Before the 1840s, emigration was well established in Ireland though the desinations were usually to the east, to Scotland, northern England and southern Wales rather than the United Sates. In the 1840s, America became the "promised land." The Great Potato Famine permanently seared the psyche of those who it affected, notably the million who survived by fleeing. (Incredibly, nourishing foodstuffs the poor could not access had continued to be exported out of Ireland during this time). There were also memories of vile treatment on the "coffin" ships, unseaworthy hulks that were pressed into service for quick profit. One noted philanthropist, Vere FOSTER, travelled on such a ship, the "Washington," in 1850, so that he might write the report that led to miniumum standards being set for such transports. His subscription of 10,000 pounds of his own money to assist passages was the best way he felt he could help alleviate the suffering. The land could no longer sustain its teeming population so exodus was the only solution. By 1900 four million Irish had crossed the Atlantic and after initial privations and denigration had become a significant factor in east coast and midwest local and national politics. In his book, "The Famine Ships," Edward Laxton writes that throughout the Famine period of the late 1840s the "Illustrated London News" caught the mood and despair of the Irish people. This news-magazine was a weekly publication and in its heyday was highly influential and powerful, regularly reminding Queen Victoria and her government of Ireland's plight. With its full page drawings, pictorial layouts and lively reportage, it offered the Victorian equivalent of today's visual news media. One ILN artist, James MAHONY, who lived in Cork and toured the country, produced illustrations which undoubtedly helped highlight the dreadful fate overtaking Ireland.. Per "A Short History of Ireland," by Sean McMahon, the pictures in the "Illustrated London News" of ragged people searching for healthy potatoes, of famine funerals, soup kitchens, evictions and emigrant ships have left a permanent impression of misery. If folk memory of (reusable) coffins with sliding bottoms, roads heaving with hungry people barely able to walk, mass graves and the potent superstition of the hungry grass is added to this it is easy to understand how the famine years seem to be with the Irish still. If England was execrated for its apparent attempted genocide, an equally imprecise class, that of "landlords," was only a little lower down on the hate register. No official figures were kept until 1849, but police records show that during the following five years, 250,000 people were formally and permanently evicted from their holdings. Per Mr. McMahon, evidence shows that it was often the farmers (many of whom were Catholic) who treated the needy worst o! f all, bringing cases against wretches who stole turnips, for example, and disapproving of the magistrates' clemency. Many landlords, in fact, bankrupted themselves in their attempts to care for their needy tenants; others, those who gained the lasting reputation for their class, ignored the plight of their dependants.. Not all the country was stricken equally. East Ulster and Leinster provinces were affected least because of their mixed husbandry, though they were not free of the epidemics of typhus and relapsing fever and cholera. The Society of Friends (Quakers) emerge as the heroes of the Famine period, providing relief and in spite of appalling conditions getting it to the places of greatest need It was their success that forced the government to acquiesce in a change of tactic, substituting direct action for "hands-off."