[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1974-S1975]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF THE SCOTCH-IRISH IN AMERICA

  Mr. KENNEDY. Mr. President, as we approach St. Patrick's Day, the 
thoughts of many turn to Ireland. More than 44 million Americans are of 
Irish ancestry. It is often erroneously assumed that the vast majority 
of Irish-Americans are Catholics. But at least half of the 44 million 
are Protestants, many of which are descendants of the ancestors of the 
present-day Protestant communities in Northern Ireland and Ireland.
  In the 1990 census, nearly 6 million Irish-Americans defined 
themselves as ``Scotch-Irish''--an American term which did not begin to 
be used widely until the mid-19th century. Most of Protestant 
immigration from Ireland occurred in the 18th and early 19th centuries, 
whereas the majority of the large number of Irish who arrived in the 
United States beginning in the mid-19th century at the time of the 
potato famine in Ireland were Catholic.
  The Scotch-Irish in America are descendants of the approximately 
200,000 Scottish Presbyterians who settled in Ireland in the early 17th 
century. The modern Protestant majority in Northern Ireland are 
descendants of that Ulster Plantation.
  In the late 1600's, religious persecution of Scottish Presbyterians 
by England led some to leave Ulster and seek religious freedom in the 
American colonies. Many of these immigrants settled in the Chesapeake 
Bay area. One such immigrant, Francis Makemie, is the father of 
American Presbyterianism.
  The largest numbers of Scotch-Irish immigrants, about 250,000, left 
for the American colonies in the 18th century in the decades leading up 
to the Revolutionary War. They left Ulster less for religious than 
economic reasons, because of the decline in the linen industry, failed 
harvests, and high rents for tenant farmers. Many of these immigrants 
were so poor that they made their way to the colonies only by becoming 
indentured servants. The destination of the earliest of these 
immigrants was New England although many of these subsequently moved 
inland to the frontier. In ``The Scotch-Irish and Ulster,'' Eric 
Montgomery writes of these immigrants:

       Ideally suited for the new life by reason of their 
     experience as pioneers in Ulster, their qualities of 
     character and their Ulster-Scottish background, they made a 
     unique contribution to the land of their adoption. They 
     became the frontiersmen of colonial America, clearing the 
     forests to make their farms and, as one would expect, they 
     had the defects as well as the qualities of pioneers. 
     President Theodore Roosevelt described them as ``a grim, 
     stern people, strong and simple, powerful for good and 
     evil, swayed by gusts of stormy passion, the love of 
     freedom rooted in their very hearts' core.''
  The Scotch-Irish were staunch Calvinists and their religious 
differences with New England's Congregationalists led, after 1725, to a 
shift in their immigration from New England to Pennsylvania. These 
immigrants first settled near Philadelphia, but soon spread west 
throughout the entire State. Others went south to the Carolinas and 
Georgia, always extending the frontiers.
  The Log College was established to train Presbyterian ministers near 
Philadelphia in 1726 or 1727 by Scotch-Irish minister Rev. William 
Tennent, Sr. It developed close ties with the College of New Jersey, 
which was founded in 1746, and later became Princeton University.
  The impact of Scotch-Irish settlers on America was significant. 
Arthur Dobbs, a member of the Irish Parliament and a landowner from 
County Antrim, became Governor of North Carolina in 1753. Five signed 
the Declaration of Independence--Thomas McKean, Edward Rutledge, James 
Smith, George Taylor and Matthew Thornton. John Dunlap of Strabane 
printed the Declaration and also founded the Pennsylvania Packet, the 
first daily newspaper in America.
  Large numbers of Scotch-Irish immigrants joined the fight for 
American independence. Irish volunteers performed so courageously in 
the Revolutionary Army that Lord Mountjoy told the British Parliament, 
``We have lost America through the Irish.''
  Charles Thomson came to Pennsylvania as an indentured servant, and 
went on to serve as the Secretary of the Continental Congress from 1774 
to 1789.
  Scotch-Irishman Henry Knox was one of four members of President 
George Washington's first Cabinet. John Rutledge was the first Governor 
of South Carolina. Thomas McKean was the first Governor of 
Pennsylvania, and William Livingstone was the first Governor of New 
Jersey.

  The Scotch-Irish were strong supporters of the Jeffersonians in the 
early years of American independence. The Harvard Encyclopedia notes:

       The Scotch-Irish turned out in strength to vote for Thomas 
     Jefferson in the election of 1800, and their influence, along 
     with that of other immigrant groups, may well have been 
     decisive in New York and thus the nation at large.

  Twelve Americans of Scotch-Irish ancestry became President of the 
United States. The fathers of Andrew Jackson, James Buchanan and 
Chester Alan Arthur were each born in Northern Ireland. And James Polk, 
Andrew Johnson, Ulysses Grant, Grover Cleveland, Benjamin Harrison, 
William McKinley, Woodrow Wilson, and Richard Nixon were all of Scotch-
Irish ancestry. President Clinton's family tree has several Irish 
branches, and undoubtedly contains both Scotch-Irish and Catholic 
roots.
  The Scotch-Irish parents of John C. Calhoun emigrated to Pennsylvania 
and then moved to South Carolina. Born in 1782, he was elected to the 
House of Representatives from South Carolina at the age of 29, and went 
on to become Senator, Secretary of War, Secretary of State, and Vice 
President. As chairman of the Senate House Foreign Relations Committee 
in 1812, he introduced the declaration of war against Britain. His 
portrait is on the wall of the reception room adjacent to the Senate 
Chamber today, as one of the five greatest Senators in our history.
  Many other famous Americans are of Scotch-Irish descent. Sam Houston 
served as Governor of Tennessee before moving to Texas and leading the 
fight for Texas' independence from Mexico. Before Texas joined the 
Union, he served as the first President of the Republic of Texas and, 
after, as Governor. He was a staunch defender of the Union, but his 
efforts to keep Texas from seceding prior to the Civil War failed, and 
he was removed as Governor when he refused to take Texas out of the 
Union after the vote to secede.
  Stonewall Jackson was a descendent of Scotch-Irish immigrants from 
County Armagh. Davy Crockett was Scotch-Irish. Cyrus McCormick, 
inventor of the mechanical reaper, was given the French Legion of 
Honour by Napoleon, who described McCormick as ``having done more for 
the cause of agriculture than any other living man.'' A successful 
businessman, active Democrat, and Presbyterian, he founded the 
McCormick Theological Seminary in Chicago.

  The Mellon family emigrated to Pennsylvania from County Tyrone in 
1818. Thomas Mellon, a young boy at the time, became a successful 
lawyer, banker, and businessman in Pittsburgh. He founded what became 
the

[[Page S1975]]

Mellon Bank, and was instrumental in the growth and development of 
Pittsburgh. His son, Andrew Mellon, served as Secretary of the Treasury 
for Presidents Harding and Coolidge. He helped found Gulf Oil, Alcoa, 
and the Union Steel Co., which later merged into the U.S. Steel Corp. 
He assembled one of the world's greatest art collections, established 
the National Gallery of Art, and donated his collection to the gallery 
where vast numbers of Americans enjoy it every year. Andrew's son, 
Paul, and other members of the Mellon family have carried on the 
family's business success and extraordinary philanthropy.
  The Scotch-Irish have also been well-represented in the arts. Edgar 
Allen Poe, Stephen Foster, Horace Greeley, founder of the New York 
Tribune, and Harold Ross, founder of the New Yorker, were all Scotch-
Irish.
  The majority of Irish-American Protestants today define themselves as 
``Irish,'' not ``Scotch-Irish.'' By and large, the term ``Scotch-
Irish'' fell into disuse over the years as discrimination against 
Catholics in this country declined.
  Immigrants to America from all parts of Ireland, whether Catholic or 
Protestant, have made brilliant contributions to the success of 
America. Those of us who are committed to a just and peaceful 
resolution of the conflict in Northern Ireland know that peace will 
only be achieved there when both traditions are treated equally and 
fairly, and when mutual respect and a good-faith political process 
replace bombs and bullets as the means for settling disputes.
  Ireland's extraordinary contributions to America reflect Ireland's 
two great traditions--Protestant and Catholic--and America honors them 
both on St. Patrick's Day 1997.
  Mr. BOND addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Missouri.
  Mr. BOND. Mr. President, I thank the Chair.
  (The remarks of Mr. Bond and Mr. Chafee pertaining to the 
introduction of S. 404 are located in today's Record under ``Statements 
on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolutions.'')
  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to proceed for 3 
minutes, if I may, as in morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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