Irish Potato Famine
Continuously, the famine began in an uncanny way in September 1845 the leaves of the potato crop slowly began to turn black then later on rotted this left most of the Irish without food. The potato to other European countries was not seen as a valuable food source but to the Irish it was seen as the most vital food source. An average Irish man would eat as much as 14 pounds of potatoes per day, and “a single acre of potatoes would yield a family enough food for a year. ”(Archdecon) So one can only imagine how completely devastating it was to the Irish when their crop was completely destroyed, which “was caused by the phytopthora infestSo wants which are spread by the wind and water. ” (Dennis) In theory the infestation began in Peru made its way to the United States then later was sent to Europe where it landed in Ireland where it made the most damage. Continuously, Ireland had always been a poor nation in comparison to their surrounding neighbors the British. So even before the potato came into place hunger was always a problem. So when the famine hit it hit them hard. “There where millions of Irish that where landless powerless and hungry their main issue was surviving from year to year or day to day” (Gavin) Continuously, the famine was hitting the Irish in a very brutal way since “the British believed laissez-faire meaning to let it be which advocated a hands-off policy in the belief that all problems would eventually be solved on their own through 'natural means. ”(Grolier) The famine had thousands of people looking for some kind of help, there were thousands of Irish immigrants worldwide during the famine, “Poor Irish survived the first year by selling off their livestock and pawning their meager possessions whenever necessary to buy food.