Why did the English?

Question

Why did the English treat the Irish as second class people?

i.e, http://www.digitalhistory.uh.edu/historyonline/irish_potato_famine.cfm

Answer 1

they thought we were worthless people that didnt know anything.They tried to take the whole country over but failed!!!!HAHAHA!!!        FAILED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Answer 2

This is normal. Historically pretty much every culture that conquered another culture treated them as being lesser people.

America and the Native Americans, Japan and the Chinese, Germany and the Poles.

You treat them mean, and you grind them down with the aim that they will become subservient to you to the point that it becomes instinctive to them. It's exactly the same process that an abusive husband will use in order to keep his wife under his control.

Answer 3

Sad person living in the pass !

KISS Keep It Simple Stupid.

Pretender

Answer 4

This actually never happened as you say. Even your quote says that. No one knows what exactly happened as it is many hundreds of years ago but certainly it seemed the famine killed many people.Froggequ above gives the correct information. She knows the right stuff. Greenorl another clever intellect also makes the point.

Answer 5

That particular article gives an incredibly simplistic view of events, there's also a bias in the article.  

The Penal Laws that were in force in Ireland which had been mostly repealed by the 1820s & weren't actually relevant to the famine or the majority of Irish people.  The Penal Laws were designed to inconvenience the Irish Catholic aristocracy & divest them of what little power and wealth they had.  The majority of Irish people before the 19th century would not have been in a position to own land.  

When you use the term British in Irish history before 1916, it also applies to Irish people - Ireland was part of the Empire & many Irish people at the time would have described themselves as British.  The "British" landlords every one seethes about were for the most part Irish born & bred.  

Yes, the response by the British Government at the time & those in Ireland who should have taken responsiblity for the plight of the peasants was inadequate.  The workhouses & work schemes would have been in keeping with the ethos of the time, everything including charity had to be earned.  

Irish people were generally regarded with suspicion because the majority of the population remained Catholic, it wasn't understood how Irish people could be loyal to the Crown while still being loyal to the Pope in Rome & Ireland was seen as a potential back door for invasion by continental enemies of Britain.

Edit (this bit is written after Alan M made his comment):We are aware of how disgraceful the conditions in workhouses are, the point some of us are trying to make is that Ireland has moved on, the Famine was a huge event in Irish social history - it changed the landscape, the population even the language we speak as vernacular, nothing can ever diminish these events but to bear residual bitterness for an event that took place 150 years ago is a time wasting exercise, those of us living in modern Ireland need to move forward, we have other battles to fight.

Edit: Fair enough point Greenorlagh, seeing as we were all dissenters together

Answer 6

It is stated above that the Penal Laws were passed against the Irish catholic people. Not so - they also included Irish Presbyterians, who were not at that time classed as Protestants.

A pedantic point I know...