19 Century Ireland Midterm Paper

So I finished my first midterm paper so I thought I would let you all read what I have learned about the Irish famine so far. Sorry if it's boring!

The prompt was: Evaluate the role and policies of the British government during the Great Famine of 1845-1850

Here is my proof that I actually do school work here :)

As the eve of the 1845 famine descended on the Irish people, no one could predict the severity. The Irish had suffered through a previous famine in 1821, but the length of the impending famine was unforeseen. With 45% of its population dependent on the potato, it would be easy to predict what might occur when the potato crop was lost. Throughout the Great Irish Famine of 1845-1850 the British government failed to make great strides in the improvement of the Irish economy and food aid, but they were not completely to blame. Extreme weather, environmental factors, and disease also contributed to the severity of the devastating famine.
Throughout the 1830s, the British government had control over the land of Ireland. In the early 1840s, the poverty levels began to rise throughout the Irish countryside, and a problematic trend in Irish society was noted: The Irish were subdividing their land, which decreased the rate at which one could provide food to their family and make a living. The increased the demands on the land, led to problems before the start of the famine. Other issues of the time included the fact that the landlords were living beyond their means, agrarian violence was on the rise, and the rate at which tenants were being evicting was increasing. The British believed that the Irish landlords were hard to manage, but when the famine occurred, they began to look towards the landlords for assistance. With a poor communication system between the British government and the Irish landlords, this set the foundation for many problems that arose between the two countries during the famine.
The famine emerged in 1845 when Blight, a disease that caused the death of a third of the potato crop that year, began to appear. With 45% of the Irish citizens dependent on this nutrient crop, it provided the foundation for a drastic downturn in the Irish population. As the British government began to learn of the Irish Famine, they believed that it was exaggerated and would be short-lived. With the lack of photography during the era, all they had were sketches to help them understand the extent of the famine. Although they carried a laissez-faire attitude, this was seen as an “aspiration rather than a reality”. However, Sir Robert Peel, the British Prime Minister in 1845, did not adopt this same idea. He secretly purchased Indian meal from the United States to attempt to feed the suffering Irish people. He also attempted to create a scientific commission to try to dry out the potatoes or use diseased potatoes to create a starch. Although no solution was discovered, these efforts revealed Peel’s concern for Ireland during the famine.
During Sir Robert Peel’s administration, Charles Trevelyan also played a prominent role in the British political influence on Ireland. Trevelyan promoted the Laissez-Faire attitude, and was adamant about the British government not intervening in Ireland’s marketplace. He believed that people should work for aid, and that it should not be given to the people in the form of food. He also felt that all efforts must benefit the society rather than the individuals. He attempted to collect funds from Irish citizens, but poorer communities were unable to produce sufficient funds, which meant that those who needed the most aid were not able to receive it. To continue with his economic ideas, he oversaw all relief efforts and controlled the Board of Works. Over 5,800 people were employed to build roads around Ireland. Although this idea implemented Trevelyan’s notion that people must work for their food, it became contradictory because he attempted to lower the wages to keep people out of work and also implemented “task work”. Task work meant that people were paid in an amount proportional to the amount of work they did. People were paid much less than they expected to be paid because they did not have the energy to produce sufficient work because they were not able to feed themselves before long laboring days. Although Sir Robert Peel and Trevelyan made strides attempting to correct the famine, they were not enough to provide sufficient relief to Ireland. By then end of 1846 the Conservative Party began to split, and Peel’s administration failed.
In addition to the help coming from Britain, Daniel O’Connell, an Irish politician, also attempted to correct the famine because he was living through it. From 1845 through June of 1846, O’Connell focused on political issues rather than directly on the potato famine. He began to form a strong relationship with the Whigs and began to reunite the followers within the Repeal movement. He believed that if he waited for the Whigs to return to power, they may provide more relief, which caused a split in the Repeal Movement. However, support for O’Connell began to dissipate because he was not providing any immediate relief to the Irish people. As the Young Irelanders emerged they became very critical about O’Connell, which forced O’Connell to denounce them, which lead to a greater split in the Repeal Movement.
In June of 1846, O’Connell succeeded. The Whigs came into power, and replaced Sir Robert Peel’s administration with the administration of Sir John Russell. Russell’s administration was interested in continuing relief efforts and felt as though the famine would begin to improve. However, environmental factors out of their control led to the worsening of the famine. During the summer of 1846 Ireland received 11 inches of rain, which caused the complete loss of the potato crop. Four million people now relied on relief, and with no immediate change to government policy, it seemed that the people of Ireland were doomed. Russell’s administration also failed to make advances with the Board of Works, which led to internal power struggles and a hollow government.
Although there were failures in both the Peel and Russell administrations, this does not mean that these parties did not attempt to correct the famine. With potato crisis also occurring in Scotland at the same time as the famine in Ireland, it seemed as though Scotland was receiving more aid and attention because they had been integrated for a longer period of time. The British lacked aid to Ireland, but in retrospect, there were many coalitions formed to fight the famine. The problem was that they did not exist at the strength Ireland needed to rise from the famine. Although relief organizations such as the Board of Works paid their employees in cash, there was no available food to purchase, and they were paid irregularly.. Many landlords had mortgaged their estates before the famine, which caused up to a quarter to become bankrupt during the famine. Other organizations such as the Society of Friends were established to help feed masses of people. These helped reduce diarrhea and dysentery, but the working class was not entitled to them even though their wages were not sufficient enough to feed them. Following the Society of Friends, the Soup Kitchen Act emerged in 1847. Soup Kitchens were established in all Poor Law Unions, and were a major factor in combating the crisis. Another relief effort was the British Relief Association, which was a small private organization that attempted to provide food and aid, but it ultimately failed because it was unable to provide for large groups. Finally, the Poor Law attempted to provide work for those in the worst conditions. They provided work houses and rations, but as the famine worsened the rations in the work houses were eventually cut in half, creating poor working conditions.
In retrospect, the British politicians during the famine did attempt to create relief for the people of Ireland, but they were not able to do so in numbers large enough to benefit an entire country. The fact that the famine was seen as exaggerated and the fact that the era lacked photographical evidence may provide reasoning for the smaller attempts to relieve the starving Irish. Scotland was also experiencing a similar crisis due to the same potato-killing disease, which also contributed to the lack of support from the British government. The lack of communication between the British politicians and the Irish people was a major factor in the increasing poverty levels that led to the severity of the famine by the late 1840s. Other contributing factors included the significant drought that led to the destruction of the entire crop in 1846, and the spread of Blight. Overall, the lack of support from the British government and the unforeseen environmental factors led to the devastation caused by the Great Irish Famine. Although it was a decade of devastation, the Irish did not have time to point fingers, they had to focus on what to do next. Whether this caused the Irish people to emigrate or to rebuild their lives, they carried on with pride of their Irish roots, but the famine was never to be forgotten.