1.0) -Introduction
From roughly 1845-1850, a famine hit not only Ireland, but other countries in Europe. This famine spread devastation around the country, and killed over 1 million people, nowadays, it is known as The Potato Famine. In this paper, I will look at Ireland before the famine, and also the cause of the famine. Then, I will be describing the social, economical and political impacts. I will also be looking at emigration regarding North America and Britain. The Potato famine was the climax of social, economical and political catastrophes, caused by both Irish and British factors. The disaster that struck Ireland changed its society, and made Ireland what it is today.
2.0)
- 2.1) -Ireland before the Famine
Before the famine had even struck, Ireland was extremely poor, and thus caused the effects of the famine to strike even harder on Ireland's society. In the 1800's, Ireland was one of the poorest countries in the western world.
An 1849 depiction of Bridget O'Donnell and her two...
Myself (Dan Grant), photographed June 10, 2007.
A graph showing the indexed population Ireland (th...A British survey in 1835 found that more than half of the families in the rural areas of Ireland were living in mud cabins, with only one room, no windows and no chimneys. This shows us that the living conditions of most Irish peasants were very poor. When living in these conditions, when the famine struck, it was near impossible for the Irish peasants to survive because of the condition in which the peasants lived in. Overall, the living conditions of these peasants did contribute to the death of over 1 million Irish men, women and children.
In 1800, Ireland became a part of Britain and was placed under the jurisdiction of Britain's imperial parliament. Ireland was allowed to be represented with 100 members, but not one of those members was Catholic. In Ireland in 1600, Protestants had owned only 10%...