Ireland: The Great Potato Famine

In today’s modern society our perspectives on issues have altered. Out of the many of the push factors that Ireland was faced with the “Great Potato Famine” was the basis for many people immigrating. Many other reasons that the Irish had begun to immigrate were from political reasons, rising poverty levels, and spread of disease. The famine during 1847- 1852, lead to the potato harvest to fail year after year. This resulted in the increase of food cost, forcing the middle class to become poor. This issue had become such an issue that it caused many to starve, and lose assets. The growing tension in the populace was a result of the Whig Administration, the Irish government at the time, denying corn shipments, and increasing the price of food.
Newfoundland and Labrador is a well-known location for having the highest number of Irish people. It was a perfect place because there were a thriving economy and small population making it able to absorb the large amounts of immigrants. As a result, there were 74, 791 of Irish people in Newfoundland alone which allowed for them to feel welcome and make the process of adjusting much easier. The growth of other industries boosted the summer fishery and made the permanent residence more wanted. The Irish already visited Newfoundland and Labrador seasonally where they would work in the summer and go back home in the autumn. This was the basis of long-term settlement. However, the immigrants were widely unskilled workers because they found farming was difficult due to the changing climate. An Irish population in Halifax was already playing an important role in the fishing industry. Knowing that there was an Irish population already settled there was a social pull factor. As early as 1786, there was an organization called Charitable Irish Society. It was the first of it’s kind in British North America. Even before the famine, Irish immigration was very high. In 1840 – 1844, 134, 956 people immigrated from Ireland. A social factor that pulled the Irish towards Canada was that it was under British rule meaning the language spoken was English, there would be British institutions and the Protestant Irish would be able to fit in religious time. However, Quebec was a Catholic province that was happy to accept Catholic Irish even if they spoke English. Overall since the communities built in Canada was derived from the British society their physical and mental capabilities were easily adjusted into Canadian