The potato – a New World plant – was brought back to Europe in the sixteenth century and slowly became a staple crop. By the nineteenth century, millions of Irishmen depended on the potato for food and trade. In 1845, a fungus-like blight spread throughout Ireland, leaving crops rotting in the fields. This destruction of a primary food source triggered what is known as the Irish Potato Famine.
Between 1845 and 1850, Ireland’s population declined by about two million people, somewhere between 20-25% of its total according to estimates. A million Irish died of starvation as crop after crop failed and an equal number left the country in search of food, work and a better life. Close to a million Irish emigrated to the United States, settling in northeastern cities such as New York and Boston. This large influx of Irish immigrants – more than 40% of the foreign-born population in 1850 - seemed overwhelming to many Americans and anti-immigration sentiments could be seen in signs that said “Irish Need Not Apply.”
In this mini unit, read the history of the Irish Potato Famine, learn what today’s scientists have recently uncovered about the fungus that caused the potato blight, examine the famine in pictures, read an eyewitness account, see a timeline of events related to the famine, examine a timeline of events during the time period and participate in a unit study on Irish immigration to the United States. |  |  |
