The Scotch Irish Of Colonial Pennsylvania

The best history of the Scotch-Irish of colonial Pennsylvania ever written, Dunaway's classic is indispensable to the genealogist because it outlines the circumstances behind the settlement of Lowland Scots in Ulster, their life in that Province for two or three generations, and the reasons for their emigration to America, further tracing the important migratory movements of the Scotch-Irish from Northern Ireland to Pennsylvania, and from Pennsylvania down the foothills of the Appalachians through the Great Valley of Virginia to the Carolinas and Georgia.

The Scotch-Irish in America tells the story of the Ulster Plantation and of the influences that formed the character of the Scotch-Irish people. The author commences with a detailed discussion of the events leading to the Scottish migration to Ulster in the seventeenth century, followed by an examination of the causes of the secondary exodus of these same "Scotch-Irish" to North America before the end of the century. Entire chapters are then devoted to the Scotch-Irish settlement in New England, New York, the Jerseys, Pennsylvania, and along the colonial frontier. Special chapters take up the role of the Scotch-Irish in the development of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., the Scotch-Irish in the American Revolution, and the role of the Scotch-Irish in the spread of popular education in America.

Dispelling much of what he terms the 'mythology' of the Scotch-Irish, James Leyburn provides an absorbing account of their heritage. He discusses their life in Scotland, when the essentials of their character and culture were shaped; their removal to Northern Ireland and the action of their residence in that region upon their outlook on life; and their successive migrations to America, where they settled especially in the back-country of Pennsylvania, Virginia, the Carolinas, and Georgia, and then after the Revolutionary War were in the van of pioneers to the west.

The Scotch-Irish began emigrating to Northern Ireland from Scotland in the seventeenth century to form the Ulster Plantation. In the next century these Scottish Presbyterians migrated to the Western Hemisphere in search of a better life. Except for the English, the Scotch-Irish were the largest ethnic group to come to the New World during the eighteenth century. By the time of the American Revolution there were an estimated 250,000 Scotch-Irish in the colonies, about a tenth of the population. Twelve U.S. presidents can trace their lineage to the Scotch-Irish. This work discusses the life of the Scotch-Irish in Ireland, their treatment by their English overlords, the reasons for emigration to America, the settlement patterns in the New World, the movement westward across America, life on the colonial frontier, Scotch-Irish contributions to America's development, and sites of Scotch-Irish interest in the north of Ireland.

Join the Scots-Irish in their migration to Pennsylvania during the eighteenth century and learn about the impact of religion on the settlers' lives. Follow the contributions that Scots and Scots-Irish immigrants and their descendants have made to Pennsylvania and American Society. (Revised edition, 1990). 37 pages, notes, illustrations, and suggestions for further reading.