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The Great Famine - Coggle Diagram

- - - - Only Belfast was industrialised
  - - - Landlords were descendants of the planters who received land in the plantations of the 16th and 17th centuries
      - They rented the land to tenant farmers
        
        In turn, these farmers worked their land, and some employed labourers to help them
        
        Some labourers were cottiers
        
        Cottiers rented small plots of ground, called conacre, from a farmer.
        
        In return they worked on the farm to pay of the rent
        
        Some labourers didn't get any land
        
        These were the poorest people, they lived in mud cabins on the edge of towns, or rented rooms in lodging houses
        
        The landlord's agent collected rent twice a year.
        
        Tenants could be evicted for a lot of things but they were usually evicted for not paying their rent.
  - - - The causes of poverty were the growth of population, the failed harvests and dependence on farming.
      - Many people emigrated due to this
        
        In total, 1.5 million people emigrated to the United States, Canada and England, in the thirty years before the famine
      - For poor people living in Ireland, there was workhouses
        
        People who needed help moved to workhouses
        
        Conditions in the workhouses were horrible and families were split up
      - The British government passed a Poor Law Act in 1838
        
        This set up Poor Law Unions (or districts) which each had a workhouse
- - - - Their 3 meals a day consisted of only potatoes
      - By the 1840s, the potato was almost the only food 4 million families ate
  - - - As the population increased, so did the poverty
        
        The poorest were the cottiers, labourers and small farmers with less than 5 acres of land
- - - - Some families never saw each other again
  - - - Some preferred prison to the workhouse because food was better and the regime was not as strict
    - - People were often sick when they entered the workhouses
      - Many inmates died of diseases, which spread quickly in the workhouses
      - The main diseases were Typhus, Cholera and Dysentery
    - - They were not allowed to play cards
      - They were not allowed to disobey orders
      - They were only allowed one meal a day
- - - - The term 'coffin ships' came from the amount of people who died before reaching their destination
        
        In 1847, it was estimated that 1 in every 6 passengers died before reaching their destination
      - Voyages took many months at a time
      - Since ships were overcrowded living quarters were a small area on the lower decks
        
        A family of four was usually assigned six square feet
        
        To squeeze into such a small space, they had to sleep head to toe
      - There was no hygiene on the ships
        
        Passengers were not allowed more than an hour a day on the deck of the ship to get clean air
        
        The rest of the day they would spend below deck, where there were no showers, kitchens or bathrooms
        
        When they had to use the bathroom they would use a bucket
        
        They ate, slept and relieved themselves in the same space as their fellow passengers which meant diseases spread easily
      - They usually ate hardtack (a hard cracker made of flour and water) or nothing at all
        
        The only fresh water onboard was stored in barrels and often became contaminated
        
        Some ships even ran out of food and water before landing
      - Some of these ships were so unseaworthy that they sank and drowned all on board
- - - - In all, 1 million died from hunger and disease, while 1 million emigrated
  - - - Instead, the eldest son got the land, and other sons and daughters were forced to emigrate
        
        The eldest son only got the farm when his father died, so he married late
        
        This reduced the birth rate in Ireland
      - There was also clearance of estates during the famine and this, combined with the ending of subdivision, resulted in larger farms
  - - - Ships full of produce such as barley and wheat had left Ireland while the people were starving
        
        Anger at this fact led to increasing support for groups such as the Irish Republican Brotherhood
        
        Who wanted to drive the British out of Ireland using violence.
- - - - Peel ordered £100,000 (€10.2 million) worth of Indian corn to be imported, which is enough to feed 1 million people.
        
        This was sold through government depots
        
        This greatly helped reduce the impact of the famine
      - Peel also set up public work schemes so that poor people could earn money by working on roads and piers
  - - - The new government believed in a policy of laissez-faire
        
        They believed that the government shouldn't interfere in the workings of the economy
        
        They said government interference would only make matters worse because it would encourage landlords and tenants to do little to improve the situation
        
        They also believed that 'Irish property (the landlords) should pay for Irish poverty'
      - The government expanded the public work schemes for roads and piers.
  - - - Soup was cooked in large boilers and given to the people
      - 3 million people were fed each day
      - In September the government closed down the soup kitchens after six months
        
        They said all relief would be provided through the workhouses