The History Place - Irish Potato Famine - 0 views
www.historyplace.com/...coffin.htm
history irish history potato blight potato famine irish emigration
shared by jbdrury on 02 Oct 09
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jbdrury on 02 Oct 09As this is a privately-owned website, I thought it important to provide a little info on its managers. This is taken from the Home Page information: " The History Place contains many examples of man's inhumanity to man as well as notable examples of humans rising to the occasion to fight tyranny and preserve freedom, and overall, reaffirms, in the words of the American Declaration of Independence, that all human beings have "certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness."
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Although I don't doubt the veracity of much of the information on this site, I think it is important to keep in mind who is providing the information. Also from the home page: " The History Place is a private, independent, Internet-only publication based in the Boston area that is not affiliated with any political group or organization. The Web site presents a fact-based, common sense approach in the presentation of the history of humanity, with great care given to accuracy....The site was founded and is owned and published by Philip Gavin"
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Up to half of the men that survived the journey to Canada walked across the border to begin their new lives in America. They had no desire to live under the Union Jack flag in sparsely populated British North America
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They viewed the United States with its anti-British tradition and its bustling young cities as the true land of opportunity
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American ships were held to higher standards than British ships by the U.S. Passenger Acts, a set of laws passed by Congress regulating the number of passengers ships coming to America could carry as well as their minimal accommodations. Congress reacted to the surge of Irish immigration by tightening the laws, reducing the number of passengers allowed per ship, thereby increasing fares. America, congressmen had complained, was becoming Europe's "poor house."
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During the trans-Atlantic voyage, British ships were only required to supply 7 lbs. of food per week per passenger
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Before boarding, they had been given the once-over by doctors on shore who usually rejected no one for the trip, even those seemingly on the verge of death
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Despite the dangers, the Irish knew that once they landed on Britain's shores they would not starve to death. Unlike Ireland, food handouts were freely available throughout the country
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The cheap lodging houses were also used by scores of Irish waiting to embark on ships heading for North America. Three out of four Irish sailing for North America departed from the seaport at Liverpool. Normally they had to sleep over for a night or two until their ship was ready to sail. Many of these emigrants contracted typhus in the rundown, lice-infested lodging houses, then boarded ships, only to spend weeks suffering from burning fever out at sea.