The Famine

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The Famine circuit Breaker Flashcards
Charlotte Colton
Flashcards by Charlotte Colton, updated more than 1 year ago
Charlotte Colton
Created by Charlotte Colton over 3 years ago
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Question Answer
Causes Of The Famine: Population Growth Population growth caused the famine because: -According to a hypothesis, a population could only grow so much before it burst
Subdivision of land Subdivision of land caused a famine because: -People could get married from an incredibly young age (boys 14, girls 12) -This meant they needed very little in order to get married -After marriage people only got a small bit of land to live on (it got smaller every generation) -This meant all people had to survive in was potatoes
Depending on the potato Depending on the potato caused the famine because: -If the potato crop failed there wasn’t any other food, so there wasn’t anything to live on
Chronology of the Famine 1845: Blight hit, and a third of the potato crop was destroyed, the result at first was not a shortage of potatoes, but too many. Not all farmers had lost their crops 1846: Blight hit again, the failure was complete and hit a population that was exhausted and starving. Death was widespread 1847: The crop did not fail, but most farmers had either not sown seeds in expectation that the crop would fail again, or didn’t have any seeds to sow. The public work scheme had ended leaving Ireland in a worse situation. This became known as Black 47 1850: The famine was over
Famine Relief Measures: Soup kitchens After stopping public work schemes, Trevelyn suggested a new plan- the local ratepayers would provide soup kitchens to feed the starving. The landlords did not want to encourage the use of these as they did not want to pay, so they made them as unattractive as possible. People with 1/4 acre of land or more didn’t qualify. People at the end of the queue rarely got food and often died waiting. Vegetables were precooked so people couldn’t sell them
The Workhouse People avoided the workhouse as much as they could, because it was unsanitary, disease spread easily and they were split up from their families. However, people often went there as a last resort and workhouses soon became overcrowded with up to 111,000 people in a building made to accommodate 100,000
Public work scheme The schemes were partly funded by taxes. They provided basic work for people who needed it so that they wouldn’t be receiving charity. The hours were long, the pay uncertain, starving people had to do hard labour and people would wait in queue for a worker to collapse so they could get their job. However this was effective (700,000 people used them)until it shut down in 1847 because it was costing too much
Private Charity The people who provided the most effective help to the Irish were members of the society of friends (Quakers) from America who sent food such as flour, rice, biscuits and Indian Meal. They also provided financial support to people so people could set up their farms again. All together they gave £30 million in todays money.
Eviction -The failure of potato crop meant that people couldn't afford to pay rent. Landlords also wanted to make their farms bigger saw therefore, people got evicted. -Wreckers came to a house and using a wrecking bar tore off the roof and ripped apart the stones of houses, so that people couldn't get back in. If they stayed with another person on that estate, they also got evicted.
Emigration -After people were evicted, their landlords often gave them money to go America. People who couldn’t afford the voyage. By June 1847 300,000 people landed in Liverpool. Boats carried disease and when Americans realised this, they closed the ports, so many went to Canada. The Irish were then put in quarantine before they were allowed before they were allowed to land. They then went to cities such as Boston, Chicago and New York. -The voyages were hard. Families were only allowed one wooden chest for everything they needed (which were often taken once they landed) and lived in a two metre space. Disease spread quickly (famine fever, Typhus, Dysentry, Scurvy) and people often died on the voyage. When this occurred the body was thrown overboard.
Consequences: Population Decline By 1851 the population was down by 2 million. It was estimated that 1 million had died and 1 million had emigrated. In 1900 the population was 4 1/2. People needed more to get married, so therefore married later. This lead to less children being born.
Consolidation of land -Landlords wanted to sell their land, because tenants couldn’t pay their rent. In 1849 The Encumbered Estate Act made it easier to do so. The number of larger holdings increased and cottiers nearly died out.
Hatred of the British The Irish resented the actions taken by the British. This made them bitter towards them. This lowered a emigration rates in Britain.
Keywords -Laissez-faire: this translates to leave alone or let you do. This was when the British left the Irish to solve their own problems. -Census: an official count or survey, especially of a population. -Trevelyn: the founder of the British Civil Service and a Governor -Sir Robert Peel: started the police force
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