The Irish Potato Famine

Résumé du document

This document will analyze the Potato Famine that took place in Ireland between 1845 and 1850. It is referred to as one of the biggest disasters Ireland has faced. The Irish diet, before the introduction of the potato in the late 1500's, was based on animal products, which Ireland traditionally produced in great quantities. Beef, milk, butter and butter-milk constituted the Irish diet. In the late 1700's Irish population began to explode. Young people were encouraged to marry early, girls commonly married at 16 and boys at 17 or 18.

Extraits

[...] However, his ultimate decision was to repeal the Corn Laws gradually over three years time. Peel hoped that the gradual implementation of repeal would better facilitate the bill's passage. He maintained that the repeal tariffs and the relaxation of protective duties was in itself a wise policy. Furthermore, he proposed that Indian corn (maize), buckwheat, and every kind of animal or vegetable food be admitted duty free. He also helped pass the Catholic Emancipation Act, giving more rights to the Catholic population ( 90% of Irish people were Catholic). [...]

[...] The occupation of the troops, from year to year, was to prevent the cultivation of the land, to destroy the growing crops already planted, for “famine was judged the speediest and most effectual way of reducing the Irish”. Meantime the old chieftain of clans, the owners of the soil, the leaders of the people, the “great rebels”, as they were called, were becoming fewer and fewer. In few years, the Irish were indeed reduced. b. Various theories - Starvation among the peasants is blamed on a colonial system that made them dependant on the potato in the first place. [...]

[...] Additionally, soup kitchens gave soup to 3 million people daily. To limit the number of people seeking relief and also to limit the expense to the British government, the Poor Law Extension Act of 1847 was instituted to deny aid to tenant farmers with over a quarter acre of land. This Act promoted emigration, increased land clearance, and disintegrated the structure of rural society, which were beneficial to British landowners, who sought profit, power, and larger plots of land. According to the Poor Laws, landlords were bound to support peasants sent to the workhouse, which cost a year. [...]

[...] To fulfil the daily nutritive requirements in the mid 1800's, each person had to eat 3 kilograms pounds) of potatoes. According to historical accounts, a farmer could eat 15 potatoes at one meal. When the famine hit in 1845, the Irish had grown potatoes for over 200 years. During this time, the lower classes had become increasingly dependent on them. Potatoes provided good nutrition, so diseases like scurvy and pellagra were uncommon. They were easy and very cheap to grow, requiring a minimum of labour, training and technology spade was the only tool needed). Storage was simple. [...]

[...] This was important to the Irish, who owned little, if any, of their land. Often a whole family could live for a year on just one acre's worth. To increase their harvest, farmers came to rely heavily on one variety, the lumper. It is remarkably fertile, with a higher per-acre yield than other varieties. However, Ireland did not enjoy the same rate of industrial expansion as England did. No advances took place in agricultural methods. And all that kept starvation at bay, in abundant years, was the of potatoes and pigs with which the peasant paid the rent. [...]