HIST 192 Lecture Notes - Lecture 2: Phytophthora
Document Summary
Experience: the great famine , to escape harsh, they were being the great hunger: During the 1840"s, there was a plant disease (blight) that pretty well killed the potato crop a number of years running. Potatoes were a large part of the irish diet and a major source of income for farmers. Many farmers had such small pieces of land those potatoes were the only crop they could grow that would actually feed the family. Potatoes are also rich in vitamins and minerals, so bread would not substitute. When it was gone, people faced starvation and loss of farms, homes, businesses, etc: political oppression: British governments: they prefer full democracy of the governments, religious freedom. British: although there were no industrial cities for the irish to settle in after the potato famine, there were plenty throughout north. Many were anxious to make their way to america. They had heard stories of great wealth and opportunity in that foreign land.
