Great Potato Famine Research Paper

Beginning in 1845 and lasting for six years, the Great Irish Potato Famine swept through Ireland causing mass starvation, disease, and emigration. The Great Potato Famine affected not only Irish living in Ireland during this time period, but continues to affect Irish descendants all over the world today. Ireland in the mid 1800s identified herself as an agricultural nation. Eight million people populated Ireland during the Great Potato Famine and these were amongst the poorest people in the Western World. Historians have documented that only about the quarter of the population could read and write. During this time, it was common that the Irish married young, at seventeen or eighteen, and then went on to have large families. It was also common …show more content…
The people of Ireland lived in small communal clusters, known as “clachans,” spread all throughout Ireland’s countryside. At times, there would be as many as twelve people occupying these mud cabins. All in all, during this time, the Irish people were very poor and living in close proximity, which were just a small portion of factors that made them even more vulnerable for the effects of the Great Potato Famine.
What exactly caused the Great Potato Famine? Many who have learned about the Great Potato Famine do not know in depth details about the logistics. Most simply believe the potatoes went bad which caused the Irish to starve and die. Before the Great Potato Famine, in the early 19th century, the poor grew oats, barley, or rye, along with beans and other green vegetables. This diversity gave the Irish some leeway in case something like the Great Potato Famine were to happen; however, by the 1840s, this diversity had largely disappeared (Japikse). The cause of the Great Irish Potato Famine, that started in 1846 and progressed until 1853, was the fungus phythophtera infestans, otherwise known as potato blight, which reached Ireland in the fall of 1845 (Japikse). …show more content…
Nearly one million Irish arrived in the United States throughout the span of the Famine. Although the Irish made it to the United States, their hardships were not over yet. Upon arrival in America, the Irish were forced to settle into the lowest levels of society and fight for survival. When the Irish arrived in Boston, MA, their welcoming was anything but warm. They were greeted with Bostonians pointing and laughing because of the clothing they were wearing (Mulrooney). The Irish were excluded from those is America. They ended up settling in exclusively Irish communities with their families and seeking whatever jobs they could. The Irish were willing to work any unskilled jobs such as unloading ships, pushing carts, cleaning yards, etc. (Mulrooney). Once again, the Irish were faced with poor living conditions in America. Because of the overflow of poor Irish and the cost of housing, many Irish lived in close quarters. Those who could not pay to live in these tight, unsanitary conditions were forced to live in backyards, alleys, and basements of old houses (Mulrooney). Where the Irish settled in America, their houses became breeding grounds for Cholera (Maharanta, 280). Sixty percent of Irish children did not leave to see their sixth birthday and the average Irish adult only lived six years after stepping off the ship onto American soil (Maharanta, 280). Because of the Irish

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