LSource 4 Stephen de Vere who travelled on a ship to Canada Before the emigrant has been a week at sea he is an altered man. How could it be otherwise? Hundreds of poor people men, women, and children of all ages from the driveling idiot of ninety to the babe just born, huddled together without light, without air, wallowing in filth and breathing a fetid atmosphere, the fever patients lying between the sound. The meat was of the worst quality. The supply of water shipped on board was abundant, but the quantity served out to the passengers was so scanty that they were frequently obliged to throw overboard their salt provisions and rice, because they had not water enough both for the necessary cooking and the satisfying of their raging thirst afterwards. No cleanliness was enforced; the beds never aired; the food contracted for was supplied, though at irregular times; but false measures were used to measure out the food.
LSource 5 A cartoon from Punch magazine, 1848
1. Are each of the sources here primary or secondary sources? 2. Which source would you consider the most reliable? 3. In Source 1, which year had the highest emigration figures? 4. How do the emigration figures in Source 1 compare with the progress of the blight? 5. How would you describe the people leaving Cork in Source 2? 6. What cities are they emigrating to? 7. How do the names of the cities in Source 2 compare with the names in Source 3? 8. What does the advertisement in Source 3 say about its ships? 9. How are the people fed on board?
10. How does the account in Source 4 compare with the advertisement in Source 3?
11. What message is Source 5 giving to those who might be thinking of emigrating? Explain your answers using evidence from the sources.
