Irish Potato Famine Research Paper

Words: 946
Pages: 4

Ireland was on the brink of disaster due to The Great Potato Famine, also known as the great hunger. The Irish Potato Famine was the worst to occur in Europe in the 19th century from 1845–1849 when the potato crop failed in successive years (Mokyr). One million people died of starvation or the diseases associated with the famine and one million emigrated to North America or parts of England, such as Liverpool, and Scotland, such as Glasgow. The famine was caused by a mysterious disease, the potato blight, it affected the majority of potato crops but also precious farmlands all over Ireland. The issue with it affecting potatoes is because that was everyone of that time's main source of food due to the crops easy maintenance and nutritional value. …show more content…
The people of Ireland decided this because they’d never had two bad potato seasons in a row but little did they know this famine would last them four years. They did nothing to try to prevent the blight from killing their crops, it was just assumed that it would magically go away. So, instead of them trying to treat the potato crops, they sold most of their property and other valuable resources they had for money. However, the British government tried to help them by buying their excess crops, such as wheats and oats, because even though they were already in a famine, they knew they desperately needed the money to help put their economy back on track. On the other hand, British government agencies would not give food aid to Ireland because they assumed that the English landowners and private businesses would be harmed with the result of the food price increasing (Trueman). Henceforth, the British put their best efforts forward, but sadly it wasn't enough to stop the