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Subject: 4th part History of Ulster Irish 5-31-1997
Date: Sat, 31 May 1997 16:38:03 -0400 (EDT)
The Scotch-Irish Americans by Robin Brownstein and Peter Guttmacher--The
Peoples of North America Series
Transplanted lowland Scots were urged toemigrate to Ulster in Northern
Ireland in the 1600's. The English government thought that the "hard-nosed"
Presbyterian Scots could better control the Irish than the British Army.
They were known as Ulster-Scots. "Scotch-Irish" term coined in US in 1692.
In the 1840's it was used by the Ulster-Scots themselves to distinguish
themselves from the Irish Catholics. There wa great resentment between the
Ulster-Scots and Irish Catholics.
They wer charged excessive rents by the crown and tithes to the church of
England. 1720 saw crop failures, farm rents soar and the Ulster linen and
flax industries collapsed in 1772. In 1807 Jefferson placed an embargo on
American trade with Great Britain and France.
For many Ulster-Irish the first stop was Philadelphia. Word of religious
tolerance of PA had spread to Great Britain. Their love of "the spirits" and
robust lifestyle was offensive to the Quakers. The Pittsburgh Pike went
through the forests from Harrisburg to the Ohio Valley taking them to western
Pa. in 1800's.This area also had large tracts of land set aside as
Donation/Depreciation land for Rev. War soldiers. They were robust hearty
industrious and very self-sufficient pioneersmen. Other settlers were happy
to use them as a buffer between settlements and the Indians.
The basis of their religion was the bible and many of them were literate.
They held to the belief that the Bible commanded that the heathens be
destroyed, so were fierce Indian Fighters. They like to be by themselves so
they
pushed to the frontiers, took Indian land and exterminated them. They were
always in trouble with the Indians! Many migrated from western PA to
Appalacian Mts. areas.
Other source - Know Your Ancestors by Ethel W. Williams
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