Bank Records Reveal Irish Immigrants' Savings, Challenging Myths of Poverty and Cementing the American Dream
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Historian Tyler Anbinder uncovered surprising bank records showing Irish immigrants in NYC's Five Points had more savings than expected, debunking myths about their poverty.
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Anbinder traced over 1,200 Irish famine immigrants' lives using the detailed bank records to show their upward mobility, with 41% rising from unskilled labor to business owners and white-collar jobs.
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He argues the ambitious, driven famine immigrants proved anyone could succeed in America, cementing the idea of the American Dream as we now understand it.
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The records show how traumatized the immigrants were by the famine, obsessively saving money across dozens of bank accounts to ensure their families would never starve.
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About 80% of famine immigrants landed in New York, where they gained business acumen and real estate smarts before spreading across America, shaping cities as they went.
