Definition: The Land League was the organization that spearheaded the Land War in Ireland in the 1880s. Founded in 1879 in Dublin, its main strategist was Michael Davitt.
The ostensible goal of the Land League was to reduce the predatory rents charge Irish tenant farmers by unscrupulous landlords by organizing the tenant farmers. In some cases the Land League organized rent strikes, and brought a new term into the English language: boycott.
The Land League raised funds for its activities in the communities of Irish immigrants in America. The organization was outlawed in Ireland in 1881, and while it had a short life the principles it espoused had great consequences in a growing Irish nationalist movement.
