The Potato

By Jerome Albert

Binomial Name – Solanum Tuberosum Discovered 7,000 – 10,000 years ago in Bolivia Starchy tuberous crop that grows in the

ground Over 5,000 varieties of Potatoes The Spanish brought the potato to Europe

(16th Century) People eat 33kg potatoes annually Biggest pest called “Potato Blight” (This is

what caused the Great Irish Famine)

Potato Info

BOLIVIA

Occurred during 1845 – 1852 Approximately 1 - 2 million people died 1/3 of the food in Ireland was potatoes Potato Blight ruined crops and caused people

to go hungry The British did nothing to help the Irish Sir Robert Peel was one of the only people to

try and help the Irish

Great Irish Famine

Causes and Effects

People were prepared to kill for some food.

Peel’s Brimstone

Potato Blight

Sir Robert Peel sent corn to the Irish in an

attempt to help them in their time of need The Irish barely had any mills to grind the corn

into flour Many Irish died from the corn, or got very sick

because they couldn’t grind it and ate it whole The Corn that Peel sent was called “Peel’s

Brimstone” Brimstone – “Damnation to Hell” –The Free

Dictionary by Farlex

Peel’s Brimstone

Biggest disease against potatoes No cure Now known as Phytophthora Infestans Potato Blight that destroyed Irish crops

originated from America in 1844 and travelled to France

Air carried fungus that makes potatoes inedible and a mushy black mess

Potato Blight

When asked what his views on the Great Irish

Famine were and what could have been done to prevent the deaths Naoise said “It was pretty bad, over ¼ of the country died […] the English could have done more because they hardly did anything and just left the Irish to die.”

View of an Irishman

When asked what his views were on the Great

Irish Famine of 1845, William, an Englishman, said “I think that the government should have done more to help the Irish because Ireland was the oldest British colony and was so close to the mainland, and it led to Irish nationalism and subsequent conflict”

View of an Englishman

"Great Famine (Ireland)." Wikipedia. N.p., 2013. Web. 19 May 2013. <

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Irish_Famine>.

Mann, Charles C. "How the Potato Changed the World." N.p., Nov. 2011. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://www.smithsonianmag.com/history-archaeology/How-the-Potato-Changed-the-World.html>.

"Potato." Wikipedia. N.p., 2013. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potato>.

Trueman, Chris. "The Great Famine of 1845." History Learning Site 1. Web. 19 May 2013. <http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/ireland_great_famine_of_1845.htm>.

Citations