How Did T He British Respond to the Hunger Crisis of 1845-1850/51

In 1845, Ireland was struck with a  great disaster of unimaginable proportions. A previously unknown mysterious blight attacked the potato crops, turning the potatoes black and destroying the only real food of  8 million people. The effects of the great hunger are difficult, but the hardest story of all, is the human coast of the starvation. In 1845 the population of Ireland stood at approximately 8.5 million. By 1851, at the end of the famine, Irelands population had been reduced by 2 million. Over 1 million people died from starvation and disease, another million emigrated from the country. During this period  the Irish introduction of the Act of Union in 1801,  Britain become the ruling government over Ireland. Having been conquered by England, the people of Ireland became tenants on the land, working in return for cash crops and their labour. They had no rights and could not subsist. At the beginning of the 19th century, the British corn laws were created, this protected the British grain farmer but also those who owned land in Ireland. A direct result from this meant "the Irish farmer could only grow crops that would not deplete the soil, this is why the potato became popular" ( Welsford., Accessed: 29.3.15). The lasting effect of the Great Famine are still felt today, it has shaped the future course  of political, social and economic life across the land. Today, Ireland is the only major European country of any size that has a smaller population today than it did 150 years ago.  In this short essay, I will discuss how the British responded to the Hunger Crisis of 1845. What actions they took to bring relief to the population of Ireland. How did "a million men, women and children die of hunger living in the midst of abundance, which their own hands created..." (Mitchell, 1882. p52).[pic 2][pic 3]

In the 1840's the government of Robert Peel was locked in a crisis. At this time, the British empire was expanding to Victorian heights. The British industry was the most advanced in the world. Peel's government had to decide between the ideology of free trade or protectionism. The central focus of this debate were the powerful elite industrial classes, the needs or desires of the poor Irish Catholic peasantry were lost in the agenda that did not encroach on their lives. Although Dublin and Belfast played a key role in the wealth creation of the Victorian period, rural Ireland could not locate itself in the ethos. "Some argued that the Catholic Irish problems of poverty and unemployment were on such an insurmountable scale that only some form of Malthusian collapse could save Ireland"  (Cronin.,2001.p139). The famine struck hardest in localised areas and against members of a particular social group and classes. Looking at the statically information, it is clear, the worst effected groups were the poorest, who were dependent on the potato. The peasantry in the west of Ireland " the death rate here was 5 times higher than in Leinster" (Cronin.,2001. p145). The response of the British government  to the blight was not solely dictated by the needs of the people.'' When choosing his package of relief, peel rejected demands from Ireland for an embargo to be placed on exports, ports to be closed and distillation stopped- all measures which had achieved a high level of success on previous occasions'' (Kinealy.,1997.p61). Instead  Peels response was first to abolish the Corn Laws' which held the British corn prices artificially high, against the opposition of his party. He also authorised an in direst government purchase of £100.000 worth of maize, for Ireland which would be thrown in the market at any time when the prices looked like they were rising. He also set up a relief commission to raise money from landlords it also encouraged them to employ the peasantry on their estates. As well as this, Peel introduced a board of works to create employment by the building of new roads. These measures were only marginally successful. ''The amount of maize that was imported, £100.000 worth was nowhere near equal to the task when the total financial loss of the potato was £3.500.00'' (Stack.,1995.p4). The man that peel placed in charge of the operation in Ireland was, Charles Edward Trevelyan. A man who was to become synonymous of British policy and the starvation of Ireland. Robert Peels replacement was  John Russell. He was part of  a liberal government and they were obsessed with laissez faire economics,  trusting all to free trade and market forces. Within a month of Russell taking office it became clear that the Irish potato crop was going to fail for another year. Trevelyan's response to this '' The only way to prevent the people from becoming habitually dependent on government is to bring operations to a close...whatever may be done hereafter these things should stopped now or we run the risk of paralysing all private enterprise''  (Stack.,1995,p5). The government announced after this that all government depots would now be closed, apart from the cases in the west of Ireland.  Britain continued to exports Irelands food while her people were starving to death. The hunger in west cork was particularly bad, 50% of children admitted to the poorhouse died.  One eye witness account describes the impact of the starvation on the children "Starvation had affected the children's bones, the jaw bone was so fragile and thin that a very slight pressure would force the tongue into the roof of the mouth. In Skibberen I met children with jaws so distended that they could not speak...In mayo  the starving children had lost their voices, many were in a stupor of death by starvation. Yet I have never heard a child utter a cry or moan of pain...two, three or four in a bed, they lie and die, ever silent, unmoved" (Stack.,1995,p5). The crop of 1848, was a complete ruin. With the people facing starvation the government's response was to close the soup kitchens that had opened two years earlier. The poverty, dirt and starvation that killed hundreds of thousands of people, brought with it another deadly killer, typhus. This was carried in head lice and in the main was incurable. With not enough hospitals to deal with this, people died in the streets in there thousands, the government still did nothing. Emigration was another disaster to the population of Ireland, to both England and America. The emigrants clearly suffering from typhus were allowed onto these ships, so the ships became floating disease carriers.[pic 4][pic 5][pic 6]