Throughout history, England has always been known as a colonizing nation with colonies located all around the world. One of these colonies that was much closer to home was Ireland, which was a plantation colony for England until 1691 when it officially became a Kingdom under British control (Eisner, slide 5). During this time Ireland was faced with a worsening poverty problem which seemed impossible to solve due to Ireland’s subjection to the English throne. This conflict between the needs of the Irish people and the wants of the English throne angered many Irish citizens, including Jonathan Swift, an Irish writer and satirist. In 1729 Swift published his essay “A Modest Proposal” which satirically provided the extreme proposal of eating the children of beggars as a solution to Ireland’s poverty crisis and as a solution for both the overpopulation and famine of Ireland as well. In doing this Swift’s “A Modest Proposal” is representative of the Irish people’s anger and serves as an Irish response to England’s damaging policies in regards to Ireland while also illustrating the seriousness of the poverty in Ireland.
Before analyzing “A Modest Proposal” as an essay that serves to both highlight Ireland’s desperate situation and as a work that represents the Irish attitudes at the time, it is important to first understand what the situation in Ireland was during the early 18th century. To begin with is Poynings’ Law, a law that directly prevented Ireland from being able to remedy its situation and control its own domestic affairs. “Under the terms of Poynings’ Law, all Irish Bills had to be submitted by the English chief governor in Ireland to the King and Privy Council, via the English Parliament. There they could be amended and approved, or rejected” (“Poynings’ Law”). This law essentially made the Irish Parliament completely powerless by allowing them to propose any bill they wanted but making it impossible to pass without the approval of the English throne, and complete acceptance of any changes made to it while it was reviewed in England. This law helped set the stage for the desperate Ireland situation that Swift is addressing in “A Modest Proposal” by legally incapacitating the nation’s ability to curb their worsening poverty problem.
Moreover, England also passed several acts during the late 17th century that destroyed Ireland’s economy and helped in creating their poverty problem. First were the Navigation Acts which “Prohibited the exportation of goods to any English colony unless they were loaded in English ships (carrying English crews) at English ports” (Baker). These acts were the first step in ruining Ireland’s economy for the benefit of England. Next were the Cattle Acts which “Outlawed the importation of cattle, sheep, pigs, and related (processed) items” (Baker). This act which prevented Ireland from selling livestock to England, killed Ireland’s livestock industry altogether due to the fact that England was the only nation that Irish livestock could be sold to due to the earlier Navigation Acts. Finally there were the Woolen Acts which “Absolutely forbade Ireland to export her woolen goods to any country whatsoever” (Baker). This act single handedly destroyed Ireland’s wool industry which once again crippled Ireland’s economy for the gain of English merchants. In regards to this final bill, Library Ireland states that “40,000 of the Irish Protestants were immediately reduced to poverty” (Library Ireland). This last bill alone destroyed the lives of thousands for the profit of England. Together, all three of these acts left Ireland in the state of economic ruin that Swift addresses through his satirical proposal.
Now that it has been established that English policies at the time directly led to the collapse of Ireland’s economy, “A Modest Proposal” can be examined as an essay that serves to first illustrate for readers the desperate situation of the nation during the early 18th century. Swift makes this point clear to readers from the very beginning of his essay when he writes, “It is a melancholy object to those who walk through this great town… when they see the streets, the roads, and cabin doors crowded with beggars of the female sex, followed by three, four, or six children, all in rags, and importuning every passenger for an alms” (2431). This first line of the entire essay serves to first establish the fact that there is a poverty crisis in Ireland, particularly for impoverished mothers and their children. Despite the satirical proposal that is made later in the essay, the true purpose of this work is to first bring awareness to the