Chapter 16: The Great Famine Flashcards
Advances in agriculture
Norfolk system Enclosure Selective breeding Seed drill Mechanical reaper Large farmers Small farmers Cottiers
Norfolk system
A four crop rotation cycle of wheat, turnips, oats/barley and clover/grass over four years
Enclosure
Each tenant farmer’s fields were grouped together in one small farm, fenced off, instead of in strips all across the landlord’s land.
Selective breeding
Reserving the largest or most suitable animals for breeding rather than for meat
Seed drill
A machine, pulled by a horse or an ox, that sowed seeds at the right depth and in straight rows
Mechanical reaper
A horse-drawn cart with a cutting blade that cut crops neatly in straight rows
Large farmers
Farmers who rented more than 30 acres
Small farmers
Farmers who rented between 5-30 acres
Cottiers
Labourers who rented one acre from a farmer
Causes of the Famine
Dependent on potatoes
High population
Most cottiers worked in exchange for their rent
Widespread of poverty
Subdivisions of land, leading to even smaller pieces of land
The course of the Famine
1845: Farmers noticed the fungus, they had spare potatoes. Not much starvation
1846: Two-thirds of the crop was lost to blight, many began to starve and diseases began to spread
1847: Blight is almost gone, farmers dont have much seeds. The poor continued to die
1848-1850: Starvation and diseased worsened
Eviction
When someone is forced out of their home.
Laissez-Faire
The British thought that the government should not interfere in the economy as it would correct itself eventually
Maize
Is corn. They gave food for 1 million people for one month for a price
Public Work Schemes
Jobs where you build such as roads, bridges and walls for payment
