Research Paper On The Irish Potato Famine
The Irish Potato Famine was a great famine that took place in Ireland between 1845 and 1852. The famine was caused by a potato disease, also called a potato blight. This was a huge problem especially considering that much of Ireland’s population was heavily reliant on potato crops. The famine itself killed around one million people. The question of genocide comes in when the British are taken into account. Ireland was dependent to Britain, much like how today countries like Puerto Rico are dependent on the United States, so it can be expected that when a famine like this hit Ireland, Britain would do anything they could to aid Ireland and regain stability in the country. Britain did the complete opposite; if anything they made the suffering
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of the Irish people worse than it already was. They passed laws and set regulations that made life even more difficult for the people of Ireland. The Irish Potato Famine was a terrible occurrence that was made even worse by the British, and their actions absolutely constitute genocide.
The Irish Potato Famine remains as one of the most devastating famines in proportion to hit a country. The famine killed one million out of Ireland’s only eight million people. Furthermore, one million more people emigrated from Ireland during the famine, causing the population of Ireland to fall about 25%. The famine was caused by a potato disease called phytophthora infestans. This is more commonly referred to as the potato blight. When this blight began there was no stopping it. The disease was airborne and it traveled extremely fast due to the moist and cool weather of Ireland at the time. In 1846, the blight had infected about 40% of crops in Ireland. However, by the end of 1847, also known as “Black ‘47,” nearly 100% of all of Ireland’s potato crops had been infected. This situation becomes worse when it is taken into account that nearly half of Ireland’s population was extremely reliant on the potato crop. Although crops that were grown after 1847 were not affected by the blight, famine conditions continued because potato seeds were scarce. This was because there was a fear that growing potatoes would just result in more infected crops. While this crisis was devastating, it could have been much less worse had the irish just planted different varieties of potatoes. Some of the potatoes would have carried the necessary genes to survive the blight. Instead, the Irish used only one variety of potato, and this potato had no chance against the disease, causing all of the crops to become infected. The question of genocide comes to mind when the actions taken by the British are taken into consideration. The famine itself was caused by a blight, a disease, this was obviously not the fault of anyone but nature It was the actions by Britain, or lack thereof, that brings up the question of genocide.
Today, countries like Puerto Rico and Guam are dependent on the U.S. for aid to economy, health, disaster, and other occurrences. The relationship of the United States to these countries is much like Ireland’s dependency on Britain at the time of the famine. Because of this dependency, it is Britain’s responsibility to step in and aid Ireland whenever something tragic, such as a famine, should occur. But the British clearly did not think too highly of the Irish.
Laws passed long before the famine were made specifically to make lives worse for the Irish. One set of laws passed were the Penal Laws set into place in 1695. These laws restricted Catholics - or any Irishman - to own land, and it “required the transfer of property from Catholics to Protestants; to have access to an education, and eliminated Gaelic as a language while preventing the development of an educated class; to enter professions, forcing the Irish to remain as sharecropping farmers; or to practice their religion.” These laws pretty much made Irish farmers no better than slaves. The Irish were begging for the British to remove these laws for quite a long time, but when the blight hit they really pleaded them to at least make their lives a little easier. Because the Irish could not own land, they had to exchange their property, their crops, as rent to landlords to be able to live on their land. The potato was ideal for farmers because it was very cheap to grow and it did not take up a lot of space, so farmers could grow a lot of potatoes in one field. The farmers would use their crops as a payment for rent, and the landlords would then sell those crops to make a huge profit. When the blight hit, the Irish were left with nothing to pay their rent with. Some landlords were generous enough to pay for a farmer’s ticket out of Ireland. However, a majority of landlords just evicted their farmers, leaving them poor and desperate on the streets. But even with the potato blight, there shouldn’t have been a famine.
There was plenty of food in Ireland to make up for the lack of potatoes.
However, the remaining crops that farmers could grow - corn, wheat, barley, grain - had to be used to pay rent. It could not be eaten by the families or they would have nowhere to live. And that was only if you were lucky enough to afford seeds for these crops. Many families could not afford these crops, and others had these crops forcefully taken away from them by British occupants of Ireland. The British would sometimes hold the Irish at gunpoint and forcefully take their crops so they could export and trade them for profit. When farmers were evicted, they were left out to rot. They had no money, no food, no hope. They would beg for food but would get none. The British even sent troops to guard export ships that had plenty of food on them. The famine should not have even occurred. If the British would have lifted the laws that were passed more than a century before the blight hit, none of these tragic events would have taken place. The British neglected Ireland’s needs and did many things to make life more difficult for them. The term “genocide” is defined as the systematic destruction of a group or groups of people, usually by a government, with the intent of destroying or dehumanizing said group of people. What the British did to the Irish during the famine was a clear indication of this. It could not have been said any better by John Mitchell, a young Irish leader, who claimed that this was an “artificial famine,” and that "The Almighty indeed sent the potato blight, but the English created the
Famine.”
The Irish Potato Famine was a blatant genocide. It fits the definition perfectly and there are no two ways about it. The British completely ignored the needs of the Irish and they saw the blight as an opportunity to carry out their plan of ridding the earth of Irishmen. It was no secret that the British hated the Irish long before the blight, and it was very clear that they wanted the Irish to be destroyed when the blight hit. They had passed laws that diminished the Irish so much to the point that they were pretty much slaves to the British. They had no rights, could not own land, could not vote, and could not do anything that a normal free man could do. The blight was just an incredible opportunity for the British to rid the earth of the “lesser” Irishman. The British took advantage of the famine to do what they wanted to the Irish, and caused quite a lot of damage in doing so.
The actions taken by the British when the blight hit were absolutely horrific. Long before the disease reached Ireland, there were laws and restrictions put in place on the Irish by the British that turned the Irish into slaves. When the disease hit, the British should have realized what they had done was immoral and wrong, and removed these restrictions. Instead, they added more restrictions. They forced Irish farmers off of their land, took their food from them, and left them to die. What the British did to the Irish in their time of need absolutely constitutes genocide.
of the Irish people worse than it already was. They passed laws and set regulations that made life even more difficult for the people of Ireland. The Irish Potato Famine was a terrible occurrence that was made even worse by the British, and their actions absolutely constitute genocide.
The Irish Potato Famine remains as one of the most devastating famines in proportion to hit a country. The famine killed one million out of Ireland’s only eight million people. Furthermore, one million more people emigrated from Ireland during the famine, causing the population of Ireland to fall about 25%. The famine was caused by a potato disease called phytophthora infestans. This is more commonly referred to as the potato blight. When this blight began there was no stopping it. The disease was airborne and it traveled extremely fast due to the moist and cool weather of Ireland at the time. In 1846, the blight had infected about 40% of crops in Ireland. However, by the end of 1847, also known as “Black ‘47,” nearly 100% of all of Ireland’s potato crops had been infected. This situation becomes worse when it is taken into account that nearly half of Ireland’s population was extremely reliant on the potato crop. Although crops that were grown after 1847 were not affected by the blight, famine conditions continued because potato seeds were scarce. This was because there was a fear that growing potatoes would just result in more infected crops. While this crisis was devastating, it could have been much less worse had the irish just planted different varieties of potatoes. Some of the potatoes would have carried the necessary genes to survive the blight. Instead, the Irish used only one variety of potato, and this potato had no chance against the disease, causing all of the crops to become infected. The question of genocide comes to mind when the actions taken by the British are taken into consideration. The famine itself was caused by a blight, a disease, this was obviously not the fault of anyone but nature It was the actions by Britain, or lack thereof, that brings up the question of genocide.
Today, countries like Puerto Rico and Guam are dependent on the U.S. for aid to economy, health, disaster, and other occurrences. The relationship of the United States to these countries is much like Ireland’s dependency on Britain at the time of the famine. Because of this dependency, it is Britain’s responsibility to step in and aid Ireland whenever something tragic, such as a famine, should occur. But the British clearly did not think too highly of the Irish.
Laws passed long before the famine were made specifically to make lives worse for the Irish. One set of laws passed were the Penal Laws set into place in 1695. These laws restricted Catholics - or any Irishman - to own land, and it “required the transfer of property from Catholics to Protestants; to have access to an education, and eliminated Gaelic as a language while preventing the development of an educated class; to enter professions, forcing the Irish to remain as sharecropping farmers; or to practice their religion.” These laws pretty much made Irish farmers no better than slaves. The Irish were begging for the British to remove these laws for quite a long time, but when the blight hit they really pleaded them to at least make their lives a little easier. Because the Irish could not own land, they had to exchange their property, their crops, as rent to landlords to be able to live on their land. The potato was ideal for farmers because it was very cheap to grow and it did not take up a lot of space, so farmers could grow a lot of potatoes in one field. The farmers would use their crops as a payment for rent, and the landlords would then sell those crops to make a huge profit. When the blight hit, the Irish were left with nothing to pay their rent with. Some landlords were generous enough to pay for a farmer’s ticket out of Ireland. However, a majority of landlords just evicted their farmers, leaving them poor and desperate on the streets. But even with the potato blight, there shouldn’t have been a famine.
There was plenty of food in Ireland to make up for the lack of potatoes.
However, the remaining crops that farmers could grow - corn, wheat, barley, grain - had to be used to pay rent. It could not be eaten by the families or they would have nowhere to live. And that was only if you were lucky enough to afford seeds for these crops. Many families could not afford these crops, and others had these crops forcefully taken away from them by British occupants of Ireland. The British would sometimes hold the Irish at gunpoint and forcefully take their crops so they could export and trade them for profit. When farmers were evicted, they were left out to rot. They had no money, no food, no hope. They would beg for food but would get none. The British even sent troops to guard export ships that had plenty of food on them. The famine should not have even occurred. If the British would have lifted the laws that were passed more than a century before the blight hit, none of these tragic events would have taken place. The British neglected Ireland’s needs and did many things to make life more difficult for them. The term “genocide” is defined as the systematic destruction of a group or groups of people, usually by a government, with the intent of destroying or dehumanizing said group of people. What the British did to the Irish during the famine was a clear indication of this. It could not have been said any better by John Mitchell, a young Irish leader, who claimed that this was an “artificial famine,” and that "The Almighty indeed sent the potato blight, but the English created the
Famine.”
The Irish Potato Famine was a blatant genocide. It fits the definition perfectly and there are no two ways about it. The British completely ignored the needs of the Irish and they saw the blight as an opportunity to carry out their plan of ridding the earth of Irishmen. It was no secret that the British hated the Irish long before the blight, and it was very clear that they wanted the Irish to be destroyed when the blight hit. They had passed laws that diminished the Irish so much to the point that they were pretty much slaves to the British. They had no rights, could not own land, could not vote, and could not do anything that a normal free man could do. The blight was just an incredible opportunity for the British to rid the earth of the “lesser” Irishman. The British took advantage of the famine to do what they wanted to the Irish, and caused quite a lot of damage in doing so.
The actions taken by the British when the blight hit were absolutely horrific. Long before the disease reached Ireland, there were laws and restrictions put in place on the Irish by the British that turned the Irish into slaves. When the disease hit, the British should have realized what they had done was immoral and wrong, and removed these restrictions. Instead, they added more restrictions. They forced Irish farmers off of their land, took their food from them, and left them to die. What the British did to the Irish in their time of need absolutely constitutes genocide.