Immigrants: The Foundation of the Canal
"With work at hand and the contracts having been let, laborers were needed. In the weeks before, contractors had sent flyers to the seaports in the East and in Canada, to be handed to the newly arrived immigrants, many of them being Irish with some Germans also. The flyers told of "work at hand" and "high wages." A great many of the newly arrived went to the Chicago area."
-Jerry J. Moore
-Jerry J. Moore
Employment Opportunity
"One of the greatest impacts the Illinois and Michigan Canal has had on Illinois history was the influx of immigrants into the state." -Alejandra Ponce de Leon "Irish, as well as German, Swedish and other immigrants, attracted by the promise of abundant jobs, flocked to Illinois to begin the arduous work of digging the canal by hand.”
-The Canal Corridor Association |
"Some of the first immigrants to the Chicago area were Irish and German workers who came to take jobs digging the 96-mile waterway..." -David Young “Irish and German immigrants made up the largest share of foreign-born settlers in Chicago’s early history.”
-David Solzman |
"Deplorable" Working Conditions and Measly Wages
"Despite the rosy picture that the advertisements painted, the working conditions on the I&M were deplorable: the pay was a dollar for a sixteen-hour workday, and outbreaks of cholera and other diseases claimed hundreds." -Jim Redd "The workers lived in rude shanties, and many died of diseases, including cholera and dysentery. During the summer months the men feared contracting malaria... In many cases canal workers were paid a dollar and a gill of whiskey per week."
-The Canal Corridor Association |
Video Clip From: "The Illinois and Michigan Canal Song" - Ray Tutaj Jr.
|
"I never saw anything approaching to the scene before us, in dirtiness and disorder... whisky and tobacco seemed the chief delights of the men; and of the women and children, no language could give an adequate idea of their filthy condition, in garments and person."
-James Buckingham "Laboring from day to day in low lands and stagnant water, human life has proved to be very short. Out of 1500 laboring men employed on the canal, 1000 died during this past year of over-exertion and the diseases incident to the climate, fever, and ague and bilious weather."
-A visitor to the 1839 I&M construction site |
Contrary to the promise of a "great job" and "immense opportunities," I&M Canal workers lived under harsh working conditions. Despite these conditions, the immigrant laborers persevered.
|