A major reason Irish immigrants came to the United States in the 1840s was to find jobs as skilled laborers. to escape a potato famine. to live in less crowded conditions. to escape oppression.

In the 1840's, there was a major potato famine that cause the starvation and deaths of millions of Irishmen. Because the potato was so vital to their existence, and the crop had failed, Irish people began immigrating to the United States.