Some Irish History: James I, who followed Elizabeth as a ruler of England in 1603, tried to prevent further revolts (such as those by the O'Neills of Tyrone) by continuing the "plantation" of Ireland by seizing land in Ulster and giving it to English and Scottish Protestants, creating the Protestant majority that still exists in Northern Ireland. There were also plantations in other parts of the country. As a result, Roman Catholics throughout Ireland feared that they would lose their land. The Catholics also feared that the Puritans, who were gaining power in England, would persecute them. In 1641, the Irish began to revolt against England. Oliver Cromwell, who had become the Puritan ruler of England, finally crushed the revolt in 1649. Cromwell then gave even more land to Protestant Englishmen and deprived the Catholics of many political rights. James II, a Roman Catholic, became king of England in 1685. He abolished many of the anti-Catholic laws that earlier rules had established. But in 1688, the English people, most of whom were Protestants, forced James to give up the throne. William II, a Protestant, then became king. James II went to Ireland and organized an army to fight the English. But Protestants in Ulster supported William and helped the English defeat James in the Battle of the Boyne, northwest of Dublin, in 1690. Following William's victory, an additional million acres were taken from Irish Catholics. By 1704, Catholics held only about a seventh of the land in Ireland. In addition, Catholics were forbidden to purchase, inherit, or even rent land. They were also excluded from the Irish Parliament and the army and were restricted in their rights to practice Catholicism. During the 1700s, the British kept tight control over Ireland and limited the powers of the Irish Parliament. Many Irish Protestants objected to the restrictions, and Parliament, led by Henry Grattan, demanded legislative freedom. Great Britain met the demands in 1782, and the all-Protestant Irish Parliament ruled the country for the next 18 years. Parliament restored to Catholics their rights to hold land and lifted the restrictions on their religious rights. But it refused to give them any political rights. Some Protestants in Parliament tried to gain more rights for Catholics. After their attempts failed, they formed a group called the United Irishmen. At first, this group sought equal rights for all Irishmen. Later, it demanded complete independence for Ireland from British rule. In 1798, the United Irishmen staged and unsuccessful rebellion. After the rebellion, the British prime minister, William Pitt, persuaded the British and Irish parliaments to pass the act of Union. Under the act,which went into effect in 1801, Ireland officially beame part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. The Irish Parliament was then ended, and Ireland sent representatives to the British Parliament. In 1829, Daniel O'Connell, an Irish Catholic leader, helped Catholics win the right ot serve in the British Parliament and to hold other public offices. The rights to a piece of land meant the difference between life and death in Ireland in the early 1800s. The population was exploding, and with hundreds of thousands without work, entire familie managed to exist on a section no bigger than half an acre, growing nothing more than row after row of potatoes. If they were lucky, they might have enough land to raise a pig each year, to slaughter, salt and eat through the worst of the winter months. They might go hungry for a few weeks at the end of the summer, when the previous season's potatoes were no longer edible. There were famine years before the blight struck in the 1840s and the English rulers were well aware of the problems arising out of the economic structure they had forced on the Irish. During the first 45 year of the 1800s at least 150 committees and commissions of inquiry were appointed by the British Parliament, reports were made on the State of Ireland, but nothing happened. During the early 1800s, Ireland's economy declined and about half the people lived on small farms that produced little income. Others leased land on estates and had to pay high rents to landlords. Because of their poverty, most of the Irish people depended on potatoes for food, but from 1845 to 1847, Ireland's potato crop failed because of a plant disease. About 750,000 persons died of starvation or disease, and hundreds of thousands more left the country.The British government, under pressure from various Irish groups, gradually passed laws to help the Irish. These laws protected tenants' rights and established fair rents. Later laws provided financial help so that tenants could buy land from their landlords. During the late 1800s, some Irishmen began to demand home rule for their country. Under home rule, Ireland would have remained part of Great Britain but would have its own parliament for domestic affairs. The British Liberal Party favored the plan. But Protestants in Ulster opposed it because they feared a Catholic parliament. The British Parliament defeated home rule bills in 1886 and 1892. (Section 2 follows.)