For several hundred years the Irish suffered religious, political, and ethnic persecution, and through expropriation and exploitation had become totally dependent on the potato. During An Gorta Mor, the Great Hunger of 1845-1851, the potato crop failed and starvation swept the country. Other crops were not affected but were withheld from the peasantry. While millions starved, an abundance of food was exported for commerce. More than one million died of starvation and three times that number chose or were forced to emigrate. The great majority came to America, where they contributed greatly to the economic, cultural, and political life of their new land.