Corn Law Dbq

In the early 1800s life in Ireland wasn’t easy, Irish citizens got by day to day by farming and relying on the potato. The potato was their main source of food and money. With out the potato the Irish would have nothing. No one was prepared for what was about to happen in 1845, the beginning of the Great Irish Potato Famine.

In the late nineteenth century shortly after the Civil War and Reconstruction, farmers in the Midwestern United States found themselves in quite a predicament. During the second industrial revolution of the United States that contained mass introduction of: railroads, oil, steel, and electricity, the risk-taking entrepreneurs of this era took an adventure into the world of cutthroat capitalism. In just a little time, a handful of monopolies arose in all these industries which hurt both the consumer of the product and the producer of the material (Doc. F). Because of the corrupt politicians in Washington DC, the absence of regulation on the monopolies put into place by bribes and greed or moderation from them, and the devious ways of the

     Nineteenth-century Ireland was the most densely populated country in Europe: in 1800, its population was 4.5 million, and by 1841, it had risen to eight million (Kinealy 15). Yet much of this population existed in condition of sorrow and misery lay in the dependence of the peasantry on just one staple crop, the potato; in western countries like Mayo and Galway, nine-tenths of the people ate nothing else (MacManus 602). Here was a disaster waiting to happen, made worst by the rapid rise in population in the first half of the century which forced the peasants to subsist on smaller plots of land (O Grada, The Great Irish Famine 63).

The Populists took major issues with the capitalists and monopolies of the era. In their party’s platform (Document A), the Populists say that the land is “concentrated in the hands of the capitalists.” This prevented the small farmer from living the American Dream of building a successful life for himself and his family. A common view for farmers was expressed by James B. Weaver in 1892 (Document F), who believed that the monopolies of the era were “organized to destroy competition and restrain trade.” These large scale farms caused overproduction, causing an “alarming fall in the price of wheat (Document E).” This price fall caused a chain reaction of events that all had the same effect, small farmers being crippled by loss of income.

In the late 1800’s, America’s farmers faced deep financial insecurity with the fall of agricultural prices that kept them in poverty. Many farmers borrowed money from merchants and banks, and when it came time to repay their loans, they found themselves in the face of losing their land. Their financial troubles mainly attributed to the high freight rates that railroads charged the farmers in order to transport their crops, as well as high interest rates charged by loaners. This financial turmoil lead to the development of the Farmers’ Alliance, which advocated for lower interest rate loans by the Federal Government itself, so that way the farmers didn’t have to depend on independent banks and merchants for financial assistance. The Farmers’ Alliance eventually gained traction in politics and eventually formed itself into the People’s Party, or otherwise known as the Populist Party.

Nearly all of the reasons for agrarian discontent in the late 19th century stem from three areas: land, transportation, and money. The farmers were fighting the perceived threats posed by monopolies and trusts, railroads, and the demonetization of silver. The American farmer during this period already had his fair share of problems which, compared to the success of the industrialized businessmen, resulted in much of the animosity between the two groups. The fact of the matter was farmers had entered a viscous cycle. Wheat and cotton, once the staples of American agriculture were selling at such low prices that it was almost impossible

K.H. Connell, in his paper “Land and Population in Ireland, 1780-1845”, describes and explains the significant population growth in Ireland prior to the famine of 1845 and how the uses of the Irish land changed with the population growth.

In the early 19th century, farmers saw the need to cooperate with government regulation. They started to believe the government could solve their economic problems if they cooperated as part of the system. When once they were known as the epitome of the American dream, independent, and self-sufficient, they now submitted to government regulation. This decision was made in the 1896 elections. As a result of this transition, many children of farmers left and found work in the city. When generations past would have stayed on the farm their whole lives, a new window of opportunity was opening up as the market expanded.

The Industrial era, starting after the Civil War and ending at the end of the 19th century, was a significant time in American history. To determine the discontent of farmers, all aspects of the Industrial era must be analyzed. Socially, the farmers represented the widening of the classes taking place at the time. Economically, they were the embodiment of the struggling lower and middle class. Politically, the farmers discontent did not go unnoticed as the two party system was disrupted by a surging new third party, the populists. The farmers discontent affected many parts of the American society at the time, and had a major effect on politics.

A Short History of the Agrarian Revolt in America, Lawrence Goodwyn explains the unfairness shown to the farmers: “should population and production double to twenty while the money supply was held at ten- currency contraction- the price of wheat would drop to fifty cents. The farmers of the nation would get no more for twenty bushels of wheat than they had previously received for ten.” Song pamphlets also circulated throughout the United States during this time, rallying farmers together against this financial

In 1890 clergyman Washington Gladden wrote an article called “The Embattled Farmers”. In it he blamed the ruin of the farmers on “protective tariffs, trusts…speculation in farm products, over-greedy middlemen, and exorbitant transportation rates.”

The inability of the common people to obtain hard coin led to the confiscation of property, lawsuits and imprisonment. [countryman149]. Husbands stated that the poverty deepened due to the lack of money in circulation. Further explaining that the elite had a mentality of superiority and no incentive to help the working class. He phrased it as, “ordinary farmers were a lower class to be ruled” and the elite tried to rule the farmers from financial, to social and economical. [p255] Large farmers cornered the market on tobacco in Virginia creating a dependency from smaller farmers who needed their prestige, name and existing connections for a fair market price for their crop. This allowed larger, elite farmers, to set market prices and pay what they wished. To bridge this gap in fair market values, they [elite farmers] offered consumer credit at high prices. This round-robin of financial manipulations resulted in rebellions and

In this essay, I have two primary objectives. The first, and key objective, is to examine Adam Smith’s criticism of the Corn Laws. Smith argues that the Corn Laws are wrong on practical grounds, because he shows that enacting a free market system is much more effective at regulating the corn market by controlling prices and demand more efficiently; and through this he also introduces the moral dilemma with the corn laws; that the laws created an injustice on the people, in particular the farmers and dealers, because it does not allow them to work to their own advantage and self-interest; whereas people should have the right to trade freely. This will then follow on to my next discussion, where I deliberate what we can learn from Smith’s discussion on the moral limits of markets, i.e. the state should not intervene in the market, because doing so can create many moral problems.

The Irish Famine 1845-1849 “Is ar scáth a chiéle a maireann na daoine” “It is with each other’s protection that the people live” From the Fifteenth through to the Nineteenth centuries English Monarchies and Governments had consistently enacted laws which it seems were designed to oppress the Irish and suppress and destroy Irish Trade and manufacturing. In the Penal laws of 1695 which aimed to destroy Catholicism, Catholics were forbidden from practicing their religion, receiving education, entering a profession, or purchasing or leasing land; since Catholics formed eighty percent of the Irish population, this effectively deprived the Irish of any part in civil life in their own country.

Ireland 1845, food was suddenly scarce, money was hard to earn, and what little was earned was immediately spent for survival. The people of Ireland had grown up used to missing meals due to crop failure. However, previous crop failures couldn’t compare to the potato famine of 1845. For the next five years, the blight destroyed nearly all the potato crops and killed many Irish. About one million people died during this time in Ireland because of the starvation and disease. About two million fled the lands of Ireland in hopes of escaping the starvation, disease, death, and poverty that had taken over Ireland since the famine. The tenant farmers, who suffered would farm land that belonged to the absentee landlords. They would grow many crops, most of which were very successful. They were only allowed to keep the potato crops for their own; the rest of the crops would be harvested and exported to England. The absentee landlords lived like kings while the tenant farmers were forced to sell everything they owned so they could have money to purchase food to stay alive. When they ran out of things to sell they were then forced to scavenge for food scraps just to escape death for a while longer. The starvation and struggle of the Irish tenant farmers could have been avoided if the absentee landlords hadn’t been so greedy with collecting the rent. England could have come to the aid of the Irish people sooner than they did if they weren’t so interested in staying true to their