“If Ireland were in triumphant rebellion against the British Queen, complaining of rights denied,” he warned, “it would be our duty to recognize her as an Independent Power.” At the time, the Irish were living under a centuries-long British subjugation and had tried many times to revolt. The British feared another uprising after a seven-year-long potato famine, caused in part by British control over the food supply, that had killed more than a million Irishmen (and prompted more than a million to flee to the United States). Sumner implied that any potential Irish revolution would be justified
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