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It was the cause of the great flloods of immigrants into the United States and into England, and was the origin of the stereotype of Irish people being poverty ridden. The history of Ireland is important in understanding the famine. The conditions which turned the failure of a single crop into a national disaster were a product of a turbulent relationship between the Irish people and their English rulers (Percival 15). The English took Ireland over slowly, through a series of invasions. Then English Barons were granted lands in Ireland. Occasionally, Irish lords would rebel. In many cases, the descendants of the earliest settlers became so assimilated into Irish life that they joined the rebels(15). They were rebeling because the English lords had the richest and best farm In the sixteenth century, England went through a Reformation, and became a Protestant country. The Irish people however, remained true to their Roman Catholic faith (16). Later, around the seventeenth century, land became limited in availability (27). The rich farmland was kept for the English settlers, and the poorest lands were leftover for the Irish During the nineteenth century, the price of grain and other crops was high, and so were the rents. When the prices of grain and other crops fell, so did rents, but not enough to help The poorest members of the community, about one third of the population, could only afford very small land plots, not large enough to grow grain, so they had to give up growing grain, and start growing potatoes. Potatoes were the only crop that ould support a large family on a very small acreage. This dependancy on one crop, for prosperity as well as survival, would have fearful implications for the poor people of Ireland at the time of the One morning in early September 1845, the director of Botanic Gardens in Dublin noticed the leaves of some potato plants turning black at the edges. The fungal infection, now known as Blight, was cause for alarm because most or Ireland was dependant upon the potato crop for income as well as food (55). This famine, which lasted for six years cuased hundreds of Irish people to die of starvation, and hundreds of thousands to immigrate to other countries (119). According to John Percival, author of The Great Famine: Ireland’s Potato Famine 1945-1951, each English city had an Irish Quarter, which was always disease and poverty ridden. Many Irish people immigrated to the United States in search of a new and better life (Percival 126). Even though there were laws and regulations regarding the treatment and accomidations for people aboard ships, they were rarely followed, and the immigrants didn’t care. They often saved more than a year’s wages to pay for a spot aboard a ship for their family. Sometimes even a year’s wages weren’t enough for the whole family, so members would be sent a few at a time, and send money back for the others (127). Immigrants were packed like cattle into small, uncomfortable, unsanitary quarters aboard ships. They were served moldy food and foul water (127). On an ironic note, many of the third class, or steerage passengers aboard the “R.M.S. Titanic” were on their way to the United States in search of a new and better life. Even though she was said to be the largest and most luxurious ships of all time, in third class, the cabins of the Titanic were still small, and over crowded, usually with four or five people to a cabin (Nichol 1). Even though it was 1912, people were still suffering from the poverty that the When the immigrants came to the United States, most of them lived in poverty stricken areas, just as they had lived in England. Irish immigrants worked very hard, and were willing to do so for less pay than the average American worker. This caused many men to be fired so the company could hire Irish immigrants and save money. This caused them to be heavily The Civil War brought about a slight change in attitude towards the Irish though. Many of the immigrants joined the Union army. Their bravery earned them much respect during the war. This caused a slight change in the attitude and discriminations toward them The potato famine caused a lasting impression of the people of Ireland, and made a mark in history as we know it. It forced hundreds of thousands of people deeper into poverty than they already had been. This poverty would taked decades to overcome, but would never leave the memory of those who survived it, or their ancestors (Collins). Bibliography: Works Cited Johnson, James E. The Irish In America. Minneapolis, MN: 1966. Nichol, Mark. The Titanic and Other White Star Line Ships. [Onine] Available: http://members.aol.com/MNichol/index.html. January 3, 1998. Percival, John. The Great Famine: Ireland’s Potato Famine 1945-1951. New York, NY: 1983. Word Count: 826
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