| IRISH POTATO FAMINE resulted in massive emigration and death. Emigrants flocked to Britain and the United States, but the majority of the poorest cottagers, especially in the west, could not afford passage and died from hunger and disease. The British government did try to provide assistance by repealing the Corn Laws, establishing soup kitchens, and providing outdoor relief (spring 1847). But the British unquestionably exacerbated the famine's impact by their tardy reactions; ongoing limits on Irish fishing and on potato growing, save on one's own property; requirement that a portion of the potato crop be exported to England; and widespread jailing of beggars. The famine resulted in the consolidation of land vacated by emigration and death and helped create strong support for Irish causes from Irish organizations abroad, particularly in the United States. | 1 |
