Irish Cabal

  Scottish Immigration to America - A Different Story Why Scottish Immigration Often Gets Overlooked The Confusion Factor: Often lumped with "Scots-Irish" (Ulster Scots) Sometimes counted as "British" in records Smaller numbers than Irish or Germans More dispersed = less visible Better integrated = less distinct Three Different Groups: Lowland Scots - Protestant, English-speaking Highland Scots - Gaelic-speaking, clan culture Ulster Scots/Scots-Irish - Scots who settled Ireland first (covered earlier) The Numbers - Scottish Immigration Colonial Era (1600s-1770s): ~150,000-200,000 Scots arrived Mix of Lowland and Highland Many Highlanders after failed Jacobite rebellions Forcibly transported prisoners Indentured servants Some wealthy landowners Post-Revolution (1783-1820): ~15,000-20,000 Scots Smaller trickle Economic migrants Skilled tradesmen Peak Scottish Immigration (1820s-1920s): 1820s: ~3,000 1830s: ~3,000 1840s: ~3,000 1850s: ~38,000 (starti...

  The Sheep Economics: Replacing Humans with Wool The Economic "Logic" of Clearance Before Clearances: Crofter families paid small rents (often in kind) Grew oats, barley, potatoes Raised small cattle Subsistence farming Provided military recruits for clan chief Minimal cash income for landlord After Clearances: Cheviot sheep imported from borders Vast sheep walks (grazing lands) High-quality wool production Premium prices in southern markets One shepherd managed thousands of sheep Massive cash income for landlord The Math That Destroyed Communities Traditional Crofting System: 50 families on 10,000 acres Each pays £2-5/year rent Total income: £100-250/year to landlord Plus: military service, loyalty, labor Sheep Farming System: 10,000 acres = 5,000-8,000 sheep Annual wool clip value: £3,000-5,000 Lamb sales: £1,000-2,000 Total income: £4,000-7,000/year Labor: 2-3 shepherds at £20/year each Net increase: 20-30x more profit The Cheviot Sheep Why Cheviots? Hardy br...

  The Highland Clearances: Scotland's Century of Ethnic Cleansing The Highland Clearances represent one of the most systematic campaigns of forced displacement in British history, yet they remain largely unknown compared to Ireland's Great Famine. Over the course of a century, Scottish landlords methodically removed tens of thousands of Gaelic-speaking tenant farmers from ancestral lands, replacing human communities with sheep. What makes the Clearances particularly chilling is their calculated nature—this was not a natural disaster or sudden crisis, but a deliberate economic decision executed over generations. Entire villages were burned, families were herded onto ships bound for Canada, and a thousand-year-old way of life was systematically erased. The trauma scarred Scottish culture so deeply that the Highlands, once densely populated, remain sparsely inhabited today. While the Irish fled starvation in a desperate exodus, the Scots were methodically pushed out by their own ...

The Jacobite Rebellions were a series of uprisings (1689-1746) attempting to restore the Catholic Stuart dynasty to the British throne. The final rebellion in 1745-46, led by "Bonnie Prince Charlie," saw Highland clans march as far as Derby, England, before retreating and meeting catastrophic defeat at Culloden in April 1746. What followed was not merely military victory but cultural annihilation. The British government systematically dismantled Highland society: clan chiefs lost their hereditary jurisdictions, wearing tartan became illegal, bagpipes were banned as "instruments of war," and the Gaelic language was suppressed. The Disarming Acts confiscated weapons, and entire estates were forfeited. Many Jacobite supporters were executed, imprisoned, or transported to the American colonies as indentured servants. This deliberate destruction of the clan system created the conditions for the Highland Clearances—with traditional power structures shattered...

The Irish Immigration Supremacy Period When Irish Were #1 (or Close) 1840s-1850s: DOMINANT - Irish were the largest immigrant group by far 1860s-1880s: Still #1 or #2 - Competed with Germans 1890s: Declining - Germans, Italians, Eastern Europeans overtaking   The Numbers - Irish vs. Other Groups 1840s Immigration to America: Irish: ~780,000 Germans: ~435,000 British: ~267,000 Irish = 45% of ALL immigrants that decade 1850s Immigration (Peak Irish Decade): Irish: ~914,000 Germans: ~951,000 (Germans barely edged out Irish) British: ~424,000 Irish = 35% of all immigrants Combined Irish + German = 71% of all immigrants 1860s: Germans: ~787,000 (#1) Irish: ~435,000 (#2) British: ~607,000 1870s: Germans: ~718,000 (#1) Irish: ~436,000 (#2) British: ~548,000 1880s: Germans: ~1,452,000 (#1) Irish: ~655,000 (#3) British: ~807,000 (#2) Scandinavians rising Eastern Europeans beginning   The Visual Reality In 1850, if you walked through: New York City immigrant wards: E...

The Great Famine: How One Catastrophe Created Irish America The Irish presence in America is fundamentally a story of survival, not opportunity. While other immigrant groups came seeking better lives, the Irish fled death itself. The Great Famine of 1845-1852 wasn't merely a tragedy—it was a demographic explosion that overnight transformed a trickle of Irish immigrants into a flood that would permanently alter American cities and culture. Before the potato blight struck, Irish immigration was modest and manageable. After it began, desperation drove over 1.5 million Irish across the Atlantic in a single decade, creating the ethnic enclaves, political machines, and cultural institutions that still define cities like Boston, New York, and Cleveland today. Without those seven years of starvation, Irish-Americans would likely be a footnote rather than a cornerstone of American history. The famine didn't just send people to America—it created an entirely new people, forged by share...