Over 150 years after the Potato Famine decimated Ireland, Tony Blair, the Prime Minister of Great Britain, apologized for the British government's lack of action during the crisis, which killed about a million people and caused millions more to flee. However, there were many actions that the British government took in Ireland before the famine that helped lead to the situation. This is a case where lack of government intervention has been blamed despite an abundance of intervention by the British.
Catholic Persecution in Ireland
Catholics in Ireland in the 17th and 18th centuries were persecuted. By 1778, Protestants owned 95% of the land of Ireland. Catholics also had to pay 10% of their income to the Irish Church, even though the clergy was often absent. There was no industrial employment and access to land was often the difference between life and death. In 1759, restrictions imposed on the importation of cattle to England were removed and ranching became economic again. Tenants began to be evicted from their homes in order to make room for land for agriculture.
In Ireland, tenants often had to pay high rent prices for their land to their landlord and various middlemen. Landlords were able to extract the wealth from Ireland and the money was exported to Great Britain. In 1842, it was argued that 6 million pounds of rents was being sent from Ireland in England.
British Government Restrictions as Far Back as the 17th Century
In 1663, all exports from Ireland to the British colonies were banned. Many other industries in Ireland were restricted in order to keep Ireland’s economy from competing in any way with England’s economy. It played more of a complementary role to the British economy. Competition was discouraged and the Irish economy suffered greatly in the 17th, 18th, and early 19th century.
Since there was no work, social life became important and the low standard of living encouraged young Irish to marry early. From the mid-18th century, the Irish population, much like the English population, grew rapidly. Most of the employed population was employed in agriculture and potatoes could grow on small plots of land. Six out of ten tenants who could not afford their rents were removed and their houses destroyed so they could not come back.
Reaction to the Potato Blight
In 1845, a potato blight began. Minor famines had been a fixture of Irish life in the 18th and 19th century but the 1845 blight seemed to be different. The blight caused the potatoes to be nothing more than pulp. Since potato was eaten by most Irish three times a day, the blight led to much starvation and disease in Ireland. A law passed made the landlord responsible for the welfare of the tenants. However, the landlords decided to remove the tenants from their land.
In the first year of the famine, Sir Robert Peel, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, arranged to bring in 100,000 pounds of Indian corn from North America. This played a small part in keeping people alive but was not nearly enough to replace the loss of potatoes. In order to do this, he had to propose the repeal of the Corn Laws, which removed tariffs on the import of corn.
The Whigs were fanatic in their belief that the government should not interfere in trade. Charles Wood, Chancellor of the Exchequer, was a strong proponent of laissez-faire. Some were worried that helping Ireland would hurt England and caused suffering for the lower and middle class of England.
The British government instituted a system of public works that required a heavy taxation burden on the local economy. The English government put much money toward useless roadbuilding efforts. As Mark Thornton points out in his April 1998 article, "What Caused the Potato Famine?", most of these roads began nowhere and ended nowhere.
The British government set up workhouses in 1838 to prevent the poor Irish from coming over to England. In 1849, despite the workhouses being very uncomfortable, about a million Irish went to the workhouses. It was the only way many were able to survive during the famine.
Many who went to the workhouse could not afford to pay for rent and their houses were leveled, leaving them with no places to return to. When the workhouses closed for lack of money, many were simply turned out on the road and left to die.
The Irish Poor Law made private charity nearly impossible. During previous famines, there was extensive charity to help the Irish people. However, the British people were already being heavily taxed to fund the the massive welfare programs. The Irish taxpayer could not afford any extra charity.
Placing the Blame for the Famine
The British government blamed the landlords for the famine. Thus, the British government believed the Irish landlords should be responsible for helping the poor in Ireland. However, many landlords because of extravagant spending and lack of rents from tenants, had no money to help the citizens.
Many began to believe that the Irish were idle people who were not grateful for the money and food that the British had already sent them. They were also regarded as barbaric. Government leaders believed the “providence” had sent the famine, in part, to help with supposed Irish overpopulation. Many believed that the death and exodus of many Irish was simply an advance of civilization in much the same way the Indians were removed from the North American coast.
In the end, it is hard to blame a lack of action on the part of the British government. Much had been done and, arguably, the steps taken only led to further problems for the Irish. One must remember the fqmous quote from John Mitchel, an Irish political journalist, who stated, "the Almighty sent the potato blight but the English created the Famine.”
Sources:
When Ireland Starved. Radharc Films; Joseph Dunn (writer/director). Princeton: Films for the Humanities & Sciences, 1992. Documentary.
Thornton, Mark. "What Caused the Potato Famine?" The Free Market 16:4 (April, 1998).
Gregory Morgan - Gregory Morgan is a writer who currently lives in Hattiesburg, Missississppi. He is interested in a vast array of topics. His favorite ...
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