A family in Ireland is evicted.

Immigrants came to New York in the 1800s from many different places and for many different reasons. English, French, and Germans fled poverty and looked for opportunity. But mostly they came from Ireland and for the simplest of reasons: they were starving to death. The potato crop was failing, and English masters were taxing away their money. America seemed their only hope.

After 30 days in the filthy holds of converted freighters, Irish families emerged onto the New York waterfront. Many were half-dead. Almost all were flat broke.

Packed into crowded tenements, they struggled to survive. Men labored on docks and construction sites. Girls and women worked as servants in rich people's homes. Boys hawked newspapers. Some joined street gangs to protect themselves against native gangs and the police.

Slowly -- despite prejudice against them -- they made their way up the ladder. Some became craftsmen. Others joined the police. The most successful became politicians and helped build Tammany Hall, the nation's first political machine. As a machine, Tammany asked for immigrants' votes and paid them back with city jobs and services.

Illustration: "Eviction Scene in Kerry," courtesy of Immigrant City Archives, Lawrence, Mass.