Irish Immigration to CanadaThe Irish began immigrating to North America in the 1820s, when lack of employment and poverty forced them to seek better opportunities elsewhere after the end of the great European wars. When Europeans were finally able to stop relying on the Irish for food during the war, investment in Irish agricultural products declined and the boom ended. After an economic boom, comes a bust and unemployment results. Two thirds of the Irish population depended on the potato crop as their main source of income and, more importantly, food. Then, between 1845 and 1847, a terrible disease struck the potato crops. The plague left acres and acres of Irish farmland covered in black rot. Declining potato yields have led to a rapid rise in food prices. Without income from potato crops, the families who depended on them could not afford to pay rent to their largely British and Protestant landlords and were evicted, only to find themselves crowded into disease-ridden workshops. Peasants who desperately needed food found themselves eating rotten potatoes only to develop and spread horrible diseases. ¡§Entire villages were soon left homeless, starving and diagnosed with either cholera or typhus.¡¨(Interpretation¡K, online) Lack of food and increasing cases of deaths forced a incredible number of people to leave Ireland for somewhere that offered more resources. suitable living conditions. Some landlords paid for their tenants to emigrate because it made more economic sense to rid farms of residents who did not pay their rent. However, emigration did not prove to be an antidote to famine. The ships were overcrowded and by the time they reached their destination, about a third of their passengers had disappeared due to illness, hunger, and other complications. However, many passengers survived the voyage, and as a result, approximately 1.5 million Irish immigrated to North America during the 1840s and 1850s. (Bladley, online) Due to famine, (the famine and disease cost up to a million lives) and emigration, Ireland's population fell from 8 million to 5 million in a few years. (Bladley, online) Although Britain came to the aid of the Hungry, many Irish blamed Britain for its delayed response and for its centuries of political difficulty as a basis...... middle of paper ......not only a contribution to Canada, but to the benefit of humanity.„h Nellie Letitia Mooney Mclung (1872-1951) was an activist and campaigner for women's suffrage. She was a nationally known feminist and social reformer. Mclung was the first female member of the Board of Governors of Radio-Canada and deserves great thanks from Canadian women for her contribution to the women's movement in Canada. "h Robert Samuel McLaughlin (1871-1972), the founder of General Motors, made a significant contribution to the advancement of Canadian culture and society as well as the Canadian economy. He was the benefactor of the Queen's University, the city of Oshawa, Knox College and the University of Toronto Planetarium, which still bears his name. He was also the founder of the McLaughlin Foundation, which did much to improve the quality of the. medical education in Canada (O¡¦Driscoll and Reynolds, pp.654)The Irish community...