| The First Parade
 St.
Patrick's Day is celebrated on March 17, his religious feast
day and the anniversary of his death in the fifth century.
The Irish have observed this day as a religious holiday for
thousands of years. On St. Patrick's Day, which falls during
the Christian season of Lent, Irish families would
traditionally attend church in the morning and celebrate in
the afternoon. Lenten prohibitions against the consumption
of meat were waived and people would dance, drink, and
feast—on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage.
 The
first St. Patrick's Day parade took place not in Ireland,
but in the United States. Irish soldiers serving in the
English military marched through New York City on March 17,
1762. Along with their music, the parade helped the soldiers
to reconnect with their Irish roots, as well as fellow
Irishmen serving in the English army. Over the next
thirty-five years, Irish patriotism among American
immigrants flourished, prompting the rise of so-called
"Irish Aid" societies, like the Friendly Sons of
Saint Patrick and the Hibernian Society. Each group would
hold annual parades featuring bagpipes (which actually first
became popular in the Scottish and British armies) and
drums.
No Irish Need Apply
 Up
until the mid-nineteenth century, most Irish immigrants in
America were members of the Protestant middle class. When
the Great Potato Famine hit Ireland in 1845, close to a
million poor, uneducated, Catholic Irish began to pour into
America to escape starvation.  Despised
for their religious beliefs and funny accents by the
American Protestant majority, the immigrants had trouble
finding even menial jobs. When Irish Americans in the
country 's cities took to the streets on St. Patrick's Day
to celebrate their heritage, newspapers portrayed them in
cartoons as drunk, violent monkeys.
However, the Irish soon began to realize that their great
numbers endowed them with a political power that had yet to
be exploited. They started to organize, and their voting
block, known as the "green machine," became an
important swing vote for political hopefuls. Suddenly,
annual St. Patrick's Day parades became a show of strength
for Irish Americans, as well as a must-attend event for a
slew of political candidates. In 1948, President Truman
attended New York City 's St. Patrick's Day parade, a proud
moment for the many Irish whose ancestors had to fight
stereotypes and racial prejudice to find acceptance in
America.
Wearing of the Green Goes Global
 Today,
St. Patrick's Day is celebrated by people of all backgrounds
in the United States, Canada, and Australia. Although North
America is home to the largest productions, St. Patrick's
Day has been celebrated in other locations far from Ireland,
including Japan, Singapore, and Russia.
In modern-day Ireland, St. Patrick's Day has traditionally
been a religious occasion. In fact, up until the 1970s,
Irish laws mandated that pubs be closed on March 17.
Beginning in 1995, however, the Irish government began a
national campaign to use St. Patrick's Day as an opportunity
to drive tourism and showcase Ireland to the rest of the
world. Last year, close to one million people took part in
Ireland 's St. Patrick's Festival in Dublin, a multi-day
celebration featuring parades, concerts, outdoor theater
productions, and fireworks shows.
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