Essay On The Irish Potato Famine

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The Tragedy Felt Around the World: The Irish Potato Famine
The tragedy felt all around the world began with a single potato leaving millions dead and more affected. The tragedy was named the Irish Potato famine. Millions of innocent people died, and 3 million left Ireland. Due to little British assistance and Ireland’s dependence on potatoes the Irish Potato Famine resulted in the mass population decline of Ireland, and the emergence of Irish independence movements against british rule.
Before the Irish Potato Famine, life in Ireland was digressively becoming a corrupt nightmare, where the people were completely dependent upon potatoes. The British had full control over Ireland, thus resources produced in Ireland were exported either to England or traded to other countries all around the world. By the year of 1789, inspired by the American and French revolutions, the Irish held British Rebellion groups. Penal laws were then placed to punish people who supported the Catholic religion. “Catholics lost not only freedom of worship, but civil rights as well; their estates, property, and sometimes even lives were at the mercy of any informer...deprived them of any coherence or consistency” ("Penal Laws." CATHOLIC ENCYCLOPEDIA) In the year 1600, Protestants ruled 10% of Ireland, by the year owned 95% of the land.Catholics lost the ability to own land, therefore they were forced to give it up to the Protestants. The laws of the British launched the beginning of Ireland’s massive population decline. Thousands were killed by force from the government and even more died due to starvation.
Before the Irish Potato Famine one acre of land would produce around 6 tons of potato, feeding one family for a year. Meanwhile in England, 20 acres o...

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...cal offenses in 1881 and again in 1883. The Legacy of Irish the Irish independence movements sparks mind all over Ireland, even after all the laws passed the people of Ireland continued to fight for their independence. Ireland finally separated from England in April of 1916.
Years later the Irish Potato famine is still felt today all around the world. A long lasting impact have been placed due to the Potato famine, and nothing will quite be the same in Ireland. The population is slowly on the rise again, and the families are continuing to repair their farms, in order to plant new crops. The British are no longer in control of Ireland and population is restoring itself. If the famine had never happened, the Irish’s dependence of potatoes would have no lasting affects and their would not have been a huge population decline due to disease and unfair British rule.

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