History of Ireland
In 1831, the government forced primary schools to teach in English, not Irish. Children were punished if they spoke Irish in school. People had to speak English if they wanted a good job. From 1845-1849, a disease killed potato plants, which caused the Great Famine, or the Irish Potato Famine. About a million people starved to death, and a million more moved to other countries. The famine hurt Irish speakers the most, because they were poor. More people switched from speaking Irish to English. Some say people starved because crops in Ireland were sold to other countries. These crops could have fed people in Ireland. Many Irish people were forced to leave their land because they could not pay rent to the landlords. Some had to work in factories set up by the government, because of the Irish Poor Laws. From the 1870s to the 1890s, there was violence between the Land League and the government. The Land League wanted lower rent and they wanted to buy land.