Aim: Who was responsible for the great famine? “The people have made up their minds to report the worst and believe the worst. Human agency is now denounced as instrumental in adding to the calamity inflicted by Heaven. It is no longer submission to Providence, but a murmur against the Government. The potatoes were blighted by a decree from on high. Such are the thanks that a Government gets for attempting to palliate great afflictions.” Questions 1- Who does the editorial blame for the Great Irish Famine? 2- What is the editorials view of the Irish response to action taken by the English government?   Coach Smith

Between 1845 and 1851, some one million Irish flocked to the United States. They left Ireland to escape a great famine. Coach Smith

At this time, Ireland was a part of Great Britain At this time, Ireland was a part of Great Britain. A few wealthy Protestant Irish families owned most of the land. Coach Smith

The poor Catholic Irish worked on the estates for little or no wages The poor Catholic Irish worked on the estates for little or no wages. They were given only small amounts of land on which to plant food crops. Coach Smith

The poor Irish discovered that the best crop to plant in a small space was the potato. Potatoes were easy to plant, took up little room, and thrived in Ireland’s moist climate. Coach Smith

Because the potato took so little of their time and soil, the Irish planted no other major food crop. Coach Smith

But from 1845 to 1851, a fungus carried over from America destroyed the yearly potato crops. Coach Smith

The Irish were so dependent on the potato that almost 25 percent of the population (between 500,000 to 750,000) starved to death or died from diseases caused from malnutrition. Coach Smith

The British government , which ruled Ireland, turned the problem over to the Irish Poor Law system. Coach Smith

Under this law, the government was authorized only to set up workhouses where poor people could live and work. But there were no facilities for the sick and dying. Coach Smith

The British government did not even prevent the rich landowners from demanding their rents. Coach Smith

At the time, many people believed that poverty was a moral failing. Coach Smith

It is hard to understand how a country as wealthy as industrialized Great Britain could let the Irish die from hunger. Coach Smith