 According
to British historian James Anthony Froude, “No people so few in number
have scored so deep a mark in the world’s history as the Scots have
done. No people have a greater right to be proud of their
blood.”
As this book reveals the Scottish people
of Virginia, namely the Scots from Ulster in Ireland, were the people
most responsible for the articulation of the principles of individual
human rights which became the foundation for the demands for American
independence and for the formulation of the values and principles
outlined in the constitution of the United States of America.
Horace Edward Henderson begins his
account of The Scots of Virginia with the origins of the Scottish people
who may have been among the first descendants of the early Celts who
crossed over the original landbridge to the British Isles from Europe
following the retreat of the Ice Age. Subsequent Celtic waves forced the
earlier Celts up into Scotland which eventually evolved as an
amalgamation of indigenous Picts with Irish Scots, Angles, Saxons,
Norsemen and Normans. Scotland as a nation, however, did not occur until
about 843 AD after the Irish Scots had brought over Christianity and the
Gaelic language when Kenneth Macalpine ascended the throne of the Picts.
Although the Romans occupied most of Britain, they had little influence
upon Scotland itself since their area of occupation mainly concerned
only England and Wales. Historians claim that the settlement of the
Nordic people throughout Britain was the “definitive event” in the
history of the British people and was much more important than the Roman
occupation or the Norman conquest. Most of Britain had been mainly
settled by the Angles and the Saxons who came from Denmark and Germany
and until the 10th century, after much mixing of numerous races,
generally the people inhabiting the British Isles were considered to be
predominantly Nordic. Then, when the Normans invaded England in 1066
they were considered to have been “the most highly organized
continental state of the day.” The History of Scotland itself covers a
difficult period of almost 800 years of conflict and suffering as the
people of the north struggled against poverty and warfare for survival.
Fortunately, early Scotland was ruled by a succession of able kings who
succeeded in advancing the progressive development of the Scottish
society. Most importantly, their independent church and Celtic character
successfully resisted the extension of the Anglo-Saxon culture into
Scotland. Consequently, Scotland was largely transformed into its unique
character, as we know it today, by the introduction of feudalism, the
reform of the church, the plantation of burghs, and by effective
governmental control. Furthermore, Nordic customs and cultures were
substantially replaced by Norman influences when the more civilized and
peaceful ways of the Normans crossed the Scottish borders and became an
influential part of Scottish society and religion. However, the Scots
remained a poor and undeveloped nation of limited opportunities until
the end of the 18th century.
For many years after the Normans had
conquered Saxon England, and as aggressive incursions raged across the
borders of England and Scotland while relations fluctuated between peace
and conflict, the major influence on Scottish Celtic civilization was
Norman whereas it had been Saxon for the English. During this period,
characterized by continuous wars on the continent, conflict continued
between the Scots and the English across the borders between them until
finally the Scots were defeated in the definitive Battle of Culloden in
1746. Meanwhile, England had advanced into a great power which soon
surpassed the other countries of Europe in progress towards a civilized
society while Scotland suffered particularly from weak leadership by
ineffective kings. Furthermore, the geography of Scotland had created
two peoples as different as two separate nations since the cultures of
the Lowlanders and the Highlanders were as different as the two
languages they spoke - Scottish and Gaelic. Generally, all Scots were
considered to be an independent and quarrelsome people who, when not
fighting the English, fought each other. There were constant political
disagreements among the Scottish barons and endless struggles to gain
political power while warfare raged on and off between Scotland and
England between numerable treaties. In the meantime, the Reformed Church
of Scotland began to exert its influence, John Knox and the Reformation
brought about enlightenment from the Dark Ages, England and Scotland
became strong allies, and the future unity of the two nations was
underway. After the defeat of the Irish in Northern Ireland in 1603, the
English took possession of the six northern counties of Ulster and James
(I of England, VI of Scotland) proclaimed that the lands would be
granted to lords and gentry from England and Scotland who would agree to
develop their colonization. Few English gentlemen were interested but
the vast majority of Scots lived in the non-mountinous areas of an
impoverished country in which the people could barely grow enough food
to survive. So the Scottish Lowlanders quickly seized the opportunity to
build a better life for themselves and the settlement of Northern
Ireland (Ulster) essentially became a migration of Scottish
Lowlanders.
The residents of the Highlands, however,
played no role in the the Plantation of Ulster. By the mid-1700’s
almost 100,000 Lowlanders had settled in Ulster and by their hard labor
and perseverance in the development of their woolen and linen goods they
prospered. But soon the Presbyterians had been denied civil and military
offices, others were excommunicated, and they were required to pay
tithes to support Anglican ministers. But the plantation of Northern
Ireland had become “a brilliant success,” and Ulster had far
exceeded the rest of Ireland in development and prosperity. But soon
imports “to any country whatsoever” of their prospering woolen
goods, cattle raising and linen industries were prohibited by the
British government. As if that was not enough, King James attempted to
replace the Presbyterian Church with the Episcopal Church. After
centuries of fighting the British in Scotland, more restrictions and
discriminations were offensive, and since a return to Scotland was out
of the question, the new thriving colonies in America became their
logical destination. And many thousands of Scottish Protestants made the
decision to depart for America.
In “The Great Migration” between 1600
and the beginning of the American Revolution in 1776 it is estimated
that as many as 400,000 Ulster Scots left Northern Ireland for America.
Many of them had to become indentured servants in order to pay the 10
pounds cost for passage to America. And generally, upon arrival the
immigrants quickly took the “Great Wagon Road” westwards out of
Philadelphia.
At first, the Scottish immigrants were
welcomed by the Pennsylvanians but when the Quakers lost control of the
state assembly, land patents were refused and the Scots became
“squatters.” After settling and filling the unoccupied western
frontiers of Pennsylvania the Allegheny mountains directed their heavy
flow southward into the Great Shenendoah Valley of Virginia. As a
frontier protection against incursions by the Indians, the Scot settlers
from Ireland (Scotch-Irish) were welcomed to Virginia which immediately
became their favorite destination. They quickly filled the Valley and
rapidly fulfilled their classic role as the pioneers of the Appalachian
frontier as the adventurers and explorers who opened up the American
west. Their protective presence at the frontier soon enabled the
Virginia colony to become the strongest and most prosperous colony in
America.
By and large, most of the Scots who came
to America directly from Scotland did so for business purposes, retained
their Scottish citizenship and intended eventually to return home again.
Since tobacco rapidly became the largest economic asset of the Virginia
colony, Scottish factors gained control of the trade and greatly
increased their numbers in the Old Dominion. Consequently, most of the
Lowlander merchants settled in the port and coastal centers of the
Virginia colony. As the number of Scottish tradesmen greatly increased
they became more prosperous and economically influential. Few
Highlanders, however, came to the colonies although there was a
substantial settlement in North Carolina which was within the early
Virginia trade area. But as the American Revolution approached, the
factors from Scotland generally returned home and the Highlanders
generally sided with Britain during the war and fought either with
Britain or against the Scotch-Irish patriots at the Battle of Kings
Mountain. Consequently, neither the Scottish Lowlanders nor the
Highlanders, who generally supported the Crown during the Revolution,
had any substantial influence upon the struggle nor upon the evolution
of the American democracy.
The onrushing influx of up to 300,000
Scots from Ireland continued to flow through Pennsylvania, soon filled
the Valley of Virginia, crossed over eastward and occupied much of the
Piedmont section of the state then on down into North Carolina and
further south. Quickly and happily, the immigrants had built their log
cabins, erected their Presbyterian churches and enthusiastically
undertaken their new life in the free world of challenge and
opportunity, and they quickly established orderly and permanent
communities which became great assets to the state and nation. Soon the
outcome of the French and Indian Wars (1689-1763) was largely won by
their courage and sacrifice which gained the future American possession
of vast areas to the west. The Scotch-Irish were hardworking, thrifty
and self-sufficient settlers whose communities thrived and quickly
spread throughout western Virginia. It was their adventuresome and
resolute spirits who relentlessly expanded the American frontier both
westward and northward providing Virginia its claims to Mississippi to
the west and to Canada to the north. In fact, both Lewis and Clark who
opened up the Northwest to the Pacific were Scotch-Irishmen. And it was
Scotch-Irishman Richard Henderson from Virginia whose Transylvania
Company employed Danial Boone to explore the vast lands to the west. And
throughout the early years of their settlement, the Scotch-Irish
frontiersmen had provided an effective defense against the Indians which
had enabled the largely English settlers and planters to prosper and
live in peace.
Soon new counties were formed, local
governments and laws went into effect, schools and churches grew
rapidly, and the Presbyterian churches began to exert their influence.
By the time of the Revolution, there were twenty-three Presbyterian
churches in Augusta and Rockbridge counties alone some of which still
stand today. In fact, the Presbyterian Church which grew so rapidly
throughout the colonies had become a Scotch-Irish institution that would
have great influence in the formation of the founding principles for the
cause of freedom and the justification for rebellion against the
oppression of the American colonists by the British government.
By the time of the Revolution, Virginia
had the largest population and it ranked as the most important colony
both politically and economically. The largest concentration of Scottish
people in America was in Virginia and they played a highly important
role in helping Virginia to attain its position of pre-eminence in the
new world. But it was not the “aristocratic” planters or gentry in
Virginia that lit the first sparks for independence and freedom from
Great Britain. It was the Scotch-Irish of Virginia who were the
Champions of Liberty and Independence in America. The first calls for
individual human rights came not from those who were well-off and
prosperous in America but by those who had suffered for centuries from
the aggressions, prejudice, harassment and discrimination of the British
first, in Scotland, then in Northern Ireland and lastly, in Virginia.
And it was not in the privileged sanctity of the Anglican churches or
the hallowed halls of the Capitol at Williamsburg where the first cries
for freedom rang out in America - but in the roughhewn Presbyterian
churches of the Virginia frontier where the earliest calls for freedom
were proclaimed.
The fact was that the overwhelming
majority of the planter gentry with English blood in Virginia had little
sympathy for the initial demands for independence from Britain, much
less for any radical ideas about the democratic equality of men. The
Scotch-Irish have often been called “the first political radicals in
America.” The frontier-spirit of taking justice into one’s own
hands, the independent individualism, the competitive spirit to win
whatever the obstacles, and their almost ruthless determination to
progress that became well-established parts of the American character,
are generally considered to have come from Scottish traits. While most
Americans of English descent either opposed independence or were non-commital,
the majority of the patriotic continental troops were Scotch-Irish. In
fact, a Presbyterian loyalist was unheard of.
On the other hand, thirty regiments of
English-Americans fought against the patriots with the British forces.
Actually, the number of American Loyalists in His Majesty’s army
“exceeded in number the troops enlisted (by Congress) to oppose
them.” It is estimated that 20,000 Americans fought with the British
forces during the Revolution. In fact, George III called it a
“Presbyterian war,” many in Britain referred to it as “the
Presbyterian revolt,” and the British Prime Minister said, “Cousin
America has run off with a Presbyterian parson, and that is the end of
it.”
And finally, most of the Scots who had
come directly from Scotland to America, either went back to Scotland or
fled north to Canada. Conclusively, it was the Virginian patriots of
Scottish origin who first articulated the demand for liberty and
independence which brought freedom and democracy to the United States of
America. They also gave America its distinctive characteristics which
have made it the most powerful nation on earth based upon its
unparalleled spiritual and economic strength. And nowhere in America
were these unique Scottish characteristics more in evidence, and of
greater influence, than in Virginia. Truly, the Scots of Virginia were
America’s greatest patriots!
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