How bad was the Irish famine of the mid 1800s in reality??

Question

Was this and the supposed grain shortage in England used as excuses to import grain from cheaper labor pools abroad and cause the domestic grain price to have to sell for less.

How did Benjamin Disraeli stand on this?

why did he stand that way?

By the way how did he become involved in politics?

Answer 1

Alot of Irish people(thousands)starved to death because the english wouldn't release the food that was stockpiled in Dublin,in effect they killed them,also a million fled their home land to the USA to escape starvation and murder at the english hands.this is why there are so many Irish in America.None of this would have happened if the english had let the people get the food,in moderns terms you could equal the Irish famine to what happened in Ethiopia. the english let the food rot rather than feed the Irish.the famine lasted for 10 years and turned Ireland in to a 3rd world country,the english government covered this up,and have never apologised for it.SHAME ON YOU ENGLAND,SHAME.and you wonder why we hate you.

Answer 2

Incredibly bad millions died of starvation, and millions more where thrown of the land.

The reason for this was the feudal system at work in Ireland, a system that had been stopped in England. Land in Ireland was owned by mostly absent English landlords, most farming was done by tenant farmers. The situation was exacerbated by the system where fathers divided the land between their children rather than passing it on to the eldest son. Gradually farms became smaller and smaller, and the only crop that most farmers could grow on such small holdings that could feed the family was potatoes.
So the farmers produced grain, cattle etc to pay the rent, and then grew potatoes to feed the family.
The blight only hit certain areas, but was devastating to the infrastructure of the system. Farmers had to eat the harvest that paid the rent, the landowners where completely callous at the loss of the rent, throwing families off the land and letting it turn fallow. Other areas where not effected, and the most telling indictment to the indifference of the English was that through out the Famine Ireland was still a net exporter of grain and cattle to England.

In1840 Ireland was part of the United Kingdom, so it isn't like Ethiopia, its like watching famine happen in Wakefield or Watford, and not doing anything.

Answer 3

The English owned most of the land, and insisted that Irish workers paid taxes or tithes of whatever they grew. When the potato blight hit the country, the Irish people began to starve. The lovely English landowners still insisted on the payment of rent, taxes and tithes, and the people began to starve.

Eventually, England did send out grain, but they sent millet, which is well known to be very hard to digest - which was why England still had plenty of it, even during the grain shortage. This caused even more people to die.

Once the scale of the problem became known, the English then spent all their efforts in getting rid of as many people from the country as possible, by offering them the opportunity to emigrate. Many came over here (mainly those from the East coast). From the West coast, people tended to go to America or Australia - both of which now have huge Irish communities.

Altogether, something around 9 million people either died from starvation or emigrated from the country during the 1840's. The country went from a population of 10 million to 1 million. Oh how we love the English!

Answer 4

Actually, there was a ban on importing grain at the time, so when the potato blight hit Ireland, there was literally nothing for the Irish to eat, and they died by the million. I don't know about Disraeli's opinion on this, but opening an encyclopedia or reading a biography on him would help you understand his position, and answer all your questions about his political career.

Answer 5

I'm not too well up on this subject - but I do know that the famine was caused by the fact that if anything in produced in ireland that was being produced in England, Ireland was not allowed to produce it any more, thats why the famine happened because Ireland had only one produce left, potatoes which got hit by blite and they had no longer anything to fall back on.

Thats a very basic but true summary.

I have inserted a link just incase you are in Ireland. This is well worth a visit, its the best history lesson I've ever had.

Answer 6

It was so bad that people were dieing standing up,is this home work again??????

Answer 7

not as bad as they made out

If they are gonna be fussy eaters and only eat potatoes what do you reckon will happen?! Have a sandwich instead!!

Do your own homework goof off!!!