfe Tone's birthday. Wolfe Tone was an early Irish revolutionary who led a failed attempt at independence in the late 1700's. Along with the Clan Na Gael, two additional groups wielding some influence were the Gaelic League and Sinn Fein. As Paul O'Brien writes, "many organizations, including the Gaelic Leagueand Sinn Fein, were founded to further Irish culture heritage and nationalist beliefs" (O'Brien, 2008, pg. 12).

Many of the groups created by the Irish to address the British rule of Ireland were initially set up as cultural groups or clubs, this approach was likely in response to the threat of arrest, abuse and even hanging by the British, but it was also to help the Irish remember their failed attempts from the past as well as inspiring them to keep trying.

In response to the threat from American groups, British rule became somewhat more even-handed. British actions may have been misread by some of the Irish leaders who likely believed that those actions showed weakness by the British, a weakness that could be exploited. This misreading has been a consistent and constant factor in many of the Irish uprisings, and ultimately ended in supression of the Irish by their British overlords. This has been true from the late 1700's until the present day, and was an especially strong factor in the Easter uprising of 1916. Paul O'Brien states that the "roots of the rebellion were fixed in the preceding years, beginning in 1911" (O'Brien, pg. 13) but some would contend that the uprising… READ MORE

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