In 1729 Jonathan Swift, a well-known and respected Irish author of his time, published an article that he humorously entitled "A Modest Proposal". Within this article he made the shocking suggestion to the Poor Irish population in regards to their children. That "to provide for them in such a manner as instead of being a charge upon their parents or the parish, or wanting food at raiment for the rest of their lives, they shall on the contrary contribute to the feeding and partly to the clothing, of many thousands". Thus insinuating that the offspring of these citizens be raised not as children but as livestock to be harvested after their first year. .
This promoted many questions when I first read his statements. When written, was this statement meant to be taken literally, or Was it made to expose the repulsive way the poor Irish Peoples were treated by the British Citizens as well as their hierarchy? Also what progress was Jonathan Swift attempting to make? Was he trying to join in the systematic genocide of his own people or was he attempting to motivate the British rule to look at their policies regarding Irish trade and the rights of their Irish citizens? The answers to these questions depend on your own political stand, as much as it does having a general knowledge of Irish history. .
To properly analyze the text you need to know a little bit about the history of the Irish people and their ongoing struggles with the British. The largest majority of Irish citizens, at the time, were Roman Catholic, most of who were poor sharecroppers or tradesmen. Where as the British, were primarily Protestant, and most were wealthy landowners. The British were also the ones in power constantly using this advantage to repress the Irish Peoples by slowly stripping them of their rights. Some would even go as far as to say that the British were trying to kill off the Irish although not in an openly hostile way.
