• John Hughes,  A Lecture on the Antecedent Causes of the Irish Famine in 1847 

• Teaching the Famine

• Lands of Exile: U.S.

• Review of Noel Ignatiev, How the Irish Became White (New York: Routlege, 1996)

During the mid-nineteenth century, as the potato blight spread throughout Ireland, thousands of Irish fled to the United States.  Few historians doubt that this wave of mass immigration was inspired by the specter of widespread starvation, but the causes of the famine remain subject to debate.  While some historians focus on the significant quantities of food that were exported to England during this period, others stress that the "Great Hunger" was a symptom of overpopulation and, therefore, not the result of any deliberate policy or political action.

In any case, over two million people emigrated from Ireland between 1845 and 1855.  According to some estimates, almost one-fourth of the population of Ireland fled to the U.S. during these ten years.  While most Irish immigrants remained in the Eastern United States, the Irish became the largest foreign-born ethnic group in California during the 1870's.