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Hillbillies in the White House |
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The legacy
From simple roots in Scotland and Ireland, the Ulster Scots took to the back country of America and slowly grew into a powerful social, political and religious force.
There are hundreds of stories of pauper made good. The picture gallery highlights a few of these individuals, which most people will have heard of, but perhaps didn't know their ancestry.
The Declaration of Independence was printed by an Ulster-Scot, John Dunlop, in 1776. It was read in public by a first generation Scots-Irish American Colonel, John Nixon and the first signature came from another Scots-Irish Presbyterian, John Hancock. Incidently, the first newspaper to publish the declaration, outside America, was the Belfast News Letter.
Cryus Hall McCormick, invented a horse drawn reaping machine which revolutionised harvesting in America during the 19th Century. It allowed farmers to triple the acreage ploughed, originally worked by hand. His family came from an Ulster Scots family in County Tyrone, in Ulster, who immigrated to Virginia.
"If defeated everywhere else, I will make my last stand for liberty among the Scots-Irish of my native Virginia" - George Washington.
Hey Gringo
Gringo, used in Latin America to refer to people from the United States, is thought to have a Scottish connection. - During the Mexican War (1846-1848), American soldiers sang Robert Burns’ “Green Grow the Rashes, O!”.
- This inspired the locals to refer to the Americans as ‘green-grows’ or ‘gringos’
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From the Alamo, where Davy Crockett (yes, he too has Ulster Scots blood) and his fellow soldiers stood bravely against the Mexicans, to the first shots of the War of Independence, the Ulster Scots didn't need to be asked twice to take up arms for liberty in America.
General Henry Knox, after whom Fort Knox is named, was a second generation Ulster Scot. His father William immigrated form Londonderry to Boston in 1729. Knox later became America's first Secretary of State for war, holding the post during George Washington's presidency.
Possibly the best indication of the attraction to America, and the eventual impact made there by the Ulster-Scots, is epitomised by John Dunlap.
Born in Co.Tyrone, Ireland, he arrived in Philadelphia in 1757. He printed the American Declaration of Independence, and set up the Philadelphia Packet newspaper in 1777. In a letter home to his brother-in-law, he observes that:
"..the young men of Ireland who wish to be free and happy should leave it and come here as quick as possible. There is no place in the world where a man meets so rich a reward for good conduct and industry as in America"
John Dunlap
Just as the immigrants from Ireland had escaped wicked controls of their land and religion, Dunlap's message of hope and encouragement, which merits inscription on the Statue of Liberty, arrived when America had freed itself of
colonial control. It really did seem to be a Brave New World.
For a fascinating look at life in America for a successful Ulsterman, click on the next page to read extracts from James Black`s diary of 1837.
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Your comments
1 Des Wilkinson from Belfast - 2 March 2004
"Fascinating stuff, Congratulations
Did these people perceive of themselves as Ulster-Scots or Irishmen though? It seems sure that from the quotations you use it was the latter. How old is the expression Ulster Scot? I have made links with old timey tunes/songs and Irish music and the Ulster song tradition."
2 Michael Patterson from London - 12 November 2003
"I never new one of my fellow County Tyrone people made such an impact on America, I`m going to New York this Christmas and must visit the Statue of Liberty now, fascinating."
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Archive
Look back into the past using the Legacies' archives. Find nearly 200 tales from around the country in our collection.
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