The Irish Potato Famine In Europe

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.

The Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when the lack of jobs and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the major European wars. When the Europeans could finally stop depending on the Irish for food during war, the investment in Irish agricultural products reduced and the boom was over. After an economic boom, there comes a bust and unemployment was the result. Two-thirds of the people of Ireland depended on potato harvests as a main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then between the years of 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acre after acre of Irish farmland covered with black rot. The failure of the

Since potatoes constituted the main dietary staple for most people this left them in dire conditions. As many as 1.5 million people died of starvation and the illnesses which ensued from the epidemics which accompanied the famine itself are believed to have lead to another 1 million. This brought upon the mass exodus from Ireland to the U.S. for survival; from the mid 1840’s to 1860 about 1.7 million Irish immigrants made it to the U.S. (overall numbers from 1820-1900 are at approximately 4 million total)(Rapple,

The potato famine was the start of it all. Families in Ireland were starving, had contracted diseases, and were dying and having no hope of livelihood. It did not just kill thousands of people, but it also

The main crop in Ireland was potatoes, which they had grown successfully there since the late 1500’s. Nearly half of the population had potatoes and buttermilk for every meal. Farmers only grew a couple of different types of potatoes which caused them to have little genetic variety. Since their genetic variety was not diverse it set them up for a crop failure and made them more susceptible to disease. To add to the risk a new prime minister took over in Britain who decided to rely heavily on Ireland’s resources which made the famine

In 1801 Ireland became subject to British rule after the passing of the Act of Union. While under British rule Ireland was faced with the British Corn laws of 1815, causing them to sell most of their corn crop to England (Stork). This went on before, and during, the famine, causing the Irish to gain a strong dependence on the potato. Consequently, the potato became a very popular source of food, especially for pregnant women.It helped them to gain nutrients throughout their pregnancy and carry their children to full term. This increased the population tremendously and decreased the infant mortality rate as well. Dwyer and Lindsay point out that “[t]he fungus phytophthora infestans arrived in Ireland in 1845 after already damaging crops in America, where it first appeared, England, and on the Continent”(188). In 1845 alone, the blight destroyed about one half of the potato crop in

The Irish are in economic turmoil at home-- a massive famine has hit and has caused a depression in Ireland so great that many decide that they must flee the country to continue to survive. The major choice is America-- land of free, home of the brave-- a fresh start, a new beginning, a place where anything can happen; to survive they must go to America and work, and when they do, they are perceived by the American people as a hardworking class that they can work like slaves to accomplish great technological feats: the Erie Canal, the Union Pacific piece of the transcontinental railroad. The Irish men are perceived as heavy workers who need no breaks-- brutes-- while the women, mostly single women either worked in factories or worked as maids

Many African nations faced challenges after the colonial legacy. One nation that was hit the hardest was Somalia, "a country in turmoil." One challenge Somalia faced after gaining independence was famine. In 2010 throughout 2012 nearly 260,000 people died in result of this nightmare. This was caused by a severe drought and what worsened the disaster was conflict between rival groups fighting for power.

It was 1845. A farmer checked in on it's potato crops. Nothing seemed wrong with them at first. When the farmer looked around, he saw other farmers staring at their crops. Confused, he dug up one of them and noticed brown spots covering the potato. The farmer later was unable to get potatoes and decided to sail to America. He eventually died This is what happened to everyone in Ireland. When faced with this problem, many people had a life-changing choice. They could either try to move or stay in in Ireland and endure it. At least 1,000,000 people died from the famine. The Irish Potato Famine was a blight that influenced millions of lives and killed many innocent people.

acre, but also during the winter which helped keep animals healthy for the Spring since the majority of crops were not able to grow in winter conditions (Need Citation). Additionally, the nutrition that potatoes provided, such as vitamin A, C, and B-6 along with calcium and iron, was astonishing since it was so easy to grow, so this produced a wide impact socially on Ireland, which was doubling the Irish population from about four million to eight million (Need Citation). Also, the Corn Laws, which were a tariff on grain and dramatically held the price of bread at a high cost, was another major incentive for farmers to switch to potatoes for their main source of staple and cash crop, because farmers would be able to make more of an economic profit by using potatoes then trying to have the majority of their land taken up by overly taxed wheat and grain.

Blight basically destroyed the potato crops in Ireland. Also a “poor law” forces smaller farmers more than the rich ones. Because if this, the Irish Immigrants decide to leave for America. Increasing The United States’ population with more Irish culture.

The Great Famine is often referred to as the greatest tragedy in Irish history (The Great Famine, 2012). In 1845 one third of Irelands population was dependent on one crop, the potato. This crop grew well and promised the greatest return on limited land. Offering the highest yield to farmers and providing consumers with multiple nutrients, the potato crop was known as the “wonder crop” (The Great Famine, 2012). In 1845 crops were struck with disease. No crop production meant no food and no income for the people of Ireland.

The Irish famine of 1845 - 1852 killed 1.1 million people and over 1 million emigrated, in 1841 the population of Ireland was 8.2 million but in 1951 it had plummeted down to 6.5 million people. The famine caused mass starvation and disease within Ireland, it started when fog that contained Phytophthora infestans (Potato late blight fungus) began to settle onto potato plants turning them black and letting off a sickening odour. The potatoes under the ground looked edible but they too rotted away. One month after the potato blight began in Ireland wind had carried the potato blight spores all the way to London. When this happened the British Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel quickly founded a Scientific research team to investigate the potato blight, the research team quickly identified it as ‘wet rot’. However the people of Ireland formed their own ideas to why this happened, Catholics thought it was a

The Irish Potato Famine was a period of starvation, disease and emigration, and was known as one of the biggest tragedies from 1845 to 1847. Many people depended on potato crops to survive; however [comma] the potato crops acquired blight, a disease that caused the potatoes to rot while still in the ground. No good crops could be grown for two years [comma] causing Irish tenant farmers unable to pay rent and was forced off their land causing over 21,000 people to die of starvation. The Irish Potato Famine caused many people to leave Ireland to seek work overseas in areas such as England and America. The Irish Potato Famine had a big impact on the history and the economy of Ireland.

Suffering from the Great Famine in the mid 1840s, where there were not a single children playing outside the doors, and the streets were “being depopulated by starvation” (Trench), the Irish people were devastated. The famine lead to higher unemployment, causing tens of thousands citizens to emigrate to other European countries or overseas to seek for jobs, losing one forth of its population. Since joining the European Union meant the borders were perished, the Irish could live and work in any member states, creating multiple opportunities and job choices for workers. ("The EU and the