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Are there actually historical examples of mass migration due to food shortages? My understanding is that most migrants are relatively young, healthy, and resour
by lovecg 6y ago
Are there actually historical examples of mass migration due to food shortages? My understanding is that most migrants are relatively young, healthy, and resourceful. It’s hard to travel thousands of miles while literally starving.
- rufus_foreman 6y agoIreland: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)#Reaction_in_Ireland https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Famine_(Ireland)#Reactio... 1.5 million people emigrated out of a population of around 8 million. "Of the more than 100,000 Irish that sailed to Canada in 1847, an estimated one out of five died from disease and malnutrition, including over 5,000 at Grosse Isle, Quebec, an island in the Saint Lawrence River used to quarantine ships near Quebec City. Overcrowded, poorly maintained, and badly provisioned vessels known as coffin ships sailed from small, unregulated harbours in the West of Ireland in contravention of British safety requirements, and mortality rates were high." So some of them travelled thousands of miles while literally starving.
- peterashford 6y agoThe Irish Famine. One million people emigrated.