Irish-American History

Lesson 1: General Introduction to the Period .

A Land Without Leaders

Following the Act of Union and the closure of the Irish Parliament , the Landlord Class moved out of the country . They rented their land in Ireland through agents to strong farmers , who in turn sub-let parcels to ‘cottiers’.

The size of farm was barely able to support a family and the only crop that could almost sustain them was the potato.

When the Napoleonic Wars ended , there were great changes on the land. Grain was no longer needed to feed the armies and more meat was required . Cottiers’ rents were raised to levels which they were unable to pay . Gombeen men , who charged exorbitant rates for credit to buy food took advantage of their starving countrymen . Families were evicted and forced to eke out an existence as best they could along the roads. By the mid 1830s , thousands of people were living rough . Pen –pictures of the time by writers such as William Cobbett , an English writer, describe how thousands of people were living rough in ‘Scalps’ or ‘Scailipins’ , lean-tos propped against turf banks or walls.

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