History of the Potato Famine

fib of the Potato deficitTreavor HoffmanCollen SeguinThe Potato FamineBetween the years of 1845 and 1850 oer a wiz thousand thousand- community died of either disease, hunger or fever throughout Ireland. The Irish believed that nature was a main cause but so were the British, incline and the rest of Europe. The main cause of entirely these deaths is what we have all distinctively heard and learned about and that is the white potato vine chivvy or other known as the potato famine. So some people died because the potato was more(prenominal) a big part of the Irish consumption and when you turn everywhere out of someaffair that was highly relied upon, and have very few other get-gos, it results in very bad outcomes. Aside from the disease that affected the crop, the other causes that contributed to such a major drop in community and death cannisternister be attributed to the lack of donjon from the British and incline. They were the ones who caused the hunger and cata strophe throughout Ireland.Let us early prate about the history of Ireland and the potato. The population of Ireland increased rapidly from the early s so farteenth century. In 1600 it was just oer a million by 1841 it had risen to something over 8 million (Toibin and Ferriter, pg. 11). So, over a 200-year span Ireland saw a huge reaping in their population and were not fully prepared for it. As for the potato, it was first discovered in South America in the year 1537 by Spain and was brought back to Europe and gradually spread throughout. There are a couple of stories in how it made its bearing to Ireland. The first is that the potato swear out ashore from the wreckage of the Spanish Armada in 1589. The other story is that an explorer named Sir Walter capital of North Carolina brought the potato from one of his expeditions. The potato was an easy crop to beat and could grow in some of the poorest conditions making it very suitable for the Irish to bear because it was cheap and could be very plentiful (newworldencyclopedia.org). at present that we know a little about the Irish and how the potato got to Ireland, let us talk about the causes and factors of the famine. The big reason of course was the potato blight. Researchers dont know incisively how the potato blight was caused or where it came from. Before the massive potato blight there were many other calamitys of the potato that we dont typically hear about. passim the clip the potato had been in Ireland it had seen around 20 other failures. and between the years of 1845 and 1850 the entire country was suffering from crop failure making it impossible for anyone to thrive. According to a chart in the phonograph recording The Irish Famine in the early 1840s there was a radical of about 15,000 tons worth of potatoes being grown. Then from the years 1847-1856 that play dropped to 4,423 tons and dropped even more to 3,407 tons between the years of 1857-1866 (Toibin and Ferriter, pg. 53). 2 thir ds of the trainforce were dependent on agriculture in the 1840s while except one in seven of the population lived in towns and cities ( Toibin and Ferriter, pg. 52). The average add of potatoes the average adult male ate pre-famine was around fourteen pounds worth, xi pounds for women and children older than eleven, and almost five pounds worth for children under eleven. This shows us that much of the population in Ireland was reliant on this one food source and when it was gone or full of disease, many people died or became ill.The Irish famine caused many deaths and saw many emigrants. There was a good of about a million people who died due to the famine and another(prenominal) million who ended up leaving Ireland in search for a better way of life. Life for those who stayed was brutal and desolate. One good thing though is that when so many people left it gave opportunities for other farmers to work their land and own a profit (Toibin and Ferriter).Considerably one of the b iggest reasons so many people died wasnt because the potatoes ran out and were gone but because Englands long hurry political dominance over Ireland. The Irish had been bullied and conquered many times by the English. They alike seized much of the agriculture land which wasnt given back to the Irish. The English hired their own large-minded of farmers to manage the land and do all the upkeep. These same managers would then remove out the small plots of land to farmers in exchange for labor and cash. This ended up leading to higher rent prices and a plummet in the Irish economy. In a typical tenancy like this it can be effective and benefit some(prenominal) parties but in this case the Irish had zero rights to the land they farmed. The besides place that wasnt as bad were the areas high in Protestants. These were the save areas that the farmers could make any profit from what they were doing. The Irish suffered from many famines under English rule. resembling a boxer with bot h arms tied behind his back, the Irish could only stand and absorb blow after blow. It took the many mountain of English policy to create the knockout punch and ultimate act to the Irish question (mises.org). The British did not care one way or the other of what would happen to Ireland. They found them to be disgusting and referred to them as ape like.Aside from not only having to grow the potatoes the Irish also had to eat them and so did their livestock. They would feed the livestock their peelings because they did not eat that part. As for people, they did not have to many ways to make the potatoes. Most of the time it consisted of just some cabbage, butter, milk, and salt thrown in to help with the big H and texture (Toibin and Ferriter, pg. 49) . As for the cooking of the potato they would just boil them over the fire until the inside of the potato was done and they could add the other ingredients (Toibin and Ferriter, pg. 67). Now these potatoes they were growing were not l ike the potatoes most of us are accustom to today. They were of very poor quality and did not taste very well. being a potato farmer myself I can say I have a pretty good judgment on what kind of potatoes taste good and which do not. And the ones they were growing definitely tasted bad. I can also tell you that when we read about the stories people had from the book The Irish Famine and when they say rotting potatoes smelled bad, it is most definitely true. Rotting potatoes is one of the grossest smells you may ever smell in your entire life. Unfortunately for the people of Ireland they were constantly dealing with this nasty smell and I cant even imagine what their homes and lands would smell like.There has been much research done to countersink whether or not the British are answerable for the death of over a million people. Most historians believe that are enormously responsible because they just sat back and watched as Ireland fell apart. And not only did they just watch but they kept thriving off the Irish land in ways like taking all their cows and other crops leaving the Irish with very few options but chiefly the potato. It was said that the amount of dead and emigrated people was impossible to determine because of how many actually died and left the country (Toibin and Ferriter pg. 17).Before the famine smitten Irishmen had already been steadily immigrating to the U.S and to other parts of the world. But once the famine struck those previous numbers were a joke. Over 72,000 emigrants entered the U.S in the year 1848 (Toibin and Ferriter, pg 172). In just one year By 1850 the population of unused York urban center was said to be 26 percent Irish (About.com).Overall the Irish Famine had two main causes. The first being the fungus that grew on the potatoes create the potato blight and completely destroying the crop. And the second factor was the lack of support given by the British and how they mistreated the Irish people. This was definitely an lawsuit of an Irish Auschwitz ( Toibin and Ferriter, pg. 54).ReferencesRobert McNamara 19th Century History Expert. What Happened During the Great Irish Famine? About.com Education. N.p., 15 Dec. 2014. Web. 03 Mar. 2017. .Anne. What Caused the Irish Potato Famine? Mises Institute. N.p., 07 May 2008. Web. 03 Mar. 2017. .Potato. Potato New World Encyclopedia. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 Mar. 2017. .Toibin, Colm, and Diarmaid Ferriter. The Irish Famine A Documentary. London Profile in Association with London Review of, 2004. Print.