Kentucky Irish American. (Louisville, Ky.) 1898-1968, 1907-07-06

Inc prominent part WHICH inc iiiSh
took in the settlement of the Original
thirteen States of the Union is not
understood by many Irish-Americans
or other Americans of the present
day May 10, 1907, Capt. Newport dis
embarked Capt. John Smith and his
Virginia colonists, consisting of poor
gentlemen, tradesmen, serving men
and libertines." On November II,
1920. the Mayflower arrived at Cape
Cod and a few weeks later the one
hundred and three souls on board
landed at the historic rock of Ply
mouth. 1t soon became obvious to
far-seeing men that the colonies
only wanted population to make them
prosperous. The first immigration
from Ireland into America was com
pulsory. Prendergrast in the History
of the Cromwellian Settlement says;
The Commissioners of Ireland gave
them"-merchants of Bristol, Eng
land-"orders upon the Governors OF
garrisons to deliver to them prison
ers of war; upon masters of work
houses for the destitute in their
care. WHO MOiC VI az -
or if women, were of manageable
age and not past breeding; and gave
directions to all in authority to selze
those who had no visible means, ana
deliver them to these agents of the
British merchants. i As one in
stance out of many: Capt. John
Vernon was employed by the Commits
sioners of Ireland into England, and
contracted in their behalf with Mr..
Daniel Sellick and Mr.. Leader, under
his hand, bearing date September IA,
1853. to supply them with two hundred
and fifty women of the Irish nation
above twelve years and under the
age of forty-five, to be found in the
country within twenty miles of Cork,
Youghal, Kinsale, Waterford anu
Wexford. to transport them into New
England" The Rev. Augusta j. The
baud. in 1.-The Irish Race in the Past
and Present" says, at is calculated
that in four years those English
firms of slave-dealers had shipped
6,4O0 Irish men and women, boys and
maidens, to the British Colonies of
North America" Voluntary immigra-
ton soon followed. Maryland from
its Catholic origin was at an early
period a point of attraction and so
rapidly did the Irish Catholic element
multiply that in 170S the Protestant
inhabitants passed an act imposing
fine of twenty shillings for poll
on Irish servants, to prevent the inn
porting of too great a number OF
Irish Papists into the province" and
a more stringent act to the same pur"
port was passed in 1717. IN 1927"
says the Philadelphia Gazette, "in
Newcastle Government their arrived
last year 4,500 persons chiefly from
Ireland, and at Philadelphia in one
year LIS Irish, of whom none were
servants" From December, 1928, to
December, 1929, the proportion of
immigrants landing in the Pennsyl-
vania province was as follows: Eng
fish and Welsh, 267; Scotch, AZ; Ger
man, 243; Irish, 5,655, the Irish being
thus nearly ten to one of all other
nationalities together, and that pro-
portion was practically sustained
down to the Revolution of 1776. BY
1929 the Irish element had increased
so largely in Pennsylvania that
prominent member of the Provincial
Government expressed himself glad
to find that the Parliament (of Great
Britain) was about to take measures
to prevent a too forceful immigra-
ton of Irish settlers. 1T looks" he
said, "as if Ireland is to send all her
inhabitants hither; Tor last week not
less than six ships arrived, and every
day two or three arrive also. The
common fear is that if they continue
to come they win make themselves
proprietors of the province
Not long before our Revolutionary
war the abolition of the 1.-THE of
agistment, or 1.-THE on pasturage OF
cattle, made pasturage so much more
profitable than tillage that the land
lords throughout the north of Ire
land began to consolidate their farms
and expel their tenantry, most of
whom were Protestants. Whole VII
lagos of Protestants, the descendants
of those who had been induced to set
tie in Ireland by the exclusive priv
alleges conceded to them by the pol
lev of the English Government, were
depopulated.
The Rev. T. A. Spencer ia his his
tory of the United States says; I'm
1871 multitudes of laborers and hus-
bandmen in Ireland, unable to pro-
cure a comfortable substinence for
their families in their native land,
embarked for America" Speaking OF
New Hampshire in 1873 he says; THE
manufacture of linen was consid-
erably increased by the coming OF
Irish immigrants to this colony" On
the general subject of pre-revolu-
tionary immigration he makes these