A Social History of the Scotch-Irish

by Carlton Jackson

Overview

Beginning with the origins of their population in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the author traces the Scotch-Irish development from Lowland Scotland to Northern Ireland to the American colonies.

Arriving in the East, the Scotch-Irish were characterized by other colonists as being fiery tempered, stubborn, hard drinking, and very religious, and they quickly made lasting impressions. Though the Scotch-Irish were in the minority, they managed to impact history. Most notably, they introduced the appeals system and the checks and balances system.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781568331423
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/12/1999
Pages:	222
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Carlton Jackson is a professor of history at Western Kentucky University. He has held senior Fulbright lectureships in India, Pakistan, and Bangladesh, and during the 1989-90 academic year was the Fulbright Bicentennial Professor of American Studies at the University of Helsinki. He is the author and co-author of eleven books including Hattie: The Life of Hattie McDaniel.

Editorial Reviews

The author points out that the last academic book devoted to the Scotch-Irish was published in 1962. The 30-years gap would certainly seem to warrant the publication of this book. Historian Jackson is clear and well organized, but his book remains a surface, and somewhat repetitious, examination of this particular ethnic group. He describes how the Scotch-Irish moved from lowland Scotland to Ulster and from there to the United States in the period from the early 1600s to the early 1800s. A people of movement, they spread throughout the 13 colonies, where their life had a hard, often violent, edge. Jackson comments on their contributions to the United States, noting that their support of the American revolution and constitution was consistent with their flinty, independent ways. Recommended for ethnic immigration collections.-- Richard B. Finnegan, Stonehill Coll., North Easton, Mass.

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