The Irish Potato Famine
This is an article I wrote for my research-based essay for writing class. I chose this topic because I was interested in the fact that this famine happened because of potato blight. I am proud of this essay and I hope that you would enjoy it as well!
One important time of exploration started way back in Ireland, in 1845. This was called the Great Irish Famine migration. The people of Ireland migrated all the way to three different countries which were the United States, Australia, and Canada because the potato crop started to fail, which caused starvation among the citizens. This led to nearly 10 years of famine and migration. Nearly one million people died before this famine ended in 1852. Although this period of time was terrible for the Irish, this affected American culture in many ways.
The great Irish famine made the people of Ireland want to explore because they needed to find a way to survive. The famine began in 1845 when the Phytophthora infestans caused a disease that spread throughout Ireland. Although we now know that the disease was caused by the Phytophthora infestans, we simply called it the blight back then.This caused damage to almost one-half of the potato crop in 1845 and approximately three quarters of the potato crop in several years. In the article titled ‘Irish Potato Famine’, it says, “The infestation ruined up to one-half of the potato crop that year, and about three-quarters of the crop over the next seven years.”
When the Irish migrated to America, they faced challenges such as not speaking the same language, lacking work experience, and cultural differences which led to discrimination, as National Park Service says, “In America, Irish immigrants faced discrimination due to their religion, language, and lack of work experience. Irish railroad workers were frequently segregated and housed in cramped railroad cars, and were paid less than native-born Americans.” Some children and adults also perished on the way to the US due to the lasting effects of the blight and diseases.
However, this exploration was very important to people, and still is. It influenced American culture and was a huge part of history. For example, celebrations like St. Patrick’s day and Halloween came from Ireland and are celebrated in the US. Catholicism spread to the states, which also originated from Ireland, As emerald heritage says“The vast majority of these immigrants were Catholic and their influence quickly spread throughout their new home.”, and “Every major town and city in the United States now boast a sizeable Catholic population and the latest figures, released by the Catholic church, suggest there are over 70 million!”
To conclude, the Irish had faced many challenges throughout this exploration period, but this had some very Significant impacts on our lives now. They migrated to survive starvation and survived, escaping from the disease for nearly 10 years. As challenges like lacking work experience, culture, and language were faced, they tried their best to survive the situation. The famine led to the migration, which led to Irish culture in the United States. This also impacted the population of Ireland, which dropped to approximately 3 million people leaving the country. Ireland will never reach the large population (8 million) it had back then. This helped scientists and historians learn about the blight more and create solutions. We should be thankful that the world now has medicine.
Citations:
Brittanica:
Great Famine - Relief Efforts, Ireland, 1845-1852 | Britannica
National park service: Irish Immigrants - Golden Spike National Historical Park (U.S. National Park Service).
Emerald heritage:
