Ulster Scots/ Scots Irish
Atlantic history
I. Ulster society
> a distinctive society
A. the Scottish connection (only thirteen miles distance between Ireland and Scotland)
centuries-long interaction between northeast Ireland (especially counties Antrim and Down) and southwest Scotland
merchant and religious networks
Ulster plantation + private plantation initiatives of lowland Scottish lords
lowland Scottish agricultural practices imported
1607-1690 100,000 Scottish Presbyterians to Ireland
B. religion: Presbyterianism [church organization: congregations (governed by councils of elders), presbyteries, synods, general assembly]
1610 first Scottish Presbyterians arrive with the Ulster plantation 1642 first presbytery established in Ulster by Scottish army chaplains, followed by the multiplications of congregations throughout Ulster 1691 Synod of Ulster established early 18th c subscription controversy: schism between those who accepted and those who rejected the Westminster Confession of Faith as the statement of Presbyterian doctrine
non-subscribing Presbyterians establish a strong presence in Ulster
relations with the state
regium donum - state grant (from the English crown) to Presbyterian ministers; initiated under Ch II; suspended under JII; resumed under WIII; suspended under Anne; resumed under GI [evidence of Presbyterians' insecure relationship to the state]
Toleration Act of 1719: Protestant dissenters freed from the obligation to attend Anglican services (freedom of worship)
BUT 18th-c Ulster Scots suffered from significant religious disabilities:
barred from public offices (as of 1707)
marriages not recognized by the state
forced to pay tithes to support the Church of Ireland
C. economy
the Ulster Custom: tenants had more rights and more secure leases than families in other parts of Ireland
linen
the dominant export from Ulster by the end of the 17th c
well suited to the rural economy: smallholders cultivated flax, spun yarn, and wove cloth
access to British (1696) and British colonial markets (1705)
establishment of a Linen Board (1711) to encourage the industry
annual linen exports:
1713
2 million yards per year 1796 47 million yards per year
linen, flax, + hemp = 56% of value of all Irish exports
II. To North America
"push factors" (encourage migration): religious + economic
migration infrastructure (ships and shipping agents, land speculators)
Phase 1: 1715-1730
period of economic hardship (shortening of leases, rising rents, increasing dependence on market conditions, bad weather, crop and livestock failures, diseases, food shortages)
destinations: New England; PA and DE (1720s); MD, VA, Carolinas
1730s-50s: decline in migration due to prosperity in linen industry
Phase 2: 1760s-1770s
colonial labor market; chain migration networks; cost of passage reduced by half since 1730s
1760s: 5000 per annum
1770s: 10,000 per annum
III. The Scots Irish
intermediaries
pioneers
influence of Ulster Scottish culture and folkways
reputation