In 1845, the Irish people depended mostly on potatoes and farming. Inspite of the fact that, the Land used to grow crops was not owned by a certain person. In Ireland during 1845, a plant fungus attacked their potato crops. This fungus was called
Phytophthora infestans.
The fungus covered the potato crop in black rot. This disaster lasted about 5 years and had a horrible effect on the irish people.Death,starvation,and illness occurred during this famine.Over a million Irish died of starvation.Immigration to
North America was a result of this. The Irish immigrants spread out through Boston,New york,Baltimore, and Philadelphia.Immigrants settled in the United states and
Canada.Their behaviors,religious beliefs, and characteristics followed them. The potato famine affected the Irish greatly because the potato was very prominent to their diet.
The families during the famine had to leave ireland, but when the immigrants arrived in
North America they had many challenges.The social and cultural structure of Ireland changed due to the potato famine. The Potato crop was so important it replaced wheat and oats in the Irish diet. It was thought to have been very nutritious. Potatoes were such a huge source in their lives.millions of irish people of all ages ate hardly anything but potatoes before the famine occurred.Over 4 million people in ireland used the potato as their main food
source.After the occurrence people went searching for new land in different countries.
Around the 1850s to 1913, millions of Irish left Ireland after the famine.They thought
North america had great opportunities for them. The Atlantic ocean was used by many to leave Ireland.Many of the immigrants forced to emigrate due to the potato blight were peasants,who relied almost solely on potatoes for their food.the peasants unlike earlier migrators to America were unskilled workers.They had little money to travel and no education. Families who were located in
Ireland could not afford to travel the Atlantic ocean as one.They had to split up and travel separately when a family member reached North America they would usually help the other members of their family.They helped them by sending money to them for their journey. another way people could reach North America was by becoming a servant.They would agree to work for someone on their time. By being a servant they could get traveling expenses,or learn how to trade. A good amount of irish also took a journey to Australia to leave Ireland.Immigrants usually took boats to escape Ireland.If the immigrants ever reached North America, they were usually very ill with a small chance of recovery. Up to six weeks were taken to complete their journeys.Journeys were sometimes hard with the small amount of food supply they had.The Irish went through alot but they showed how strong they were by to overcoming and looking past the famine.The Famine was a big reason why the population of Ireland started to decline.However,the economic conditions started changing and that led to the beginning of the population decline before the famine. Some Irish remained in Ireland through the famine, but most of them by the end left due to the fear of it happening again.
Life was challenging for the immigrants.In the 1840s to 1850s the conditions for the
Irish immigrants were not much better than those they had left behind in Ireland.After most everyone had migrated,North Americas facilites and homes became pricey and very crowded.There were people living in less fourchante places.often in shacks in crammed together in small towns,with no streets,only paths.There was very little