Part 5/8:
Prime Minister Sir Robert Peel did attempt to address the disaster by secretly purchasing corn from America. However, this measure was insufficient, and the subsequent leadership under Lord John Russell proved even less effective. Russell appointed Charles Trevelyan to manage the relief efforts, but Trevelyan’s views about the Irish population only exacerbated the crisis. His infamous belief that the famine was deserved as a divine lesson for the Irish demonstrated a shocking lack of compassion that haunted the relief efforts.