AN GORTA MÓRTHE GREAT FAMINE

LA GRAN HAMBRUNA

INTRODUCTION

• THE GREAT FAMINE IS A VERY IMPORTANT PERIOD IN IRISH HISTORY.

• IT BEGAN IN 1845 AND ENDED IN 1851.• THE FAMINE CAUSED THE DEATH OF ONE

MILLION IRISH PEOPLE THROUGH STARVATION.

• IT ALSO CAUSED THE LOSS OF ANOTHER MILLION OF THE POPULATION THROUGH EMIGRATION.

• IN THE MID 1800’S IRELAND WAS AN AGRICULTURAL COUNTRY.

• IT WAS ONE OF THE POOREST COUNTRIES IN WESTERN EUROPE.

• AT THIS TIME THE IRISH POPULATION = AROUND 8 MILLION PEOPLE.

• ONLY A QUARTER OF THE POPULATION COULD READ AND WRITE.

• LIFE EXPECTANCY WAS SHORT – USUALLY 40 YEARS.

• THE MAJORITY OF THE LAND WAS OWNED BY THE ENGLISH AND ANGLO-IRISH UPPER CLASS – 95%.

• THE BEST FARMLAND IN IRELAND WAS IN THE NORTH AND THE EAST.

• THE MAJORITY OF THE IRISH POPULATION LIVED IN THE SOUTH AND THE WEST.

• THE SOUTH AND WEST WAS MORE DIFFICULT TO CULTIVATE FOOD BECAUSE IT WAS BOGLAND (MARISMA) AND ROCKY OR MOUNTANOUS TERRAIN.

• THE ONLY VEGETABLE THAT GREW WELL WAS THE POTATO.

• MORE THAN 3 MILLION PEOPLE SURVIVED EATING ONLY POTATOES.

• IRISH PEASANTS (CAMPESINOS) WERE SOME OF THE HEALTHIEST IN EUROPE BECAUSE OF THE POTATO.

• IT IS RICH IN VITAMIN C, CARBOHYDRATES AND PROTEIN.

• TODAY, IT IS STILL THE MAIN FOOD IN IRELAND.

THE FAMINE

• IN SEPTEMBER 1845, THE POTATO BLIGHT (PLAGA) BEGAN SUDDENLY.

• THE LEAVES OF THE POTATO MYSTERIOUSLY TURNED BLACK.

• IT WAS A FUNGUS WHICH TRAVELLED BY AIR.

• BETWEEN 1800 AND 1845 THERE WERE 16 FOOD SHORTAGES (NOT ENOUGH FOOD) IN IRELAND.

• BECAUSE OF THIS BRITISH OFFICIALS BELIEVED THE POTATO BLIGHT WOULD NOT LAST FOR MORE THAN A YEAR.

• LAISSEZ- FAIRE (DÉJALO ESTAR) WAS THE POPULAR ECONOMIC THEORY AT THE TIME.

• A COUNTRY SHOULD NOT INTERVENE IN THE PRIVATE MARKET.

• IF THE ECONOMY IS STRONG IT WILL FIX (ARREGLAR) ITSELF.

• BECAUSE OF THIS THEORY BRITAIN DID NOT HELP DURING THE IRISH FAMINE.

• THIS CAUSED HUGE TENSION BETWEEN THE POOR IRISH FARMERS AND THE ENGLISH LANDOWNERS IN IRELAND.

• LANDOWNERS CONTINUED TO EXPORT IRISH AGRICULTURAL PRODUCE.

• THERE WAS NO FOOD FOR THE IRISH BUT THERE WAS FOOD TO EXPORT.

• IN 1845, 3,697.5 TONNES OF CORN WERE EXPORTED FROM IRELAND TO BRITAIN.

• 257,257 SHEEP WERE EXPORTED TO BRITAIN.

• IN 1846, 480,827 PIGS, AND 186,483 COWS WERE EXPORTED TO BRITAIN.

• ON AVERAGE, FOOD EXPORTS FROM IRELAND =100,000 POUNDS DURING THE FAMINE.

• IN TOTAL, OVER 3 MILLION ANIMALS WERE SENT FROM IRELAND TO ENGLAND BETWEEN 1846 AND 1850.

• THIS MADE THE BAD RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN IRELAND AND ENGLAND EVEN WORSE.

• THE IRISH BEGAN TO GO TO THE PORTS WHERE FOOD WAS BEING SENT TO OTHER COUNTRIES IN ORDER TO STEAL SOME FOOD.

• THE BRITISH HAD TO SEND TROOPS TO IRELAND TO PROTECT BOAT WORKERS.

• A FAMOUS FAMINE SAYING WAS =• “IF ONLY THE BRITISH WOULD SEND US

FOOD INSTEAD OF SOLDIERS”• “OJALÁ, EL GOBIERNO BRITANICO NOS

MANDARA COMIDA EN VEZ DE SOLDADOS”

• MANY BRITISH OFFICIALS SENT AID TO THE IRISH BUT THEY HAD TO DO IT SECRETLY.

• AND IF THE GOVERNMENT REALISED, THE PEOPLE WHO HAD SENT HELP TO THE IRISH WOULD HAVE A LOT OF PROBLEMS.

• ANOTHER PROBLEM FOR THE IRISH WAS PAYING RENT (ALQUILER).

• THE IRISH HAD TO SELL THEIR FOOD, IF THERE WAS FOOD, IN ORDER TO AVOID EVICTION (DESHAUCIO).

• LOTS OF PEOPLE LOST THEIR HOMES.

• FOOD PRICES BECAME HIGHER AND HIGHER, SO PEOPLE ATE ANYTHING THEY COULD FIND, EVEN GRASS (CESPED).

• PEOPLE COULDN’T FISH BECAUSE THE ATLANTIC WAS TOO DANGEROUS FOR THEIR SMALL BOATS.

THE WORKHOUSES / POORHOUSES

• AS THE FAMINE BECAME WORSE, THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT CREATED THE WORKHOUSES.

• THESE WERE INSTITUTIONS WHERE FAMILIES WHO HAD ABSOLUTELY NOTHING WENT.

• THERE WAS A VERY DIFFICULT INTERVIEW IN ORDER TO GET IN TO THE WORKHOUSE.

• THE WORKHOUSE WAS THE LAST RESORT (EL ÚLTIMO RECURSO).

• FAMILIES WERE SEPARATED AND COULD NOT REUNITE.

• CONDITIONS WERE VERY BAD.• IN THE WORKHOUSE YOU HAD TO

WORK IN ORDER TO GET FOOD.• BUT PEOPLE DIDN’T HAVE THE

PHYSICAL ENERGY TO WORK.• WOMEN AND GIRLS MADE CLOTHES• MEN AND BOYS BROKE ROCKS.

• THE ROAD TO THE WORKHOUSE WAS KNOWN AS ‘THE PATH OF THE DEAD’ (LA RUTA DE LOS MUERTOS).

• OVER 25% OF THE PEOPLE WHO ENTERED DIED.

• AN EXAMPLE OF A WORKHOUSE IS – OLIVER TWIST.

THE FAMINE ROADS

• THE ROCKS BROKEN BY THE MEN IN THE WORKHOUSES WERE TO BUILD ROADS.

• THESE ROADS HAD NO PURPOSE.• THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT DIDN´T

WANT TO GIVE FOOD TO PEOPLE IF THEY DIDN´T WORK.

• THEY BELIEVED THEY WERE HELPING SOCIETY BY STOPPING LAZINESS.

• YOU CAN SEE THESE ROADS IN IRELAND TODAY.

• THEY ZIGZAG OVER THE ENTIRE COUNTRY.

• THEY ARE FAMOUS BECUASE THEY DON´T GO ANYWHERE.

• THE ROADS ARE PERHAPS ¾ KILOMETRES LONG AND THEN STOP ALL OF A SUDDEN IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE.

COFFIN SHIPS – BARCOS ATAUDES

• DURING THE FAMINE, THERE WERE OVER 2,740 TRIPS MADE BETWEEN IRELAND, CANADA AND THE UNITED STATES.

• ON AVERAGE 300 IRISH PEOPLE ARRIVED IN THE U.S. EVERY DAY.

• THE SHIPS WERE OVERCROWDED AND IN BAD CONDITION.

• BECAUSE THERE WERE SO MANY PEOPLE AND SO LITTLE SPACE ON THESE SHIPS, DISEASE AND FEVER SPREAD RAPIDLY.

• 66.6% OF THE PEOPLE WHO ENTERED A COFFIN SHIP DIED.

• WHEN YOU ENTERED A COFFIN SHIP THE PROBABILITY THAT YOU WOULD SURVIVE WAS VERY LOW.

• THIS IS WHY THEY ARE CALLED COFFIN SHIPS.

HELP FOR THE IRISH

• ALL THE HELP RECEIVED DURING THE FAMINE WAS PRIVATE.

• THE QUAKERS – IN 1846 SENT FOOD, MOSTLY AMERICAN RICE, FLOUR AND CLOTHING.

• THEY ALSO ESTABLISHED SOUP KITCHENS (A PLACE WHICH GIVES FOOD TO PEOPLE FOR FREE).

• THEY BOUGHT PRODUCE FROM THE POOR FARMERS AND INVESTED MONEY IN LOCAL EMPLOYMENT.

• IN 1847 THE BRITISH RELIEF ASSOCIATION COLLECTED MONEY IN ENGLAND, AMERICA AND AUSTRALIA.

• THEY RAISED AN IMPRESSIVE 470,000 POUNDS

• IN 1847, THE ASSOCIATION WANTED TO SEND 200,000 POUNDS FOR CHIDLREN´S EDUCATION IN THE WEST OF IRELAND.

• THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT REFUSED TO ALLOW THEM TO SEND ALL THE MONEY.

• BUT THE ASSOCIATION FOUGHT AGAINST THE GOVERNMENT AND EVENTUALLY SENT A SMALLER AMOUNT OF MONEY.

• HELP FOR IRELAND CAME FROM DISTANT AND STRANGE PLACES.

• CALCUTTA, INDIA SENT 16,500 POUNDS.

• BOMBAY SENT 3,000.

• A NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBE SENT 720$.

• AMERICAN AND BRITISH JEWS (JUDÍOS) SENT A LOT OF MONEY.

• ITALY, ANTIGUA, BARBADOS, JAMAICA AND FRANCE SENT MONEY ALSO.

RESULTS OF THE FAMINE

• THE POPULATION IN IRELAND DROPPED DRAMATICALLY.

• MANY PEOPLE WERE EVICTED FROM THEIR HOMES (ECHADO DE SU CASA) BECAUSE THEY COULD NOT PAY THEIR RENT.

• RELATIONS BETWEEN IRELAND AND BRITAIN WENT FROM BAD TO WORSE.

• THE BRITISH THOUGHT THE IRISH WERE SELFISH, LAZY AND BARBARIC.

• THE IRISH THOUGHT THE BRITISH WERE COLD, TYRANNICAL AND GREEDY.

• THE MAIN PROBLEMS WERE :• IRISH PEOPLE DIDN’T UNDERSTAND

MONEY.• THEY DIDN’T USE MONEY.• THEY EXCHANGED ONE OBJECT FOR

ANOTHER.

• THE MAIN BELIEF IN EUROPE AT THAT TIME WAS THAT THE FAMINE WAS AN ACT OF GOD.

• THE BRITISH BELIEVED THE FAMINE WAS AN ACT OF GOD.

• THEY BELIEVED THAT THE DEATH OF SO MANY PEOPLE WAS GOING TO MAKE THE COUNTRY BETTER.

• LESS PEOPLE = FEWER MOUTHS TO FEED.

• ALSO, LAISSEZ-FAIRE (DÉJALO ESTAR) WAS PRACTICED ALL OVER EUROPE AND DID NOT AGREE WITH HELPING A WEAK ECONOMY.

• SELF SUFFICIENCY WAS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING FOR AN ECONOMY.

• ANOTHER EFFECT OF THE FAMINE IS THE HUGE IRISH POPULATION IN THE U.K., THE U.S. AND AUSTRALIA.