Move to America
The Potato Famine had a significant effect on the Irish population. About 1 million people died, and another 3 million people fled the country in search of food. On top of the famine, the Great Depression did not help the situation. Within 5 years, there was a rate of 200,000 people leaving the country every year. Where did everyone go? Many moved overseas to America and Canada. Others moved to England and neighboring countries. To relocate, the immigrants had to travel on boats called "coffin boats". The name came from the amount of deaths that was brought upon the traveling. Many cramped passengers had a fever and were living in unsanitary conditions. Many died from being ill and they were buried at sea. The authorities of the countries the immigrants were traveling to set up quarantine quarters until the sick were in good health. The immigrants were then tested and examined for medical conditions before they could become citizens.
What happened to the abandoned homes? Back in Ireland, homes were being auctioned off and estate values dropped extremely low. There were many evictions and people boycotted their landlords. Western Ireland was hit the hardest and had the most amount of people leave. Many villages were left deserted and they turned into ghost towns. As years went by, the population slowly started to increase, but it took a while to reach the original population.
No comments:
Post a Comment